It’s another day of big tech mergers as Samsung has announced their acquisition of Harman for $8 billion. If you’re thinking “Harman/Kardon, that stereo equipment company” you’re right… mostly. But in recent years, Harman has branched out from making high-powered audio gear into the automotive sector. If you have a modern car, something they make is probably working behind the scenes to help you drive.
Harman has also been on an a buying binge of their own as of late, snapping up JBL, Revel, Infinity, and other brands you see show up in luxury cars and luxury homes. But perhaps their biggest venture has been their least publicized: developing autonomous and connected vehicle technologies, also known as telematics. And that is probably the tech Samsung wanted most. We just hope the monster H/K amps and receivers keep rolling off the assembly lines as well.
Awkward x 412 million
If you swingers out there thought the Ashley Madison hack last year was bad, it has nothing on the latest data breach at Friend finder, or more specifically, Adult Friend Finder, which, as you can probably imagine, isn’t a site you go to to find a pal to attend chess club with. Business Insider says LeakedSource has obtained the records of 412 million Friend Finder Networks users, including names, emails, passwords, and registration dates.
So, if you’ve signed up for cams.com, icams.com, penthouse.com or stripshow.com, it might be a good idea to change up those passwords ASAP and watch your email box for the inevitable blackmail email…
Performance first, clean air a distant second
More news out of dieselgate, the emissions cheating scandal that has embroiled the Volkswagen brand, which also includes Audi and Porsche brands.
According to a German newspaper, the California Air Resources Board has discovered that some Audi models have software that can falsify CO2 emissions results during emissions testing. Reuters says Volkswagen has confirmed the cheating code, which apparently was able to activate based on steering wheel movements – or the lack thereof – during emissions testing of both diesel and gas-powered cars with automatic transmissions.
Vehicles from VW, Audi and Porsche are all involved. This is a bit different from the original diesel emissions cheating that went on, which involved changing emissions results just for diesel engines. Which exact models are involved has not yet been specified, but you know it will be soon, so if your car is affected, hey, you just might be getting a new car for the holidays.
