Whilst reports seem to indicate that Time Inc has been rejecting takeover offers from interested buyers, all these offers seem to also be boosting the company’s share value.

Time Inc is an American mass media company with quite a big history behind it. Founded in 1922 and based in New York City, New York, the company has ownership and publishing rights over more than 100 magazine brands.

Amongst its most famous is its name bearer, the Time magazine. Other widespread magazines include Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Entertainment Weekly, and Travel + Leisure.

Time Inc. also expanded to the online media with its LIFe.com website and also the MIMI, and MyRecipes, amongst others.

Following its 1990 merger with Warner Communication, the company was part of the Time Warmer media conglomerate. However, Time Inc. spun off in June 2014, when the merger broke.

However, the media empire has been facing tougher times recently as the printed press of all types sales seem to be falling with the rise of the Internet.

Various factors including the spin-off debts and revenue gains seem to have left the company struggling.

As the Time Inc changed its CEO, it also seems to have changed its direction as the company has shifted towards a more digital dependent model.

The company’s former CEO Joe Ripp, and one of the reasons behind the spinoff as he steered Time Inc in that direction stepped down from the position earlier this year.

As he cited the cause as being health issues, Ripp was replaced with Rich Battista, who is steering Time Inc towards being a multi-platform digital company.

Although the printed press still makes up most of the company’s revenue, Battista, with his cable-related background, has shifted the focus towards the digital.

However, the change will not be an easy one, as his first CEO earnings call seems to call. According to Battista, Time Inc will probably have no revenue gains in 2016, as he conceded during the third quarter earnings report.

As the company is still finding its path, a somewhat expected unexpected sales offered was received.

Reports showed that Edgar Bronfman Jr. was joined by two other billionaires in making an offer to the company.

The initial offer put out by the three billionaires saw a $18 per share value with a total deal value reaching up to $1.8 billion per deal.

Following the deal reports, Time Inc shares marked an increase on the market as they increased to a $16 per share value on Monday.

This marked quite a significant increase as the company’s shares closed at a $13.60 value on Friday.

It also marked a value regain as the Time Inc shares have been falling since its $23 IPO price from back in June 2014.

However, new reports seem to indicate that Time Inc has decided to reject the offer. The exact faith of the Bronfman, Ynon Kriez, and Assess Industries offer is as yet unknown as Times Inc has not issued an official statement.

However, market analysts consider that the offer is not yet dead as an updated, possibly increased deal could be resubmitted.

Other reports also indicate that a special meeting for a deal reconsideration could be invoked by 25 percent of the Time Inc. shareholders.

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Eli Lilly & Co announced earlier this week that their latest Alzheimer’s Disease solanezumab trial tests failed to register their intended results.

Eli Lily & Company is an Indianapolis, Indiana-based global pharmaceutical company and one of the world leaders in the domain.

The company, which is just one amongst the many to be searching for an Alzheimer’s Disease cure, has announced that its latest trial did not meet the expected results.

Back in 2013, Eli Lilly initiated a final step, Phase III Alzheimer’s Disease or AD case trial which meant to study the effects of solanezumab.

As the study was concluded, its results were a disappointment to both the company and the market in general.

Both specialists and analysts had been hoping for a successful result as it would have meant both a step forward in treating the disease and a new market area.

Dementia and its most common type, AD, are amongst the current leading causes of death and the only one of the top five diseases to not have a known cure or treatment.

The New England Journal of Medicine just recently released a study which shows that the United States spend up to $215 billion every year in treating AD patients.

The high costs are mostly determined by the need for nursing homes and their subsequent costs.

A solanezumab-based treatment would have marked a quite significant reduction of these costs and would have initiated a new market area.

Besides the finance and business-related drawbacks, the final study results also pose a more significant medical question.

Solanezumab is an injectable therapy which could be combined with already approved and existing AD medicines.

The drug works in the bloodstream as was designed to bind the beta amyloid protein. This later protein is believed to be amongst the chief factors which lead to the appearance of AD.

It is believed that amyloid leads to the formation of toxic plaques which could cause or advance the appearance of Alzheimer’s, the neurodegenerative disease.

The Eli Lilly Phase III trial involved and studied the effects of this therapy on about 2,100 patients. These were all suffering from mild to cognitive forms of AD.

As the randomized trial assigned both the solanezumab therapy and placebo medicine, the results were a disappointment.

According to the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale, the patients which received the therapy did not show a significant treatment result.

It was determined that the solanezumab registered similar results rates with those garnered by the placebo medicines.

This was a great disappointment as the aforementioned therapy was expected to offer a solution to the millions of worldwide sufferers.

Although an official number has not been disclosed, Eli Lilly is believed to have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the trial studies.

The company did declare that it will be taking, in connection with the failed trial tests, a $150 million write-down.

Eli Lilly’s trial also pointed out that the amyloid plaques theory may also not be the correct direction to follow.

As such, the medical and financial failure of the solanezumab therapy may help point researchers in the right direction. Just for 2016, the United States federal government will have spent an approximated $991 million on basic AD research.

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Energy Transfer Partners announced this Monday that it will be officially merging with Sunoco Logistics Partners, its sister company that has until now been a separate entity.

According to the declaration, the official merger should be finalized sometime next year. Following the merger, the united companies will function under the current Energy Transfer name.

As the Sunoco Logistics merger will come to a be a $20 billion in all stocks deal, the united company would be run by Energy Transfer’s current Kelcy Warren.

Energy Transfer and Sunoco Logistics are already part of the same mother company. Sunoco Logistics Partners was acquired by the mother company Energy Transfer some 4 years ago.

Until now, the company has been functioning as a separate, individually traded entity. Sunoco Logistics is an oil products storing, terminalling, and transporting company.

Its pipelines are mostly responsible for the transportation of crude oil and its related products.

In contrast, Energy Transfer, which has the same domain of activity and commercial profile, is mostly a natural gas pipeline transporter.

The Sunoco Logistics and Energy Transfer union will come just as they are partnering so as to build the very controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.

According to both of the company’s representatives, the merger will help increase both their scales whilst at the same time-saving costs.

The merger deal will have the smaller Sunoco Logistics buy the much larger Energy Transfer Partners.

This decision has not pleased the company investors as the market analysts point out the effects such a move may have on their quarterly payouts.

According to estimates, the larger company investors would see an almost 30 percent decrease in their quarterly payouts following the acquisition.

As such, the Monday announcement garnered a quite negative reaction as both company stocks registered decreases.

Following the announcement, the Energy Transfer registered a 7 percent stock drop which resulted in a $36.52 stock value per unit, $2.85 less than previous values.

Sunoco Logistics Partners registered a similar drop with a 6.5 percent fall. As such, their share value per unit was of $24.47, with a $1.72-day decrease.

Energy Transfer registered a rapid growth as, just like Sunoco Logistics, it is owned through an MLP ownership model.

The MLP or master limited partnership model favors a company’s growth in a tax-friendly structure. The two companies are currently functioning through 4 such publicly traded MLPs.

As the four MLPs do not have to par corporate income taxes, most of their income is passed on to investors. These payments are quite similar to stock dividends.

The four MLPs are the Energy Transfer Partners, Energy Transfer Equity, Sunoco Logistics, Sunoco LP, and the pipeline subsidiaries.

Sunoco LP is in charge of operating thousands of convenience stores and gas stations.

The MLPs are considered to work best when their respective markets and the ensuing profits are booming. As such, it is hard for them to justify large payouts during  slow growth periods or downturns.

Energy Transfer’s Warren also pointed out on Monday the inevitable nature of his company’s future consolidation besides the Sunoco Logistics merger.

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Ford, the car-making company, reportedly announced that it intends to carry on with its plans of opening a Mexican facility which will produce small cars, despite possible new taxes.

The Michigan-based, United States Ford Motor Company will reportedly still follows its plans of opening a Mexico-based facility.

The Mexican facility would come to replace some of the products of their Michigan-based plant which manufactures the small car or sedan models of the company.

Ford Focus would be the vehicle whose production would be moved to a Mexican facility. According to  Ford representatives, the move will not have a negative impact on the current plant.

As the Ford Focus cars would be moved, two new vehicle models could come to replace the such freed up space.

Ever since the appearance of the first Mexican movement suggestions, company representatives have stated that the Michigan employees number would not be reduced.

This fact seems to be further ensured by the future production of the two apparently very important products which will be fabricated in the Michigan plants.

As of yet, the two important products have not been mentioned or even hinted at. However, the company CEO is convinced that the move will not make an impact on the current jobs.

According to recent reports which trace back to Mark Fields, the Ford Chief Executive Officer, the car maker still intends to pursue their aforementioned plans.

The future move was put to question following a series of political and campaign declaration made by Donald Trump.

During his campaign, the then presidential candidate Trump signaled out Ford and gave them as an example of United States companies that are moving their business.

As he declared that the manufacturer is sending jobs away from their current location and away to the possible Mexican facility.

The aforementioned Trump also threatened to impose an extra tariff on the cars produced and imported from the south of the U.S. border.

The proposed numbers featured a 35 percent extra tax for the American manufacturers to have moved their company overseas.

The tax would be implied once the companies tried to import their products back into the United States. It was presented as a way of stopping the movement of manufacturing jobs.

Still, according to the statement Fields is reported to have released earlier this week, even with an additional tax, the production costs would be cheaper across the border.

Fields went to explain that a vehicle manufactured in the United States is not very profitable for the company.

As such, the company would have two alternatives so as to increase its profitability, either a factory relocation or an increase in the product’s price.

The price increase is not seen as being a viable option, as a higher price would probably lead to a drop in sales.

With the main disruptive factor being the increased manufacturing costs, the best option still appears to be the investment in a Mexican facility, even if it will impose a new tax.

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General Electric Digital, the General Electric industrial software division, has announced its acquisition of the ServiceMax, the field service management provider.

General Electric is not a stranger to the cloud-based management provider company as the former is amongst the ServiceMax investors.

It has also been its customer since 2010 and was one of the players to have participated in the $82 million funding round which took place last year.

GE is amongst the big customers of the Salesforce platform, which hosts the ServiceMax application and which also numbers in between the latter company’s early investors.

According to the General Electric Digital sales announcement, the deal is expected to close sometime in January and will see the acquisition of the ServiceMax provider for a $915 million value.

Dave Yarnold, the Service Max CEO confirmed the news and emphasized both of the companies’ orientation towards “servitization”.

He also pointed out the General Electric tendency and emphasis towards service revenues, which they also built, emphasis which was a contributing factor in the sealing of the deal.

Yarnold continued by explaining that the two companies have had a strong working relation ever since they first started collaborating back in 2010.

He stated that the relation was helped along by the GE’s visionary, though, and straightforward vision and alignment in terms of their relationship.

As a part of the General Electric Digital, ServiceMax will probably be accelerating both its global expansion plans and its product development.

It will also be joining in amongst the General Electric Digital asset performance management and Predix Internet of Things.

In September, General Electric made another acquisition which will help advance the asset performance management area. The acquisition targeted Meridium and came after a $495 million sale.

According to the aforementioned Yarnold, the company is looking forward to combining the asset performance management area with the Internet of Things domain.

He believes that such a mix will offer quite a number of opportunities, which he predicts the company will be seeking out over time and which will be quickened by the GE affiliation.

The General Electric Digital CEO, Bill Ruh, also released a statement in regards to the sale. In it, he revealed that the company was initially considering developing its own such division.

This would have given them the ability to digitize and automate servicing, but instead, the company decided to invest and buy ServiceMax.

The decision to acquire the existing service was made after taking into consideration the working relation and experiences with the company’s products.

According to Ruh, the acquisition will contribute to the enhancement efforts of the General Electric Digital.

The company has been trying to enhance the technology stack which surrounds its Predix platform. It has also been developing and advancing the company’s Industrial Internet vision.

He went on to state that a successful digital industry strategy will be based on the digitalization of field services. Just as an improved productivity will be vital for the Industrial Internet.

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As the car-making company, Volkswagen was involved in a car software scandal last year, the investigating prosecutors are now targeting one of the company’s board top members.

Volkswagen, the German giant automaker, was involved in a huge scandal last year after the group was accused of installing a software that would modify emission levels.

The accusation, which Volkswagen officially admitted as being true in September 2015, claimed that some 11 million diesel-powered vehicles were equipped with a faulty software.

The emission levels computers were said to have been modified so as to register and show a lower level of pollution, which would present it as cleaner and less damaging to the environment. This would, in turn, change the car’s status and tax levels and effectively cheat authorities.

Following the “dieselgate” scandal, as it was dubbed, a number of board members were put under investigation from the very first few days of the investigation.

Martin Winterkorn, former Volkswagen CEO, and another former member of the company’s board of command were put under investigation by the Brunswick, Germany prosecutors after they allegedly withheld information and impended the investigation.

Following this move, the car-maker company named Hans Dieter Poetsch, former chief financial officer as its supervisory board chairman.

Volkswagen announced on Sunday that the investigation is now targeting its board top, Poetsch, and his previous activity in the company.

Following the announcement, the company representatives also declared that Volkswagen will be backing its new board top as they stand by Poetsch.

According to the statement, the external and internal legal experts which analyzed the prosecuting claims seem to confirm the company opinion that the aforementioned board fulfilled its obligation in disclosing the needed information required by the German market laws.

The German law for capital market requires companies to disclose any and all information which might affect the respective market’s prices.

After more than a year after the dieselgate scandal was first brought to the public’s attention, Volkswagen is still involved in a number of trials and legal and financial problems.

One of the most recent lawsuits surrounding the dieselgate scandal was settled in the United States last month. The company won approval and will settle the compensation claims of nearly half a million polluting VG vehicle owners with a $14.7 billion sum.

This settlement will not, however, solve all of Volkswagen’s problems as the giant car maker still faces criminal allegation charges in a case with the United States, besides its other, various European lawsuits.

Volkswagen has stated that a sum of $18 billion will be directed towards paying the buybacks and refits of the affected vehicles, as well as the varied legal costs, but analysts predict a higher sum total.

The new investigation of the company’s top board members does not also spell good news for the company that has ever since been trying to make up for the dieselgate scandal.

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Amidst the fourth quarter reports and declarations, Whole Foods Inc has also announced that it will be renouncing one of its CEOs as the company has been run by two executives.

As they announced their quarterly reports on Wednesday, the company also revealed the decision to return to the more common management structure featuring one CEO.

For the past six years, Whole Foods Inc has been run by two CEOs including the company’s co-founder, John Mackey, and Walter Robb.

According to the new statement, John Mackey will retain his position as chief executive and will come to be the sole user of this title by the end of the current year as Walter Robb will renounce the position of co-CEO.

Following the step-down Robb, who has been working for over 25 years for the company, will become one of the Whole Foods Inc senior advisors as he will be keeping his position on the board.

Another change in the company’s management will be marked by the departure of Glenda Flanagan, its Chief Financial Officer. Flanagan, who will have retired from the CFO position by September 2017, will also continue to be one of Whole Foods’ advisors.

The Whole Foods Inc quarter reports did not bring in optimistic results as the company registered a 2.6 percent decrease in its sales numbers, a number higher than the 2 percent expected drop.

The company registered a net income in this quarter of $88 million which also marked a rise in their share value, as they surpassed the expected 24 cents per share value and instead closed in at 28 cents.

Whole Foods has been losing some of its market numbers as it has been facing an increasing number of competitors. Big-box retailers, supermarkets, and grocery companies that deliver organic products have been known to sometimes offer cheaper prices and are raising the competition.

As the company declared that they will not be overdoing the lower prices areas, this year marked the opening of its first lower prices store, the 365 by Whole Foods Market. The company’s flagship stores also saw the launching of a new digital coupons app.

According to company CEO Mackey, the company intends to keep operating on and offering higher quality products and also of offering customers better services.

After the reports, Whole Foods Market Inc. revealed their expectations for the fiscal year up to its September 2017 end as coming to a $1.42 or higher share value. It also expects a 2.5 to 4.5 percent revenue growth, which is in line with the analysts’ predictions.

The Austin, Texas-based company saw a 15 percent drop in shares this year. As the market closed on Wednesday, the Whole Foods Inc shares rose by 3.8 percent.

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IBM and Celgene will be joining forces to protect patients as the two companies will be mixing their technologies so as to help doctors and create a drug safety program.

IBM, the computing giant company, has been developing and implementing their own Artificial Intelligence (AI) program, called Watson, which has until now been mostly used in the business and technology domains.

Now, thanks to the collaboration with Celgene, the IBM Watson will be opening up a new division called IBM Watson for Patient Safety.

Celgene, the biopharmaceutical global company has in its turn been testing and releasing new products that mean to fight disease and improve patient safety.

The collaboration between IBM and Celgene will seek to offer a better, more accurate database for drug prescriptions and treatments.

The process should work and combine the two companies’ principal assets in the area, the IBM Watson’s processing speed, and the Celgene database.

IBM Watson would be used as data processing tool as the AI-powered system will process and synthesize the most important data points gathered from a variety of sources.

Electronic medical records which have been turned anonymous, medical claims and similar other such databases would be processed and would ultimately contribute towards a better decision-making process in the development of the various medical products.

The IBM and Celgene future platform would permit such a development process as the mix would account for both a rapid data collection system and an automated analysis process which would denote the best results.

According to John Freeman, the global safety and risk management Celgene vice president, current drug utilization and prescription techniques are based on relatively small databases.

The mixing of IBM’s Watson technology with the medical data would allow for a better understanding of large scale databases. This would, in turn, lead to a better communication between pharma companies and the drug regulators.

The pharma company and drug maker could also use the database processing system so as to look for and have access to a larger area of possible side effects and adverse reactions.

This would, in turn, lead to more efficient products and an increase in patient safety standards and measures. It could also account for a more cost-efficient treatment as a better understanding of the potential medicine would allow for a faster, safer trial period, marked by fewer failures and more efficiency.

As the IBM Watson technology is AI based, it would also account for the system’s ability to learn, process, and synthesize new data, to essentially grow. Such a continuous update in the databases could result in more effective treatments as it would also lower the potentially adverse reactions.

The IBM and Celgene collaboration hopes to bring a new, cost-effective, patient protection as its large database processes should allow for better treatment therapies.

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Xoom and PayPal will start collaborating and offering clients an easier money transfer program.

Xoom, which is the remittance platform owned by PayPal, has announced on Thursday that it will be bringing two new important updates to its systems. The key changes should help the remittance platform attract more customers for its services and away from digital-based players.

The legacy players have been attracting attention and clients due to their possibility of offering faster, easier to perform transfers coupled with smaller fees.

The two features which should help Xoom advance in the area refer both to itself and to its mother-company, PayPal.

Up until now, Xoom and PayPal have been functioning as separate services but that will change as the two platforms will start collaborating.

From now on, any user who will utilize PayPal in order to send cross-border sums will be redirected to the website or app variants of Xoom. From here, the users can utilize their PayPal accounts and data so as to send the money sums using the already defined options of the account.

This would allow the 79 million PayPal users an easier access to the Xoom platform, and could also increase the latter’s active market role and user base.

The fact that the remittance system would now resemble the P2P (peer-to-peer) mobile transfer could also contribute to the bringing of new clients, as they are interested in using the respective functionality.

The second key new feature that will be introduced besides the Xoom and PayPal collaboration will be marked by the remittance platform’s request option.

Remittance transactions would usually have the sender enter all the required recipient information before accepting the transaction.

Xoom’s new options will allow its recipient users to fill in their pickup and financial information and then “request” that the money be sent to the already registered information.

The platform will now offer its users the chance to request the money transfers and also bill and top-up payments. The last two are increasingly more used options on the remittance platforms and market.

As this could help reduce the number of failed transactions, it could also help users that are hesitant to request money in order to finalize a send transaction.

The new Xoom and PayPal relation, as well as its new feature, could potentially help Xoom become one of the most important players in the remittance market as they could increase its number of users and develop its own network.

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With the Verizon deal still waiting confirmation, Yahoo has announced that it will not be holding its quarter earnings webcast reports.

The Verizon – Yahoo sales deal has recently been surrounded by an air of uncertainty as a number of rumors and new information have been putting their mark on the acquisition and raising questions.

After Yahoo reportedly suffered back in 2014 a massive data breach that affected almost 500 million users, information as yet not officially disclosed by the company, Verizon was said to have asked for a $1 billion price drop in their sales contract.

The initial sale deal between the two companies was supposed to account for a $4.8 billion acquisition of the Internet giant, Yahoo, but the new data has put quite a block in sale’s path.

The acquisition, which should close sometimes in 2017’s first quarter, has been put to the test and could depend on Yahoo’s quarter year reports as Verizon has indicated its wish for a full post-breach announcement report.

Craig Silliman, Verizon General Counsel, stated that Verizon believes the data breach to have also had material consequences and expressed his company’s not unaccounted for wish to see a report that will either demonstrate or infirm this belief.

Yahoo has declared through spokesperson Suzanne Philion that the company is confident in its value and that it is working towards signing the Verizon deal.

The company will be announcing its third-quarter results on October 18, after business closes for the day, but will not be hosting its usual webcast or earnings call.

Company representatives Marissa Mayer CEO and Ken Goldman, CFO, would usually hold such calls and webcasts during which the respective quarter earning reports would be made known to investors. Yahoo announced that due to its Verizon deal, they will not be taking place this time.

The company has had a rough few months as hacking and data breaches reports started showing up, with the CEO, Marissa Mayer, being generally held responsible for Yahoo’s descent in status.

Analysts and investors are asking for a new, more competitive approach from the company in the Web content, social media, and analytics domains.

As Yahoo has continued to fall behind its main rival, Google, in the search area and has not developed any new products that would attract new user engagement, Mayer is thought responsible for insufficient funds in this domains, and too many in the noncore assets and in corporate expenses.

All eyes will be trained on Yahoo’s reports as many analysts consider them a turning point in the Verizon deal, one that could either result in a different price mark, or in the actual sale falling through.

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MillerCoors closed a sale deal with Molson Coors Brewing which will make it part one of the largest beer companies and raise its fame to a worldwide level.

The Denver-based Golden Brewery sports a rich history besides its varied products as the company, which was founded in 1873 by two German immigrants, Adolf Cors and Jacob Schueler, has managed to survive through prohibition and other numerous challenges as it now closed a $12 billion sale contract.

The buyer, Molson Coors Brewing Co. acquired, though the deal, the remaining 58 percent of the company which it didn’t already own as the company was already a shareholder. The sale will effectively double the company and give it an advantage and boost needed in order to survive in this rapidly evolving and globalized industry.

Mark Hunter, the Molson Coors CEO is pleased with the acquisition as he looks back both on the brewery’s history and also on its fame, as MillerCoors is one the signature companies of the state. As he declared in a statement, Molson Coors now owns the third biggest beer brewery in the world, which also has its headquarters in the state, and the company is planning on transforming the already large business and make it bigger and stronger.

Molson Coors stocks have gained up to 17 percents this year in stock prices as the company has a $23.4 billion market value which maintains its place behind Dish Market as on of the state’s biggest public company, a position it acquired and maintained over this past decades.

Their full ownership of MillerCoors will double their staff numbers, from 9,000 to 18,000, and sales are expected to do the same as the deal is also expected to cut back on costs and save the company somewhere around $200 million over a four years period.

Still, the company will have to boost its global sales if it wants to continue growing. As the new deal means that Molson Coors is now able to freely distribute MillerCoors products, without the additional limitations their former joint partnership entailed, it will now also be able to distribute its own legacy brands the likes of Coors Light, to name just one.

A global outreach of their products will be needed if the company wants to not only maintain its status but also develop and reach new markets. As beer remains one of the U.S.’ most consumed beverages, drinkers are slowly being turned towards smaller, local breweries and the big names of the industry are also changing their strategy so as to gain scope over the worldwide market and are lowering costs and forming either alliances or directly merging so as to form one bigger company.

Molson Coors is not at its first merge as the name itself seeks to show. The present company was formed in 2005 by the combination, at times difficult, of Coors Brewing and Canada-based Molson. The present merge between Molson Coors and MillerCoors is expected to go more smoothly as the companies already shared a number of common purposes.

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As the Internet of Things trend (IoT) has taken flight with everything from your phone to your fridge being connected to the Internet and at just a touch away, it comes as no surprise that the way we travel is the latest area to be affected by the movement.

As the trend for smart, easy to access and control gadgets has continued to grow and seeing as people are increasingly interested in the technology that is thought to make their lives easier and more connected, it comes as no surprise that the next to follow in the IoT trend are the automakers.

As both a means of advancement and as a profitable business opportunity, the connected cars market is expected to generate an ever-developing market. With 2015 numbering over 35 million connected cars, the market is expected to reach the 381 million mark by the end of 2020 and to generate a market of $8.1 trillion for the 5 years period.

With modern personal cars already sporting or offering an increasingly higher number of connectivity gadgets and options, the next step towards Wi-Fi supremacy will most likely target public transportations. As the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority has declared, plans are being made to equip the city’s subway cars with built-in Wi-Fi, install chargers, and security cameras.

For the moment, personal cars benefit from the best form of IoT transportation as they have greatly evolved since the car’s first tech gadgets, the 1920’s cigarette lighter. Modern day technology offers automakers two methods of ensuring their products’ connectivity. The first is the embedded type, which offers cars  access to a built-in chipset and antenna. The second type is the tethered connection which uses hardware which will allow the drivers to form a connection between their smartphone and the vehicle.

Also, modern cars are starting to forgo the use of their usual dashboard computer data and replace it with apps and other navigation tools. As Map apps are starting to replace GPS systems, so the driver can now use apps which will inform him from where he can buy the cheapest gas and can give up the old satellite radio for a ready-made playlist or any other famous player app.

But the most exciting and expected features of the IoT transportation innovations are just starting to appear. Research is on its way and tests are being made so that personal cars could benefit, sometimes in the near future, of road-integrated autopilot, remote valet assistance that could enable car parking via smartphone and the most exciting parts are still to come.

Makers are hoping that the IoT trend could even lead to driver-free and driverless cars, totally autonomous of human assistance or even steering wheel, and their predicted availability is placed for sometimes after 2020.

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