The AppAdvice tech week in review: The Apple Car and Google's big move

Apple’s next big event is still a few weeks away. In the meantime, some of the company’s competitors have been making some interesting moves. Here’s a look back at the week that was.

The biggest story this week: Project Titan is getting a test track

Cupertino is planning to rent a sprawling 2,100-acre property near San Francisco, California to work on its self-driving “Project Titan.” The move suggests that the long-rumored project is “further along than many suspected,” according to The Guardian.

The GoMentum Station is on the old Concord naval weapons station, which officials claim is “’the largest secure test facility in the world’ for the ‘testing validation and commercialization of connected vehicle (CV) applications and autonomous vehicles (AV) technologies to define the next generation of transportation network infrastructure.’”

Also making news: Apple’s fall plans

Apple is expected to unveil the company’s new iOS device lineup in the coming weeks. Rumors suggest this will include an “iPad mini 4,” but not an “iPad Air 3.” The next-generation iPad mini is expected to offer split-view multitasking, which is launching on select iOS devices on iOS 9.

Also expected to be announced soon is a fourth-generation Apple TV, which probably won’t include Cupertino’s long-rumored video streaming service.

As Bloomberg noted:

The company wanted to introduce this year a live TV service delivered via the Internet, but is now aiming for 2016, said people familiar with Apple’s plans. Talks to license programming from TV networks such as those owned by CBS Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. are progressing slowly, some of the people said. Apple also doesn’t have the computer network capacity in place to ensure a good viewing experience, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Apple is expected to hold a special event on September 8 or September 9.

Big app news

Moodnotes – Thought Journal / Mood Diary is a new app that helps you keep track of your emotions and thoughts. It launches for $3.99 on the App Store.

Other app news:

Say what? Our readers weigh in on the week that was

On news that cable providers aren’t playing nice with Apple over a video streaming service, Sweettea71 notes:

Considering how many are cutting the cord I’m surprised the networks aren’t doing all they can to work out something with Apple and others for that matter. Can’t wait until they do.

Reader iByron is happy to hear that the next iPad mini is likely to support split-view multitasking. “I like this. I plan to get an iPad mini as my primary ebook reader. This functionality might prompt me to buy new,” they explained.

TurtleGerald still hopes to see an iPad Air 4 this year, saying:

Presumably the iPhone 6S will be powered by an A9 chip, but if there isn’t an iPad Air 3 this year, then the latest model will still only be powered by the A8, thus making it less capable than a much smaller device. It’s the sort of fragmentation I wouldn’t expect from Apple and it simply doesn’t make sense for their tablet to be less powerful than their phone. All will be revealed soon enough, though!