The two biggest U.S. auto makers have agreed to jointly develop a nine-speed and a 10-speed automatic transmission for use in their portfolios of cars, crossovers, sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks.

WSJ: GM, Ford Team Up to Develop New Transmissions

Features like social media services, live traffic and weather updates and automatic emergency calling will be available in 650 percent more cars worldwide in 2017 than there were in 2010, according to analysts at IMS Research.

FORBES: The Cost Of A Connected Car

Toyota Industries, known until 2001 as Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (precursor of the auto giant), assembles cars and makes auto parts, forklifts and, as the former name suggests, textile manufacturing gear.

FORBES: A-Lister Inside

The telephone-equipment companies want voice dialling (useful in cars), automatic call-centres, computerised operator-services and messaging that allows users to pick up and send e-mails and faxes on an ordinary telephone anywhere in the world.

ECONOMIST: Can machines talk? From next month they will

The weapons, which will be converted from fully automatic to semi-automatic for safety reasons, will be assigned to sergeants and carried in the trunks of their cars.

CNN: Result of being outgunned in February shootout