Uber uses a dinosaur to show how you'd control a self-driving car with a smartphone

Why just hail a self-driving car with your smartphone when you can control one, too? 

That may soon be an option if Uber has its way. 

As detailed by a patent application published May 25, the company envisions a system that allows a rider to "instruct the autonomous vehicle to perform one or more non-driving operations" via a "mobile computing device."

That's right, only non-driving maneuvers are on the table here. So no, you won't be able to steer the self-driving car with your smartphone. But why would you want to, anyway? If your goal was to drive a car, you wouldn't be in an autonomous Uber.  Read more...