A new hire at Apple previously worked for Reviver, a company that makes digital license plates, leading to speculation that Apple’s much-rumored automobile could sport digital license plates, if and when it comes to market.
One of Apple’s recent hires is Rónán Ó Braonáin, who previously served as Director of Engineering at Reviver, a company that makes digital license plates. Braonáin joined the company in August, and as seen on his LinkedIn page, he’s working on Apple Special Projects as a “Secret Agent.” Presumably that means he’s part of the team working on Project Titan, the codename for the Apple Car.
Braonáin’s LinkedIn page, first noticed by Electrek.co, says he led the Reviver engineering team for five months. Previous jobs included a position at Vision Fleet, where he built fleet management software to read data from electric vehicles, and a stint as a software engineer at BMW working on connected car apps.
Reviver is best known for their Slate product, which is dubbed the “World’s First Digital License Plate.” The “plate” can monitor a vehicle’s location, keep track of maintenance records, and even send payments for tolls and parking fees.
Braonáin is just one of a number of hires Apple has made of personnel that have car-related experience. Apple has lured away employees of Chrysler, Tesla, Volkswagen and other car manufacturers, as well as researchers with advanced vehicle expertise.
