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UberEats now lets Brits schedule food deliveries
UberEats, like Deliveroo and Amazon Prime Now, can be useful if you don't have the time, supplies or energy to rustle up some grub. When you're really in a rush, however -- the morning 'I must not be late for work again' dash, for instance -- it can be a nuisance to open the app, complete an order and then wait for the courier to arrive at your front door. Now, in London, Birmingham and Manchester, it's possible to schedule an UberEats delivery. It's a small addition, but one that could prove useful if you're time poor or like to have your meals organised in advance.
Nintendo is taking the Switch on a UK tour this month
Are the Joy-Cons too small? What is ARMS really like to play? If you have these or any other Switch-related questions, there's only way to get some definitive answers: Try the system yourself. Following its US preview tour, Nintendo is taking its latest console to Great Britain. From February 10th to 12th, the system will be available to play at the Boxxed warehouse in Birmingham. The console-portable hybrid will then appear at the Cobden Rooms in Manchester for three days starting on February 17th. Finally, it'll stop by the Tanner Warehouse in London from February 24th to 26th.
Robber arrested after Facebook suggests the victim adds him
People know people. It's how Facebook works. Now it's a random force for good, helping to track and convict a thief in Birmingham in the UK. Omar Famuyide was spotted on the social network's "people you may know" feature by one of his victims, after which UK police connected him to multiple robberies and firearms offenses. The BBC reports that he was jailed for 17 years for robbery, attempted robbery, possession of a firearm and possession of a knife.
Amazon expands Prime Now one-hour deliveries to Birmingham
Londoners have been taking advantage of Amazon's Prime Now one-hour delivery service for a little over a month now, and it's time to afford others the same convenience. Today, Amazon has launched the speedy one-hour delivery option in Birmingham and surrounding areas, including Lichfield, Cannock and Tamworth. Expanding to other UK cities by the end of the year, Prime Now offers delivery on over 20,000 products within an hour for a £7 charge, or free same-day delivery within a two-hour window of your choice. You have to be an Amazon Prime member, of course, and all orders need to be placed through the Prime Now Android/iOS app -- and to grease the wheels a little, Amazon is offering £20 off your first Prime Now order of £50 or above with the checkout code BIRMINGHAM. If you recall, Amazon's rumoured to be bringing its Prime Fresh grocery-delivery service to London in the very near future, and considering today's launch, perhaps we already know where that would be headed next.
Uber goes live in Birmingham, its fourth UK city
While there's tonnes of competition between app-based private hire services in the US, if you want to move about UK cities, you'll find the market is largely dominated by local taxi firms. Uber and Hailo are both intent on disrupting the space, though, and are slowly widening their presence. Today, Uber's taken another step forward with its UK expansion, announcing that it's now ready to accept fares in Birmingham. That takes the company's city count up to four, with the Midlands city joining London, Manchester and Leeds. Currently, Uber's footprint in Birmingham is quite small, meaning customers might have to wait for a car. However, with its driver loyalty program now fully operational, the company can offer new drivers more incentives than its traditional taxi counterparts.
Tesla opens new Supercharger sites in London and Birmingham
Tesla's right-hand drive Model S has been available in the UK for a couple of months now, but its complementary Supercharger network has yet to make real impact on Britain's roads. However, the company has always intended to expand its free car-charging stations to cover many of the UK's major motoring hubs, and it's now started to deliver on its word. From today, London will play host to two Supercharger locations, with a new site located at Hyatt Regency London in Central London joining Tesla's first charger at the Royal Victoria Docks.
Head down to Birmingham and soak up free Virgin Media WiFi this September
Should you live in the UK's second most populous metropolitan area, Birmingham, it's nearly time to congregate en masse in the city's center for an impromptu test of a brand new free WiFi network supported by Virgin Media. In exchange for access to various public fixtures, Virgin Media's outfitting Birmingham with free WiFi access; the benefit is two-fold, though, as Birmingham residents will ultimately enjoy better mobile infrastructure. The network's set to go live "by September," so set your clocks for just a month or so from now for that congregation. [Image credit: 'brianac37']
EE launches free 4G WiFi service in (some) London black cabs
So, previous taxi WiFi solutions were too slow, or you weren't underground. What's a smartphone-tethered Londoner on the hunt for WiFi supposed to do? The current answer is to flag down one of London's 40 4GEE taxis, all of which will be loaded with WiFi router connected to EE, the UK's only LTE network. If you're not dahhn sahhf, you'll still be able to pick up the signal in ten cabs that'll be circling Birmingham. Ironically, these 4G-ready black cabs will no longer be black. Nope, they'll be coated in the turquoise hues of the EE network, which should make them easier to spot. Anyone living in either metropolis should have no troubles keeping up with new Doctor Who, Downton Abbey or Peep Show ever again. At least for the next three months, which is how long the service is set to last.
Rare to build new studio in Birmingham, England
Rare announced today that it will soon open a new studio facility in the Digbeth area of Birmingham, England. To be housed in the Fazeley Studios complex, the new studio will serve as a "production, test and usability site to accommodate Rare's evolving methodology in game creation." Rare plans to use the new studio as a model for "change," as the company believes that the current practice of over-staffing studios has caused "a boom and bust cycle." The new studio marks a move to a development method more akin to film studios, and Rare expects the facility to house around 90 staff members, though the number is expected to fluctuate throughout different projects. The announcement notes that Digbeth's proximity to "several universities and colleges" makes the new facility "ideally placed for recruiting staff." We'd like to point out that Digbeth is also home to several pubs and bars, which should come in handy during crunch time.
Birmingham, Alabama becomes next city to get AT&T's U-verse TV
The siege is on. A mere seven months after AT&T first made clear that it was intent on making Alabama a U-verse state, we've learned within the past week that the services will be coming to Cullman and now Birmingham. Starting tomorrow, U-verse TV and high-speed internet will be available for ordering in select parts of the city, just a week before the Wolfpack of NC State treks down to trample the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. Stay patient, Alabama -- AT&T's lines should be headed to your hood within the next little while.
Woman sues Apple, claims false iPhone advertising
A Birmingham, Alabama, woman has sued Apple, claiming its television advertisements about the iPhone 3G being twice as fast as its predecessor are false. She also claims her handset is defective. The woman, Jessica Smith, is seeking class-action status for her suit. According to The Birmingham News, Smith's iPhone connects most often to the slower, older EDGE network, and not the 3G network that the advertisements claim. Apple has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation, but Apple is, as Macworld puts it, "repeatedly sued" over a variety of complaints. [Via Macworld.]
Bright House Networks adds a half dozen HD channels in Birmingham, AL
No sooner did Time Warner Cable toss in six new high-def stations in Wetumpka than Bright House Networks has matched it up in Birmingham. With the threat of AT&T's U-verse hanging over the existing cable carriers, BHN has apparently seen fit to add in Discovery HD (659), TLC HD (666), National Geographic HD (667), Food HD (668), HGTV HD (669) and MGM HD (684). Alright TWC, ball's in your court once again.[Thanks, Andrew]
Motorola getting ready to close Birmingham design center?
The Register is reporting that Motorola's outpost in Birmingham, England has officially been placed on death row this week, with its 121 staff ominously being told that they're "at risk for redundancy." We're pretty sure that's code for "we think someone else is already doing your job, but we need to confirm that and get back to you," so in the meantime it seems like a brilliant idea for the so-notified folks to prep their CVs and hightail it outta there. To be fair, Moto is apparently going to start by trying to offer relocation or work-from-home deals for some of the Birmingham peeps, but it seems that it's a best-case scenario. Even worse, the office is a Moto design center; correct us if we're wrong, but we don't think you turn around a struggling phone manufacturer by killing off design, right?
Birmingham, AL totally confused by OLPC purchase
We knew we were in for some rough chuckles when Birmingham, Alabama signed up to provide an OLPC XO to every K-8 student last December, but we didn't think they'd be this silly from the get-go: apparently the mayor's office, which negotiated the deal, is now saying the school board needs to add WiFi to every school for the laptops to work. That's news to us -- the mesh-networking XO was designed to be used in rural parts of the developing world, after all -- but we're still puzzling out what mayoral advisors John Katopodis and Bob McKenna meant when they said they're "trying to make the whole city WiFi," or where they got a quote of $39 per school to enable wireless access. Of course, the only response from the school board was one member who worried about students accessing porn -- which seems to be a real theme with the XO -- but for some reason we're not at all surprised that bureaucratic officials have totally missed the point of the OLPC project.[Thanks, Jay]
Birmingham, Alabama schools getting 15000 OLPC XOs
If you (or your kiddo) just happens to be a first through eighth grader in Birmingham, Alabama, you (or your offspring) will soon be playing with an XO during regularly scheduled class time. Mayor Larry Langford has recently announced that a $3 million deal was signed in order to bring in one laptop per child for the aforementioned grades, or 15,000 XOs in total. Apparently, the schools will become the first in the nation to receive heaps of the low-cost lappies, which were sold to the district at $200 a pop. As for logistics, students can expect to receive their machine on April 15, 2008, and while pupils will be allowed to take 'em home, the school system can and will disable any that inexplicably "disappear."[Image courtesy of OLPCNews]
Spyshot: Alabama's Apple Store revealed
Earlier this week, we mentioned that Alabama's very first Apple Store - in Birmingham - will finally open this coming Saturday the 14th. TUAW operative Jeremy saw our post and went down to the Summit Mall, camera in hand, and took this shot of workers revealing the store's facade. That's a cute display in the front window, though we thought the iPod shuffles were actually a lot smaller.Thanks, Jeremy!
Apple Store Birmingham - Finally
We first reported on Apple's intention to put an store in Birmingham's Summit Mall a year ago. The fact is, it has been six years since Apple acquired "store #5" in that mall. This Saturday, April 14, the wait will finally end as this store has its grand opening. This will be Alabama's very first Apple Store.If you're going to attend this opening in Alabama, please send us links to your photos and reports! Good luck and have fun.Thanks, Joseph!
Birmingham, Ala. Apple Store confirmed
Put on your party hats, Mac users in Birmingham! The Birmingham News is confirming Eddie Bauer's departure from the Summit Mall is Apple's gain, as they'll be taking over the now vacant space (it's #28, if you're fluent in mall-speak). You may have heard rumors a couple of years ago regarding an Apple store in Birmingham. What has the hold up been? Just ask Libby Lassiter, who is the executive vice president of development and leasing for Bayer Properties:"...the center was in negotiations with Apple several years ago, but the space available for the store was too small...by six inches."[Via ifoAppleStore]
