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Lyft brings Spin scooter rentals to its app
The option's available in Nashville today and will hit 60 US markets in the coming months.
Ford's e-scooter company Spin is leaving markets and laying off staff
It will exit Germany, Portugal and Spain completely.
Google Maps will show you the nearest available Spin e-bike or scooter
Google Maps has integrated with Spin to help users find its e-scooters and e-bikes.
Spin's new e-scooter is designed to withstand the public's neglect
The scooters have sturdier bodies, swappable batteries and a more modular design.
Spin will test scooters with remote parking capabilities this spring
Spin will start testing 300 e-scooters that feature remote parking capabilities this spring in Boise, Idaho before bringing the tech to other markets in North America and Europe.
SoulCycle's $2,500 home-fitness bike is almost ready for pre-order
There is plenty of high-tech home-fitness equipment on the market -- like Peloton bikes and treadmills, the Echelon rowing machine and Mirror. But if you've been holding out for the official SoulCycle bicycle, the wait is almost over. Beginning March 13th, select markets can pre-order SoulCycle's at-home bike and training programs.
Ford brings its Spin scooters to Germany this spring
Spin, the Ford-owned e-scooter company, is expanding its fleet into Europe. It will introduce dockless electric scooters in Cologne, Germany, this spring. The company plans to "explore opportunities" in Paris and the UK, too.
San Francisco grants Jump, Lime, Scoot and Spin e-scooter licenses
The relationship between San Franscico and sharable electric scooter programs has been contentious, with city authorities stepping in last year to regulate the services. Following the latest round of permit applications, the city has announced that four companies will be allowed to operate electric scooter programs for the next year: Jump, Lime, Scoot and Spin.
Spin's revamped e-scooters are coming to eight US cities
Spin, the e-scooter startup acquired by Ford, is rolling out its redesigned electric scooters and bringing them to more cities across the US. The new scooters have a larger frame with a wider and longer platform. They come with bigger, tubeless tires for better shock absorption, more intuitive bike-handle braking, a boosted rear drive for improved acceleration and security screws meant to cut down on tampering and vandalism. And with an extended battery life, they should travel up to 37.5 miles on a full charge.
Ford buys e-scooter sharing startup Spin
Turns out those rumours about Ford buying e-scooter startup Spin were true. The auto-maker has confirmed the purchase as it looks beyond car ownership to emerging modes of transport. Though it didn't disclose the financials behind the deal, sources previously told Axios that the agreement was around the $40 million mark.
Ford is reportedly buying e-scooter startup Spin
Ford might not sit idly by while other transportation companies expand beyond cars. Axios sources say the Blue Oval has agreed to buy e-scooter service Spin for roughly $40 million. It's not certain what Ford would do with the company or what would happen to its staff. We've asked Ford if it can comment on the report and will let you know if it has more to share.
San Francisco temporarily removes electric scooters for permit process
San Francisco is about to end its electric scooter scourge... for a while. The city's Municipal Transportation Agency has posted its permit application for companies wanting to operate e-scooters under a one-year pilot program and accompanying law, signalling that the two-wheelers need to leave the streets until services obtain permits. The firms have until June 4th to remove their scooters without facing impounding and fines (up to $100 per scooter), and have to submit their permit applications by June 7th. No more than five companies will operate at the same time during the pilot period.
Lyft may be getting into the electric scooter game
Lyft seems to be eyeing a move into the electric scooter craze -- the company is considering applying for a permit to run a service in San Francisco, The Information reported, and it's in the early stages of working on prototypes. Some companies like Bird, Lime and Spin already have scooters on the city's streets, but a established brand like Lyft making inroads could change the market drastically, opening the gateway for more big names.
Silicon Valley’s scooter scourge is coming to an end
San Francisco is a city where companies frequently like to try out new ideas. Uber had its start here many years ago, as did success stories like Twitter and Airbnb. So it's no surprise that San Francisco happens to be one of many cities experiencing a new form of transportation: sharable electric scooters. They appeared in downtown SF seemingly out of nowhere, taking over sidewalks and pedestrian paths. But what was marketed as a low-cost, eco-friendly way to get around town soon became a public nuisance.
Australians researchers have built a better qubit
Qubits, the unit of information used by quantum computers, make use of a phenomenon known as "superposition" wherein they can exist in two separate quantum states simultaneously. Theoretically, they'd enable computers to perform a variety of tasks far faster than conventional desktops by performing simultaneous computations in parallel. The problem is that qubits tend to be very unstable which prevents the information the contain from being read. However, a team of researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia may have finally tamed the elusive qubit. They've coerced one into remaining stable for ten times as long as normal qubits.
Peloton's spin-class bike now works with Strava
Peloton, the high-end connected bike that lets you follow along with indoor cycling classes, has announced that it'll let you sync your stats on Strava. Riders can join the Peloton Club on the service where they can track workout data like cadence, power output, speed and heart rate. They can also, of course, share that information with friends and family to keep themselves motivated, as you do. Strava Premium Members also get something out of this: exclusive access to a selection of Peloton's best workout videos that'll drop later in the spring.
The Crew accidentally erases player stats
Whoops: It seems as though The Crew's launch wasn't without a few speed bumps after all. Ubisoft admitted that the game's servers had been erasing or showing incomplete player statistics due to a minor issue. Before you get frightened that the game has erased your identity and progress entirely, know that the good news is that "major data" weren't affected at all and that a patch is coming to fix the problem. The Crew launched on Tuesday, December 2nd. Ubisoft refused to provide the media with review copies of the game.
Ubisoft's The Crew: Not pre-screened for critics
I used to love reading movie reviews in the local paper when I was a kid, though sometimes it puzzled me when a film was listed as "not pre-screened for critics." Generally these were B-movies that critics were prone to savaging, so the distribution companies figured they'd make more money if prospective customers didn't see Siskel and Ebert ripping a film up one side and down the other. Fast-forward 20 years and Ubisoft is doing something similar with The Crew. According to the latest company blog post, the open world MMO racer won't be given to media outlets in advance of its December 2nd release, ostensibly so that reviewers can experience the game in "optimal conditions" that include lots of other players. "The Crew was built from the beginning to be a living playground full of driving fans, so it's only possible to assess our game in its entirety with other real players in the world," the company says. "And by other, we mean thousands and thousands and thousands of players – something that can't be simulated with a handful of devs playing alongside the press." Ubisoft goes on to say that any reviews that do appear on release day will be built around media preview sessions from the title's beta phases and thus will not "reflect the finished game."
Crowdfunding Roundup: New Apple-related projects
Every week, TUAW provides readers with an update on what new or significant crowdfunded Apple-related projects are in the news. While our policy is to not go into detail on items that haven't reached at least 80 percent of their funding goal, this update is designed to give readers a heads-up on projects they might find interesting enough to back. From Kickstarter SPIN is billed as a premium in-ear audio solution that provides a very cool cord-retraction mechanism in an aluminum casing to destroy cord tangling once and for all. One of the co-founders of SPIN, Kevin Brennan, hails from LUNATIK -- we're big fans of their products here at TUAW. The campaign has about a month to go and is currently at about 4.5 percent of the $125,000 necessary to bring this product to life. When I first saw FretPen, I immediately thought that this diminutive guitar fell out of Jim Dalrymple's ample Beard™. I'll let the video below give you an idea of how amazing this thing is when used with your iPhone. And it's also usable as a pen! Which reminds me of The Who's "Guitar and Pen"... but I digress. With 26 days to go, it's about a third of the way towards funding. YOU CAN PUSH IT OVER THE TOP ... YEEEEEAAAHHHHH! DARWINmachine wants to evolve the iPad stand, which is why they've designed the F2 iPad/Tablet Stand. It has about three weeks to go, and is about 40 percent funded. F2 is a professionally-machined piece of gear that not only looks futuristic, but works well too. Give it a look if you're tired of the same old iPad stands that are currently on the market. The Star Trek Tricorder is closer than you think. The SCiO pocket molecular scanner from Consumer Physics is amazing. Use it with your iPhone and it uses infrared spectroscopy to do some amazing things -- tell you what the nutritional value of a food is, identify a medication, or determine how ripe a piece of fruit is. Unsurprisingly, SCiO is already 188 percent funded with about six weeks to go. We covered Lunecase yesterday in a breakout post, and it's bleepin' amazing. Lunecase is an iPhone case that harnesses the electromagnetic energy from your phone to power a display on the back. The case "knows and identifies when users receive an SMS message or a phone call before it is even displayed on the iPhone's screen." Lunecase is 180 percent funded with five weeks to go, but you can still get in on the fun. Would you buy a Lightning or micro-USB cable if it had a lifetime warranty? One of the primary issues with existing cables is that there's no strain relief around the actual plugs, so the cables become frayed and unusable way too quickly. Snakable uses a patent-pending strain-relief assembly to keep your cables in one piece. The Lightning cables will be Apple MFi-certified, and the project is about 10 percent funded with three weeks to go. Get to work, backers! Hat tip to Hal Sherman for feeding us this one! And although I was a day late in getting this week's crowdfunding roundup to "press", that's all I've got this week. Be sure to join us next week for even more great projects that could use your funding dollars. If you're aware of any other crowdfunded Apple-related projects, be sure to let us know about them through the Tip Us button at the upper right of the TUAW home page for future listing on the site. Just make sure that they actually have a valid reason for existing, OK?
Spin looks to bring high-fidelity group video chatting to iPhone and iPad
For the past year, three relatively low-profile but intriguing iPhone and iPad apps from developer Net Power & Light have graced the App Store: Together Talks, Together Justice and Together Learn are all built on the company's core Spin technology. Each app provides a collaborative video chat community around a specific content source; Talks aggregates TED talks, for example. But this week NP&L is doubling down on Spin with a standalone, user-driven free iOS app that's meant to give you a new way to connect with friends and family. The Spin name, according to company co-founder and CEO Tara Lemmey, comes from the concept of quantum spin and the ability of subatomic particles to be "entangled" with one another, preserving their connection even over cosmic distances. This Spin, while not quite so complicated, still brings a lot to the table. The new app is "capable of delivering truly immersive real-time 'together' experiences," says NP&L, by putting real-time, high fidelity video chat (even over LTE networks) alongside synchronous media sharing. Spin makes it easy to call up a video chat with a group of contacts (up to 10 simultaneously) or schedule chats around shared events (sports, favorite TV shows, etc.). Once in the Spin experience, participants' camera feeds share space with YouTube and Facebook videos, or photos sourced from Facebook, Flickr or the device itself. With a flick of a finger, different bits of media can take center stage, and users can add their input with onscreen doodles, fun animated props (a vuvuzela? really?) or just chat away. Want to focus your attention on one participant? Make their avatar bigger and they'll get louder, just as though they were closer to you in real life. The whole experience is pushed out at the maximum available quality for both audio and video; full AirPlay mirroring support allows you to push out the conversation to the big screen. NP&L has some high-powered investor/advisors to go along with a deep technology stack; the company boasts the former Xerox PARC director and current Deloitte innovation guru John Seely Brown on its roster. JSB, as he's generally known, is enthusiastic about the potential of Spin to help move the needle for interpersonal connections through technology. "Social media revolutionized how we connect online," he says, "but the hard work that went into creating the technology platform powering Spin goes even further. Digital interactions finally begin to feel more human, more real, and less digital, deepening our relationships in ways that are more fun, rewarding and fulfilling." The Spin app, along with its three Together predecessors, is engaging, responsive and fun to use; unfortunately it's not that good at preserving state or the progress of a video playback if you happen to switch to another app while you're using it (at least in single-user testing). Hopefully that's an iOS 7-related hiccup that will be cleared up with a patch in the near future. In the meantime, you can download Spin for free on the App Store and take it for a... well, you can try it out.
