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Airbnb cuts half of San Francisco listings as new laws kick in
San Francisco's strict short-term home rental laws just kicked in on Wednesday, and are already having a big effect on SF-based Airbnb. Listing plunged from over 10,000 to around 5,500, dropping around 4,760 listings, the site told the San Francisco Chronicle. Wednesday midnight was the deadline for hosts to register homes with the city for a $250 fee, or face fines as high as $1,000 a day.
Amsterdam will limit Airbnb rentals to 30 days per year
Last year, Amsterdam limited Airbnb rentals to no more than 60 days in a calendar year but that is about to be halved according to a report from DutchNews.nl. The city's executive board agreed to the proposed shortened limit today and housing alderman Laurens Ivens said, "I recognize that reducing the length of time is not the solution to city congestion but it will reduce the problems caused by tourists in some areas and will make it less inviting to use your home as a way to earn money."
San Francisco restricts the use of delivery robots on its sidewalks
Companies that are testing delivery robots hit a stumbling block in San Francisco this week. The city's Board of Supervisors voted to require permits for any autonomous delivery devices, restricting them to specific (and less-crowded) areas of the city. Additionally, these robots aren't allowed to make actual deliveries -- they are only allowed to be used for testing purposes. This restriction doesn't apply to delivery drones; the San Francisco Board of Supervisors only has jurisdiction over the sidewalks.
Uber and Lyft will test dedicated pick-up spots in San Francisco
One of San Francisco residents' biggest gripes with ride-hailing services is that their vehicles tend to double park and clog bike lanes. With traffic as bad as SF's, city officials had to do something about it. That's why Mayor Ed Lee has struck a deal with Uber and Lyft: San Francisco will launch a pilot program converting parking spaces into painted curbs ride-hailing drivers can use as designated pick-up and dropoff spots. Lee has been negotiating with the companies for months and has agreed to do the pilot in exchange for precious traffic data the city can use to combat congestion.
Airbnb taps San Francisco's biggest landlord for short-term rentals
Airbnb is recruiting San Francisco's largest landlord to allow tenants to offer their apartments as short-term rentals. In return for Veritas Investments serving up five of its buildings, Airbnb will give it a cut of the nightly revenue (10 percent, according to the San Francisco Chronicle), as part of the incentives it launched a year ago.
Thieves pilfer $370,000 worth of iPhone Xs in San Francisco
Thieves broken into a UPS truck parked outside a San Francisco Apple Store and made off with 300 iPhone Xs valued at around $370,000, CBS SF Bay Area reports. The suspects were "husky," and "wearing hooded sweatshirts," according to SFPD Captain Rick Yarid, adding "it appears [they] knew what they were looking for." The UPS driver reportedly parked the vehicle outside a mall and went to do a delivery at a Macy's when the thieves snatched the devices, according to a witness.
Microsoft opens a studio for mixed reality
Microsoft has really been hammering home its commitment to mixed reality lately, debuting its headsets earlier this month and holding an entire event dedicated to the concept. Now, and in time for the holidays, the company has launched the Microsoft Reactor in San Francisco, home to its Mixed Reality Capture Studios and Mixed Reality Academy. Here, creative agencies and application developers will be able to invent and create a huge range of mixed reality content, drawing on the thousands of performances the studio has captured over the course of seven years.
Ford's on-demand van service is running again in San Francisco
The Ford-owned on-demand commuter van company, Chariot, paused its service in San Francisco last week to fix compliance issues with the California Highway Patrol. The CHP had found that some Chariot drivers did not have required Class B licenses. The company confirmed via email that "effective Monday afternoon, service will be back on and running as regularly scheduled."
Ford's commuter van service Chariot halts operations in San Francisco
Chariot, an on-demand commuter van service owned by Ford, had to suspend it's operations in San Francisco due to compliance issues with the California Highway Patrol, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
Airbnb helps hosts in San Francisco get city approval online
Airbnb has had a bumpy ride in San Francisco. After the city passed a law that required all short-term rental hosts to register with the city, only a small percentage did (thanks largely to the onerous process involved), and many of those who didn't were hit with fines totalling $1 million. Differences were set aside in January though, when the parties agreed on a way to automatically register all hosts in the city. That service rolls out today, with hosts now able to apply directly through the Airbnb site for their Short-Term Residential Rental Certificate and Business Registration Certificate, instead of schlepping down to City Hall. New hosts will only be able to list their properties once they're registered, while existing hosts will have to input their registration number to keep their listings active.
The connected person’s guide to surviving an alt-right protest
On Wednesday, alt-right group Patriot Prayer got its permit for a weekend rally on federal land inside San Francisco. It was issued despite strong opposition from Mayor Ed Lee and city officials, state lawmakers and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. This hate group circumvented the city and state because it chose a location on federal land -- a situation of concern to every community that doesn't want a Charlottesville on its doorstep. And because we don't have a choice, we're getting ready. That doesn't just mean counterprotests, but our entire police force will be on guard -- and because we're a city of technophiles and hackers, citizens will be paying particular attention to our phones and networks.
Take HomeKit devices for a spin at a handful of Apple Stores
As a mark of just how serious Apple is about its smart home initiatives, the company has built HomeKit into 46 of its brick and mortar stores. That means if you stop into the Union Square location in San Francisco or the World Trade Center and Williamsburg stores in New York you'll be able to give the IoT suite a test run, TechCrunch writes. Some 28 other stores throughout the country will have the demos up and running. If you don't have one of the fancy stores, you'll have to settle for non-interactive literature and the like. Ugh.
San Francisco train service plans to run solely on clean energy
Commuter trains are already somewhat eco-friendly by their nature (you're less likely to need a car, after all), but the San Francisco Bay Area's train system is taking things one step further. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) has unveiled a policy that will gradually move it to completely renewable energy. It starts off modestly by limiting CO2 emissions now through 2024, but the plans will be more aggressive after that. At least half of its energy will have to come from renewable sources by 2025, with 90 percent of it from low or zero-carbon sources. All of it will have to be zero-carbon by 2035, while complete reliance on renewable sources would come by 2045.
Airbnb agrees to register all hosts in San Francisco
Airbnb, HomeAway and San Francisco have finally set aside their differences and figured out how to automatically register all hosts in the city. The house-sharing service sued the city in federal court after an ordinance was passed by supervisors that levied fines against short-term rental companies that allowed guests to book with unregistered hosts.
GM's self-driving car operation in San Francisco will keep growing
Every carmaker is pushing to develop autonomous vehicles, and GM is no different. Despite having tech rated in second place by Navigant Research and the announcement of a Super Cruise-equipped Cadillac on the way, the company will do more. Bloomberg reporter Dana Hull tweeted the link to a California tax credit filing (saving GM $8 million) showing that the company plans to take its San Francisco operations from 485 employees last year to 1,648 by 2021. That office is home to Cruise Automation, a startup it acquired last year for $1 billion that had previously built self-driving kits for the Audi S4 and A4.
San Francisco airport can now record all visitors' license plates
When you drive to the airport, you expect a certain amount of tracking, if just from security cameras. However, San Francisco International Airport might be taking things a step too far. The travel hub recently received approval from the Airport Commission to collect the license plate info for everyone who uses its roads and garages, storing that data for over 4 years. It's ostensibly meant for collecting revenue from parking and commercial drivers like taxis, but SFO has permission to release that info to both local law enforcement and the FBI.
AT&T paid $1.6 billion to own the next generation of wireless
For all intents and purposes, it looks like AT&T is going to own a majority of 5G wireless connections in the US. The company has announced that it has acquired Straight Path Communications for $1.6 billion. Not familiar with the name? That's totally understandable. "Straight Path is the largest commercial holder of the 39 GHz spectrum, with about 95 percent of the total licenses commercially available, as well as a significant holder of 28 GHz in major markets, including New York and San Francisco," the company's website reads.
Uber resumes self-driving car tests following crash (updated)
Uber's freeze on self-driving car tests following the Arizona crash was very short-lived. The ridesharing firm tells Engadget that it's "resuming our development operations" in San Francisco as of this morning -- you should see test cars back on the streets very shortly. The Arizona and Pittsburgh cars are still idle as of this writing, but they're expected to go back into service soon.
GM's Maven lets you rent cars for up to 28 days
Maven is General Motors' Zipcar-style vehicle rental service, letting you pay an hourly rate to temporarily borrow a ride. But the company is now targeting folks who want to get around for longer periods at a time with Maven Reserve. The offering enables people to reserve a car for up to 28 days at a time, including a dedicated parking space, insurance and $100 of gas in the tank. In addition, users will apparently receive a "personalized walk-through of the vehicle," as they take delivery of their fancy-schmancy rental car.
Uber's self-driving cars could be coming back to California
When Uber first tried to roll out its fleet of autonomous taxis on the streets of San Francisco, California's DMV quickly put the kibosh on those plans. But, after a brief stint in the sunnier parts of Arizona, Uber has announced its intent to bring its cars back to the Golden State -- this time with permits in hand.
