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Volocopter is researching the best air taxis routes in Southeast Asia
Volocopter is preparing for a feasibility study that will determine the best cities and routes for air taxis in Southeast Asia and evaluate different air taxi use cases. This next step is part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) necessary for Volocopter to bring commercial air taxis to the region.
Google: Southeast Asia’s digital economy is surging
Google has begun looking beyond India to Southeast Asia for its "next billion" users. And its annual report on the region's internet economy gives us an insight as to why it's so crucial to the web giant. Home to 650 million people, Google projects Southeast Asia's digital economy will triple in size to $240 billion in the next seven years. So sharp has been its rise that Google has revised its growth expectations for the region (made in collaboration with Singapore sovereign fund Temasek) for the third year on the go.
Microsoft deal with Grab brings its AI, cloud tech to ride-hailing
Earlier this year Uber sold off its ride-hailing business in southeast Asia to a competitor, Grab, which is now raising $3 billion to further expand operations. Today Microsoft announced it's making a "strategic investment" in Grab, as the two launch a "broad partnership" to use Microsoft's machine learning and AI tech. The first step is adopting Microsoft's Azure servers as the cloud platform backing Grab's ride-hailing and digital wallet. After that the plans get bigger, as it anticipates using machine learning and image recognition to let passengers share their location with a driver by taking a picture of their surroundings that the system recognizes and converts into an address. Otherwise it could handle recommendations, improve fraud detection, improve its maps or power facial recognition to identify drivers and passengers. There are also non-AI powered parts of the arrangement, like in-car entertainment systems, linked rewards programs and integration with Outlook. Like Uber, Grab is building a platform to do a lot more than have a stranger come pick you up in their car, while for Microsoft, all of this seems similar to its efforts to compete with Amazon in building more-connected grocery and retail stores and dominate developing back-end technology to control everything. Microsoft didn't say how much it's investing in Grab, but Japan's Softbank is reportedly investing $500 million, while Toyota already announced it's in for $1 billion.
Grab tacks grocery delivery onto its ride-hailing service
Grab, the ride-sharing company that devoured Uber's business in Southeast Asia, has announced that it's also getting into grocery delivery. Just like Uber in the US and other Western countries, the Singapore-based firm already offers quite a few options other than pure ride hailing in the region, including food delivery and electronic money transfers. Clearly, though, it's still looking for more ways to put its driver network to good use. Grab has teamed up with Southeast Asian grocery delivery provider HappyFresh to launch GrabFresh as part of its strategy to give partners access to its technologies. That means HappyFresh will essentially be using Grab's driver network and payment services to deliver groceries to its customers.
Toyota invests $1 billion in one of Asia's biggest ride-sharing companies
Who knew that ride-sharing investments would become a large facet of Toyota's business strategy. The automotive giant has stakes in Uber, competitor Japan Taxi, and now, it's enthusiastically throwing $1 billion -- its biggest sum yet -- at Southeast Asian outfit Grab.
Uber's Southeast Asia merger delayed pending reviews
Uber is normally glad when its service keeps running in a given country, but not this time around. The Philippines has ordered Uber to keep its local service active while antitrust investigators review the merger with Grab's Southeast Asia business. The ridesharing outfit had already agreed to delay its shutdown in Singapore, regulators said, so it would be feasible to ask for a similar move in the Philippines.
Uber is selling its Southeast Asia business to Grab (update: official)
Uber's plan to sell off its Southeast Asia business appears to be a done deal. Sources speaking to Bloomberg and Reuters have said that Uber has reached an agreement to sell the division to rival Grab. The arrangement would give Grab all of Uber's operations in the region (including UberEats) in return for a stake between 25 to 30 percent in the combined business. Neither party has officially confirmed the union, but an announcement is expected as soon as March 26th.
Uber is reportedly preparing to sell its Southeast Asia business
Late last year Uber sold off its business in China to a competitor, and now it looks like the Southeast Asia region could follow a similar path. CNBC reports that it's preparing to make a deal with Grab, a company that claimed to have 95 percent of ride-hailing business in the region last year. Grab was in the middle of raising a $2.5 billion round of investments from sources including (recent Uber investor) Softbank when it made that claim, and the rumored deal would give Uber a "sizable" stake in its competitor. If this happens, it could, like the company's settlement with Waymo over trade secrets, help Uber pave the way for an IPO soon.
'Partner' Didi Chuxing is freezing Uber out of Southeast Asia
Part of Uber's sky-high $70 billion valuation was due to its optimism about expansion in China, India and other parts of Asia. However, its China adventure was a money bonfire that finished when it sold out to rival Didi Chuxing for $1 billion. Its plans for expansion to Thailand, Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia also took a blow as its China "partner" Didi, along with Softbank, just invested $2 billion in regional arch-rival Grab.
Lyft and partners make it easy to get a ride in Asia
If you're taking a trip to China or Southeast Asia, Lyft could be a valuable addition to your arsenal of travel apps. Starting this week, it will be able to access rides you can hail through its partners Didi if you're in China and Grab if you're in SE Asia. You won't have to download a separate app or set up a new account, and you can even pay in dollars with the credit card you already have on file. It also works the other way around: folks from those regions can simply fire up Lyft whenever they visit the US and pay in their own currency.
Mac 101: How to take screenshots on your Mac using OS X's built-in controls
Did you know that OS X has a little-known utility for taking screenshots? It's a small tool called Grab that's tucked away in the /Applications/Utilities folder and is exceptionally handy for taking screenshots, especially timed shots that require a few seconds of preparation. Grab is very easy to use. Just open it by going to /Applications/Utilities or by hitting CMD-SPACE and typing in Grab in the Spotlight search field. There is not much to the app; the bulk of its utility can be found in the Capture menu. You can use this menu or the shortcuts to grab your screenshot. Once you have snapped a shot of your computer screen, the image will open in a preview window. Just tap on the "Untitled" name of the file in the preview window to rename it and choose where to save it. Besides the Grab app, there are a few keyboard shortcuts that'll allow you to take screenshots of your Mac. The full window shots are nice as they preserve the window drop shadow with full alpha transparency. The resulting images look great in documentation or on the web. CMD+Shift+3 will capture the entire screen and save it as a file. CMD+CTRL+Shift+3 will capture the entire screen and copy to the clipboard. CMD+Shift+4 will capture an area that you select and save it as a file. CMD+CTRL+Shift+4 will capture an area that you select and copy it to the clipboard. CMD+Shift+4 then space will capture a full window, menu, desktop icon or the menu bar with drop shadows and save as a file. CMD+CTRL+Shift+4 then space will capture a full window, menu, desktop icon, or the menu bar with drop shadows and copy to the clipboard. Holding down the SPACE key after you start drawing an area will allow you to reposition it. Holding down OPTION right after you start drawing an area will allow you to adjust the width and height of the selected area. Hit ESC while capturing an area or window to exit the capture mode. Images captured using the keyboard shortcuts are stored on the desktop by default, but you can easily change the location using the following terminal commands. defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures killall SystemUIServer This will change the default location to the Pictures folder, but you can replace "Pictures" with any other folder you prefer. I changed it to Downloads as I use the downloads folder as my catch all for items that I need for a moment, but don't want to keep.
Addon Spotlight: Grab Bag 7, probably the best grab bag
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Do I need to remind you again that right now is the perfect time for you to tinker with your user interface? WoW feels much more relaxed now. A second cataclysm has been averted, Deathwing has been defeated, and life is feeling pretty good right now. Sit back, relax, and clean up your interface. You'll thank me when Mists of Pandaria comes out. Grab bag Addon Spotlights are some of my favorite editions of the column because the regular format means a lot of words about just one addon. That's great and all, but what about those addons that just don't have many words worth saying about them? These little guys fall through the cracks and land in my grab bag collection sack, thrown into the back of a shady-looking truck and taken off for "processing." It's totally painless -- no one complains too much.
Watch-controlled robo-tot grasps small objects, the meaning of life (video)
It may seem like there's an abundance of robot news lately, but we're just trying to please our mechanical overlords deliver the latest in gadget and technology news. What we've got here is an Arduino-based robo-gripper that serves only to move around and use its 3D printed claws to grab tiny objects that we'd otherwise be too lazy to pick up ourselves. The robot, infused with a Texas Instruments CC1110 dev kit, is controlled using an accelerometer-based Chronos watch and can move in all directions by simply tilting the timepiece. If you want to take a gander at this little guy in action, check out the video past the break -- it's always warming to see humans having the upper hand against the machine.
Snow Leopard nice touch: no more "Picture 1" files
I've always been a fan of ⌘-Shift-4 for taking quick and easy screenshots on my Mac, even with such level-up options as Jing, Skitch, GrabUp and LittleSnapper readily to hand. What I wasn't a fan of, however, was the proliferation of "Picture 1," "Picture 2,"... up to "Picture N" screenshot files on my desktop. Not only was it tricky to figure out which Picture file was which (a task made easier with Quick Look), it was also reasonably likely that at some point I'd overwrite a Picture 1 someplace that I wanted to keep with a brand-new Picture 1 I just snapped and copied off my desktop. It's certainly not one of the marquee features of Mac OS X 10.6, but there's one little Snow Leopard tweak that's already won my heart: no more Picture 1s! Screenshots to file created via the system key commands (⌘-Shift-3 or -4, add the Control key to capture to the Clipboard instead of to a file) now get a name that's quite a bit more descriptive, including the date and time of the capture. No more file name collisions, no more wondering which Picture is the one you took of that cryptic error message in the middle of the night. Viva Snow!
Mac 101: Eliminate shadows in screen grabs
Sharing screen grabs and screencasts is a great way to show someone exactly how to do something with their Macs. You've got several choices for screencast software (here's a list of posts in our screencast category), but snapping a simple screen grab is much simpler. Using Apple's Grab application you have a few options: Shift + Command + 3 produces a snapshot of the whole screen Shift + Command + 4 produces a crosshair that you can drag over a specific area of your screen Shift + Command + 4 followed by the space bar turns the crosshair into a camera Number three will let you grab a single window. The problem is that it includes that window's shadow, which you might not want. Fortunately, MacOSXHints has described how to exclude the shadow. A single line typed in the Terminal will get the job done.That's great and all, but for some real fun, take a screenshot of a collegue's desktop, move all his desktop icons onto his hard drive, set your screenshot as the desktop image and feign ignorace while he clicks furiously on his "icons." You're welcome.
TUAW Faceoff: Screenshot apps on the firing line
Whether you want to post something to a web page or blog, or show off an application element in a presentation, taking quality screenshots is becoming an increasingly common task for lots of different Mac users. Although OS X comes with its own built-in screenshot utility, Grab, and onboard F-keys for the task, there are lots of third-party options as well. Contrary to popular belief, not all screen capture applications are created equal. So what program is the best for taking quality screenshots off of your computer? To find out, I put five screen capture programs through their paces to try to find the "ultimate" screen-capture program. The programs I used: Grab - built into OS X Skitch - free (at least while in beta) Snapz Pro X - $29 for image capture only, $69 for image and motion capture InstantShot! - free QuickSnap - $14.95 Read-on for my analysis and take a look at the gallery for screenshots from each program, as well as head-to-head comparisons. %Gallery-22020%
GrabUp
GrabUp is an interesting little app that adds a new wrinkle to OS X's built in screen capturing functionality. When you install the prefpane, it allows you to add the GrabUp menu item to your menu bar. GrabUp just sits waiting for you to invoke it (by hitting Shift - Command - 4). Once you hit the key combo a crosshair pops up, letting you select part of your screen to capture. So far this is pretty standard stuff. The image is saved to your desktop and uploaded to GrabUp's server (like this) and the URL is automatically copied to your clipboard. The idea is that this will make it very easy to share screen captures over IM or email since no account is needed. The app just uploads the image and returns a unique URL.It isn't as robust as Skitch or ImageWell, but its beauty is in its simplicity. You don't need to have an FTP login or Flickr account to upload your picture to the web, and that is pretty compelling. The only question I have is: does it scale? What happens when thousands of people are using this app?Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
TUAW Tip: Screen Capture to PDF
TUAW reader Jakob writes that he often uses OS X's "Print as PDF" feature. He asks if there's a way to print only part of a website by dragging out a selection rectangle? Yes, Jakob, there's a very simple way. Yesterday, I posted a Terminal Tip about using OS X's built in command-line screencapture utility. What I didn't mention in that post was that screencapture allows you to grab your shots in PDF format. To use the mouse to capture a rectangle from the screen and then save it to PDF, just issue a command along the following lines: % screencapture -i -s -tpdf ~/Desktop/foo.pdf And if you're not big on using Terminal and the Command line, here's another way to approach the problem with Grab. Launch Grab from Applications/Utilities and choose Capture -> Selection. Use the cross hairs to select part of the screen and then print the results to PDF (File -> Print, then PDF -> Save as PDF). If you need to capture more data than a single screen will allow, consider Paparazzi. It's a donate-ware utility that allows you to enter a URL and a screen size. It loads the web page from the URL you provide and produces an image from that data--regardless of whether you'd have to scroll the screen to see the entire page in a normal web browser. No, it won't save to PDF, but it's pretty easy to convert the images if you have to. Update: The latest version of Paparazzi will save to PDF including searchable text. In a follow-up message, Jakob mentioned that he's really interested in producing a searchable result. Sure you can save to a web archive but both web archives (use File -> Save as or File -> Save Page as or the equivalent in your favorite browser) and his current method of printing to PDF create pretty big files, even if they are searchable. So here's my final recommendation: invest in Acrobat, not just in Acrobat Reader. In Acrobat, use Document->Extract Pages to save only those portions of the web page you want to keep and delete the rest.
GRAB proves haptics research is in for a bumpy ride
One of the first times that we encountered haptics, or the study of force feedback, was while playing StarFox 64 back in 1997 (was it really that long ago?), with its Rumble Pak -- that little motor that shook the whole controller every time you sustained a laser hit. Today, haptics has gone from the realm of stellar video games to simulating the edge of a knife. A team of Mexican and Italian scientists announced last week that they've created virtual surfaces to fool the brain into thinking that a flat surface is actually bumpy or pointed. The researchers created a system called GRAB, which consists of a mechanized thimble, connected to the end of a motorized arm. Once the subject puts a finger inside the thimble, various motors create force feedback, and limit motion along a left-right axis, all of which could be used in medical robotics and training, so that surgeon hopefuls can better simulate operations without actually cutting any flesh. Better yet, if these scientists continue along this route, by the time the next version of Call of Duty comes out, receiving a bayonet jab may feel really close to actually drawing blood.[Via Futurismic]
