ridehailing
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Lyft's Amp dashboard light signals your ride's arrival
Unlike stealing someone's cab, jumping into the wrong Lyft or Uber isn't a jerk move, it's usually just an embarrassing mistake for whoever does it. With that in mind, Lyft wants to make getting into the ride you hailed easier with a branded dashboard light called Amp. The device looks like a Bluetooth speaker along the lines of a Beats Pill: oblong and cylindrical, sitting on a base to keep it from sliding around a driver's dashboard. But instead of playing music, the gizmo's road-facing face will light up in one of six colors (teal, orange, silver, yellow or purple) while the rear can display blocky, personalized messages.
UK Uber-rival Karhoo is dead
Sometimes when you're late to the party, there aren't enough chicken nuggets and cocktail sausages left to go around. It's a lesson taxi-hailing app Karhoo has learned the hard way, today announcing the closure of its service as it looks "at the next steps for the business." Launched in London in May, Karhoo aimed to take on Uber, as well as black cab equivalents Gett and Hailo, with an all-encompassing platform covering black cabs, minicabs and executive cars -- it also boasted a pre-booking option, which Uber didn't have at the time.
Uber's redesigned app makes it faster to hail a ride
The Uber app is a mess. As the company has expanded its business, it's been ham-fisting new features into an already bursting-at-the-seams UI. Fortunately, the company is aware of the bloat and revealed today a redesigned app that will be rolling out to customers over the coming weeks.
New Jersey town's parking solution is free Uber rides
The city of Summit, New Jersey has a bit of an infrastructure issue. The NJ Transit Summit Station doesn't have enough parking for all the people who commute through it. But fear not, the city has a solution: Uber! The city announced on Monday that it is launching a pilot partnership with the ride-hailing company to provide residents with free rides to the station.
Uber adds an advance booking option in NYC
Hailing an Uber is pretty straightforward. You launch the app, choose a pickup location and hit the "request" button. Easy. Uber's simplicity has been to the detriment of flexibility, however. For the longest time, you couldn't schedule a ride in advance -- say, if you were planning for an early flight, or an important work meeting. That's now changing, however. Following roll-outs in Seattle, London, and other parts of the UK, Uber is bringing its early booking system to New York City. Starting today, you can hail a ride anywhere between 15 minutes and 30 days in advance.
Uber brings scheduled rides to eight more UK cities
Uber's useful ride-scheduling feature is hitting the road and launching in a handful of extra UK cities today. Following a successful launch in London, you can request a driver in Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow up to 30 days in advance. Or rather, you can starting at 4pm. It's a handy option for those extra important trips -- whether you're headed to the airport or an important business meeting, booking ahead of time can give you peace of mind.
Google Maps adds Lyft and Gett to its ride hailing options
Users searching for directions from Point A to Point B in Google Maps just got a few more options for getting there. According to the official Google Maps blog, both the iOS and Android versions now include estimated fares and wait times for ridesharing services Lyft and Gett when searching in cities in the United States.
Uber granted court review of TfL's English language test
Uber is trying everything to overturn stringent new rules proposed by Transport for London (TfL). Last year, the organisation took a long hard look at the capital's ride-hailing market, and concluded that a few crucial changes were needed. These included a new English language test for all Uber drivers, improved customer support and better vehicle insurance. Uber supported these proposals at first, but quickly changed its tune once the fine print was revealed. In short, the company thinks the new requirements go too far, and will affect its ability to recruit drivers.
Uber starts letting Londoners book rides in advance
Hailing an Uber is very much an immediate experience: Open the app, pin your pick-up point, request a ride and wait a few minutes for your car to arrive. Great when you just want to get home, but not ideal when planning an airport run or some other journey with minimal margin for error. Uber is beginning to encroach on the sacred territory of the traditional cab operator from today, however, as it starts allowing users in London to book rides in advance.
Lyft says it listened to offers, but is not for sale
Lyft is disputing reports from The New York Times and other sites (including Engadget) that the company is actively seeking a buyer. "Getting approached and then having it characterized as us wanting to sell the business and failing to do so is a large mischaracterization," President John Zimmer told Business Insider.
Uber China merges with rival Didi Chuxing
Uber has agreed to sell its Uber China arm to arch rival Didi Chuxing in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the merged operation, confirming reports from Bloomberg and others. The combined company is reportedly worth $35 billion, giving Uber a $7 billion share. "Uber and Didi Chuxing are investing billions of dollars in China and both companies have yet to turn a profit there," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a leaked blog post.
Ride-hailing apps like Uber will be legal in China soon
Considering how much business Uber does in China, it's kind of hard to imagine that ride-hailing apps aren't exactly legal in the country. Well, they weren't, but they're about to be. Chinese regulators have passed a new law that clears up the legal grey area companies like Uber and Didi Chuxing operate in. Starting on November 1st, ride-hailing apps will be legal, so long as they follow a few rules.
Karhoo takes its taxi-comparison app to more UK cities
Six weeks after its launch in London, Karhoo is taking on the rest of the UK. The ride-hailing app, which lets you compare different taxi companies simultaneously, is yet another alternative to Uber, Hailo and Kabbee. The difference is that Karhoo wants to be an open platform, presenting a range of prices, vehicles and estimated arrival times so that you can make an informed decision. Any company, aside from Uber, can theoretically sign up and have its fleet listed inside Karhoo's iOS and Android apps. That includes black cab, minicab and executive car hire providers.
There's more money in on-demand taxis than going to Mars
NASA's annual budget for the 2015 fiscal year is $18.5 billion, a figure that you should bear in mind when we talk about the ride-hailing app business. It's because Didi Chuxing, more commonly known as the Uber of China, is now worth $28 billion, or 1.5 2016 NASAs. The ride-hailing service you only know about because Apple invested in it has recently closed yet another funding round. This time, it's convinced investors to pump a further $7.3 billion into its war chest, setting itself up nicely for the transportation arms race that's to come.
UberPool now covers most of central London
Uber's ride-sharing service, UberPool, is now available in a larger patch of London. Whereas before it was limited to a small part of the capital, it now spans all of zone one and zone two, as well as Heathrow Airport. All told, the reach of UberPool has more than doubled across the city.
Apple invests $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi
In a bid to better understand China, Apple has announced a $1 billion investment in Chinese Uber-like service, Didi Chuxing. The country's homegrown ride-hailing service already has plenty of cash, and was recently valued at over $25 billion. According to Reuters, it has 87 percent of the market of private car hailing across China. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the investment would help the company better understand the Chinese market -- oh and it's about cars.
Uber hires more former politicians to champion its cause
One of the ways that Uber is hoping to win over policy makers is to hire other policy makers to act as its representatives. The firm has formed a public policy advisory board that'll help improve Uber's service and provide outreach to legislators across the globe. The latest bunch of former politicos to sign up with the ride-sharing startup include two former White House staffers and a retired ex-VP from the European Commission. It's the latter that'll be familiar to Engadget readers, since Neelie Kroes (pictured) spearheaded several tech-friendly directives over on the continent. Most notably, she spearheaded the campaign to eliminate roaming charges for mobile users as they travel between member states.
Uber makes it easier for Chinese tourists to hail a ride
To stay ahead in the ride-hailing race, Uber has teamed up with the Chinese payments service Alipay. A new partnership means passengers can now hail an Uber outside of China using the Alipay app, rather than Uber's own software. From the home screen, travelers will see an Uber option and have access to the company's regular perks, including driver information and the vehicle's estimated time of arrival. Trip fees will be charged directly to the user's Alipay account in Chinese yuan. Uber's hope is that Chinese tourists will now use its service all around the world, shunning its rivals in the US and abroad, due to their familiarity with the Alipay app.
Uber settles background check lawsuit in California
Uber promises never to describe its service as the "safest ride on the road" or call its background check process "the gold standard" again. That's one of the terms it agreed to when it hashed out a settlement agreement with the San Francisco and Los Angeles District Attorney's offices. They filed a lawsuit against Uber back in 2014 over "false and misleading statements to consumers," specifically its claims that it conducts very thorough background checks. Unlike taxi operators, the company doesn't vet its drivers' fingerprints. If the ridesharing provider is caught breaking the DAs terms within the next two years, it will be legally obligated to pay $15 million on top of the $10 it has to hand over in 60 days.
Uber waives fees to get London taxi drivers using its app
Many London cabbies think of Uber as a threat to their livelihood and professional reputation, nimbly side-stepping legislation and driver qualifications like the "Knowledge." Uber wants the pair to coexist, going so far as to launch an UberTAXI option in its app to help cabbies find new passengers. Today, it's going a step further by waiving the fee it would normally take for each Uber-sourced passenger. Well, at least for the first 12 months anyway. The company normally takes a 5 percent cut, which is already half of what its cab-friendly rival Hailo demands in the city. "For Londoners it means they can order a traditional black cab at the push of a button and pay electronically through their phone, rather than worrying about cash," Jo Bertram, Uber's regional general manager for the UK said. "For taxi drivers it's a chance to get a fare when there are no passengers on the street or they're waiting in a long queue at a rank." Some taxi drivers aren't impressed, however. Steve McNamara, general secretary for the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) said: "With over 15,000 cabbies registered with specific taxi-hailing apps like Gett and Hailo, we would be amazed if any drivers decide to take up Uber's offer. Licensed taxis in London offer the best service in the world and as a membership group the LTDA doesn't like the way Uber treats its drivers and customers or its dodgy tax arrangements." Of course, there could be taxi drivers that think differently. If they're keeping every penny from a passenger's fare -- for the next 12 months, anyway -- Uber's app could be a useful backup for when business is a little slow. Instead, the decision to use the app will probably be a matter of principle. Uber represents the competition and supporting the company in any way will ultimately support their strategy. If drivers embrace UberTAXI, it'll encourage people to use the app to call their next ride, rather than dialling a phone number or hailing a cab on the street. That could force drivers into using the app -- if that's where the passengers are, that's where you've got to be -- and paying Uber's regular fees in the future. Furthermore, if the Uber app is their go-to, Londoners will be more likely to consider the service's other transport options -- especially those that are cheaper. So while this deal might benefit cabbies in the short-term, its long-term ramifications are still unclear. In short, taxi drivers will have to think carefully about whether Uber is their friend or enemy here.
