Tag: Uber
Tech Digest daily roundup: NASA Artemis blasts off from Florida
NASA's most powerful rocket ever has launched into space in the first step of a mission to return humans to the moon. The next-generation, multibillion-dollar Space Launch System lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with the Orion spacecraft in tow. It surged off the launch pad…
British Airways teams up with Uber for Avios points
Uber users will soon be able to collect Avios on every journey they take by car, coach or train booked via the Uber app, by linking their British Airways Executive Club and Uber accounts. From later this month, Members of the airline’s loyalty programme will be eligible to collect 1 Avios for every £1 spent…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Uber helps UN deliver food and water in Ukraine
Uber has built a "private-label" version of its delivery platform to help the United Nations deliver food and water supplies to war-torn areas of Ukraine. The tech firm is working with the UN's World Food Programme (WFP). It's difficult for large delivery trucks to access some parts of Ukraine because of structural damage and the…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Uber plans to become major transport hub
Uber plans to let users buy train and plane tickets through its app as it looks to move beyond minicabs into an all-encompassing transport hub. Inter-city trains and coaches will be available to book through Uber in the summer, the company said. It plans to let tourists buy plane and Eurostar tickets later in the…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Uber prices could rise by 20%
Uber has said it may soon have to start charging its UK customers VAT at 20%, after a High Court judgement, pushing up the cost of rides. It comes after a judge ruled that UK private hire taxi operators must make contracts with their customers. It could have far-reaching consequences for the industry and other…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Instagram to require birthday confirmation
Instagram will begin requiring users to confirm their birthdays as part of an effort to create new safety features for young people, the Facebook Inc-owned (FB.O) social media app said Monday. Instagram has explored building a version of its app for kids under the age of 13, prompting lawmakers to urge Facebook to drop the plans,…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Uber rival Didi scraps European launch
The Chinese taxi-hailing app Didi has suspended plans to launch in Britain and continental Europe amid concerns about how it handles sensitive passenger data, The Telegraph can reveal. Didi had secured licences to operate in several British cities as part of a push to challenge Uber, but is now understood to have pulled the plans for at…
Tech Digest daily round up: Microsoft President warns of AI threat on Panorama
Life as depicted in George Orwell’s 1984 “could come to pass in 2024” if lawmakers don’t protect the public against artificial intelligence, Microsoft’s president has warned. Speaking to BBC's Panorama, Brad Smith said it will be "difficult to catch up” with the rapidly advancing technology. The programme explores China’s increasing use of AI to monitor…
Tech Digest daily round up: Scientists invent flat pasta that morphs into 3D shapes
An interdisciplinary team of scientists specialising in material science, mechanical engineering, and computer-aided fabrication are making a new type of pasta dough that remains flat during storage, but can morph into tubes, spirals, twists, and waves when cooked. The scientists, including those from the Morphing Matter Lab at the Carnegie Mellon University in the US, believe…
Tech Digest daily round up: AI wins its first crossword competition
Matt Ginsberg is good at a lot of things - he is an AI scientist, author, playwright, magician and stunt plane pilot. But he isn't very good at crosswords. In fact, despite writing them for the New York Times, he says that when they are published, he often cannot solve his own. So when he…