uber

Neighborhoods with more crime have more Uber rides

As you're probably painfully aware, your ability to get a cab typically is inversely proportionate to how badly you need one. Rush hour, rain, important business meetings, and flights are all key indicators that you will be left cold and shivering on a dark and damp street corner while every passing cab gives you the virtual finger.

But the good engineers and data geeks at private car network Uber have turned to math to scientifically figure out the best way to predict car hire demand so they can make sure you'll be able to find a Town Car … Read more

FTC investigating Twitter?

The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing Twitter and its interaction with at least one app developer, according to published reports.

The agency, which is responsible for reviewing companies suspected of engaging in anticompetitive behavior, has requested information about UberMedia, a potential Twitter competitor that owns a portfolio of Twitter clients and related applications, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter. The FTC's interest in Twitter's activities was originally reported by the Business Insider.

Twitter and FTC representatives could not be reached for comment, and UberMedia did not immediately respond to a request … Read more

How Uber's car-booking service can succeed in NY

NEW YORK--I had my Uber moment a few Sundays ago, standing on a corner in the hipster enclave of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with my arms full of houseplants.

It had been raining off and on all afternoon. The subway line that could most reliably take me back to my apartment, following a lavish shopping spree at the borough's most notable gardening emporium, wasn't running because of weekend construction work. My alternative was to take a route that would involve two different subways followed by a 15-minute walk. With the houseplants. Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg's main drag, is a well-populated … Read more

Uber launches its private car network in New York

One of the best things about New York is that you can almost always hail a taxi, but good luck finding one willing to take you to Brooklyn. Uber's recent expansion into the Big Apple will give commuters a viable option to go where taxis fear to tread.

After months of hints and thorough planning, San Francisco-based Uber launched its private car network service in New York.

The service creates an on-demand network of independent private cars that Uber members can order using a mobile app or SMS. The app shows you the location of available private cars on duty, and people can request a ride to and from anywhere in New York.

The transaction is cashless because the company keeps your credit card on file, and tip is already included in the fare, which is a $7 base plus $3.90 per mile distance fee, or 95 cents per minute time fee if the car is operating at less than 11 mph. There are maximum rates set for getting to and from major airports. All drivers are vetted and insured, which should take the sketch factor out of hailing a livery car when you can't find a taxi. … Read more

Is there a bidding war over TweetDeck?

A report Monday in The Wall Street Journal claimed that Twitter is in "advanced talks" to acquire TweetDeck, a Twitter desktop client preferred by many of the social-media service's most active users, for about $50 million. "TweetDeck has emerged as a favorite of heavy users of Twitter, letting people track tweets about multiple topics at the same time," the story explained. "The program, which many people download and use on their desktop computers, also lets people write tweets longer than 140 characters, among other features."

But wait: Two months ago, TweetDeck was reported to have sold to UberMedia, … Read more

The 404 798: Where we refuse to respect embargoes (podcast)

We have Mark Milian as a guest on today's episode. He's a tech reporter for CNN.com, which means he'll spend half of the show fielding questions from Wilson about Anderson Cooper. We also chat about the future of micro-blogging, and, of course, we have to grill him about his "Hottie of the Week" achievement last year.

The 404 Digest for Episode 798

Mark Milian wins 081978's 'Hottie of the Week.' UberMedia said to be planning a social network to compete with Twitter. Final Cut Pro X unveiled. Add Mark on Twitter.

Episode 798 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Transportation is prime marketing turf at SXSW

AUSTIN, Texas--Marketers are everywhere here at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, but this year they've discovered some prime new territory: private transportation. The annual geek gathering is nominally headquartered at the Austin Convention Center, but in reality sprawls all across the city's downtown, and given the amount of late-night revelry taking place, cab rides are commonplace. Luckily for this year's attendees, a whole lot of those rides are free--or cheap.

Social-networking site Tagged decided to intercept travelers as soon as they landed at Austin's airport, setting up a display for a "Tagged Wheels" … Read more

Texas showdown for transportation start-ups Uber and GroundLink

The battle is on for two transportation network start-ups that are poised to go head-to-head at SXSW to promote their private car booking applications.

West-Coast-based Uber has a head start over East Coast transportation veteran LimoRes, which is promoting its new GroundLink app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. To close the publicity gap, LimoRes is offering attendees $10 rides in a private car anywhere in Austin, Texas, (including to and from the airport) using the GroundLink iPhone app. Uber, which apparently has appeared at the conference before and so its people know how small Austin is and how … Read more

Twitter lifts ban on UberMedia apps

After a weekend in the dog house, UberMedia's Twitter apps UberSocial (formerly UberTwitter) and Twidroyd are back in the mobile-app stores.

UberMedia's Twitter apps ran afoul of Twitter on Friday, which banned the apps over certain policy violations, preventing new users from downloading them and current users from using them. The ban affected Android users of Twidroyd and BlackBerry and iPhone users of UberTwitter.

"These violations include, but aren't limited to, a privacy issue with private Direct Messages longer than 140 characters, trademark infringement, and changing the content of users' Tweets in order to make money,&… Read more

Twitter blocks products from app-maker UberMedia

A company called UberTwitter that operates a suite of third-party Twitter applications--and hopes to do much more, with $17.5 million in new funding and the planned acquisition of popular client TweetDeck--has apparently run afoul of Twitter big-time. The microblogging service has suspended its apps, which include mobile clients UberTwitter, Echofon, and Twidroyd, as well as an advertising product, citing a number of violations.