uber - SlashGear

Uber Eats drone won’t actually deliver food to your doorstep

JC Torres | Oct 29, 2019

When you hear about delivery drones, you probably envision large flying machines that will drop, hopefully slowly, a package right at your doorstep. Most of the time, that is an accurate picture as far as the likes of Amazon or even UPS are concerned. Uber, specifically its Uber Eats arm, is curiously doing it the other way around. It just revealed the design of its planned meal delivery drone that will, almost ironically, leave the actual delivery in the hands of humans.

Uber plans to give drivers and couriers real-time access to earnings

Brittany A. Roston | Oct 28, 2019

Under its newly announced Uber Money team, the ridesharing company has revealed plans to make it easier for drivers to get the funds they earn by giving people rides. Using the Uber Debit account, the company says drivers will be able to get real-time access to their earnings, meaning the funds will be available right after the trip is over. The company is also planning updates related to its app, debit card, and more.

Uber Pet will make it easier to ride with animals starting October 16

Brittany A. Roston | Oct 9, 2019

Uber is testing a new feature that'll make it easier for riders to summon pet-friendly cars in the US, the company has announced. Called Uber Pet, this feature has already been deployed in select international markets, making it easy for customers to indicate that they plan to bring a pet with them on the trip. The feature will go live later this month in a number of US cities, including Tampa Bay, Phoenix, Denver, and more.

NASA and Uber plan tests to support future air travel over cities

Brittany A. Roston | Oct 5, 2019

Experts at NASA's Ames Research Center will work alongside a team from Uber this week to run computer simulation tests of future air travel over urban environments. The tests will be conducted in order to get data on 'certain things we already know and others we still need to invent,' according to the space agency. The work is being done under NASA's Urban Air Mobility program, which aims to pave the way for future drone deliveries and small vehicle air transportation over cities.

Explainer: Uber, Lyft, WeWork – Why are these tech companies losing money?

Osmond Chia | Oct 5, 2019

Rising tech companies like Uber and WeWork have been on the news lately, but not for reasons they would have anticipated at the start of the year. What was meant to be a record-setting year for tech companies listed on the stock market has led to major disappointment, with many of these big names losing up to half of their stock value in a matter of months.

Uber’s next big safety feature could be eavesdropping audio

Eric Abent | Sep 30, 2019

Uber users have raised their share safety concerns with the company, and now it seems that a new feature that could help allay some of those concerns is on the way. Uber is apparently testing a feature that will allow riders to record audio through the app when they feel unsafe during a ride. There are a lot of details we don't know about this feature yet, as Uber hasn't said anything official about it.

Uber will start mapping Dallas streets this fall using human drivers

Brittany A. Roston | Sep 17, 2019

Uber Advanced Technologies Group has announced plans to expand into Dallas, Texas, building upon its existing presence in Toronto, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. The company will start gathering data in the city in early November, the company revealed in a statement today, and it'll be kicking things off with manually-driven cars. The cars will be driven on the city's downtown streets.

Uber is now using riders’ smartphones to detect unusual trips

Brittany A. Roston | Sep 17, 2019

The RideCheck feature Uber first introduced last year is now rolling out widely to users in the United States, the company has announced. RideCheck is a safety feature that uses the sensors located within the driver's and rider's phones to detect unusual behavior related to rides, such as whether they take a strange route or stay stopped for an unusually long time, among other things.

Uber Elevate wants to start delivering Big Macs via drones by summer

Ewdison Then | Jun 13, 2019

Uber's growing empire has been besieged numerous times and in numerous but that hasn't stopped the company from dreaming big and trying to be big. While it's self-driving plans are still undergoing scrutiny, a part of its company is setting its eyes on something less controversial and potentially more lucrative, too. Uber sets its sights on the the clouds with its Elevate aerial arm and its plans to deliver food on rooftops in just a few months.

Uber and Volvo’s self-driving SUV just hit a huge milestone

Chris Davies | Jun 12, 2019

Uber has revealed its new autonomous car, a self-driving Volvo SUV that the ride-hailing company says is finally production ready. The reveal comes after controversy around Uber's driverless development, which included a collision in mid-2018 that saw a pedestrian killed by a prototype vehicle.

Uber will start deactivating some riders who have low ratings

Brittany A. Roston | May 29, 2019

Though Uber drivers are able to give riders ratings, they never seemed to actually matter. Many obnoxious, rude, or otherwise problematic riders have remained live on the system, but that's about to change. The company recently revealed a change of plans that will result in some riders being deactivated due to very low ratings given by drivers.

Uber adds quiet mode option in app, but only for luxury rides

Brittany A. Roston | May 15, 2019

Uber users have been requesting some type of quiet mode for years, one that would enable them to make their preference for zero small talk known before the driver picks them up. The company has finally launched this feature, but it isn't available for many of the rides that take place on its platform. In addition to the new quiet preference, riders can also now alert drivers to temperature preference, request luggage help, and more.