Uber announces new in-app features
Uber on Thursday announced several in-app driver-focused initiatives to improve the experience for drivers, including the introducing SOS integration with law enforcement authorities for emergency situations, helmet verification for two-wheeler drivers, and a new feature that allows women to prioritise safety by filtering for women riders in India. Uber came to India in 2013, claims to have over 10 lakh drivers on board, and with more than 17 million monthly active users present in 125 cities across the country.
The ride hailing platform has also streamlined driver onboarding by using India’s digital public infrastructure like Aadhaar or PAN card to help them on board quickly. In case of an emergency now, drivers have the ability to share their live trip location and other critical trip details at the swipe of a button in the Uber app with the local police. It also introduced the women rider preference in the app.
U.S. regulators plan to investigate Microsoft
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is preparing to launch an investigation into anti-competitive practices at Microsoft’s cloud computing business, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter. The regulators are examining allegations that the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving their data from its Azure cloud service to other competitive platforms, the report said.
Tactics being examined include substantially increasing subscription fees for those that leave, charging steep exit fees and allegedly making its Office 365 products incompatible with rival clouds, according to the report. FTC declined to comment while Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Google expanding AI flood forecasting model
Google has announced it will be expanding its AI flood forecasting model to 100 countries now. It will also make their model forecasts available to researchers via an API along with their datasets to help them understand the impact of riverine floods historically. The model will be covering 700 million people compared to 80 countries and a population of 400 million people previously.
Google has also worked to improve their model so it is accurate with a seven-day lead time while the older version offered a five-day lead time. Users can access the hydrology forecasts via the API and know about the expected flood status for both urban areas as well as parts where data is limited. The model uses what it calls “virtual gauges” for locations in case data is scarce, which are simulation-based prediction systems that use geological and atmospheric factors to predict flooding.
Published - November 15, 2024 02:24 pm IST
