Uber’s latest promotional stunt? Delivering ice cream on London’s hottest day of the year July 18, 2014 In its latest publicity-driven stunt, innovative taxi app Uber will be delivering ice cream to scorched Londoners today, on what promises to be the capital's hottest day of the year. In an email to customers with the inside scoop, Uber says that ice cream vans will be available in central London between 11am and 7pm, [...]
Uber launches in Hong Kong as global expansion gathers pace July 17, 2014 Uber launched its service in Hong Kong yesterday, as the mobile app for hailing private hire cars continued its fast global expansion to cover 150 cities in 41 countries. The official launch in Hong Kong comes after a successful four-week trial period, and follows the recent launch of its Beijing service. Uber is now available [...]
Uber surge pricing curbed by New York attorney general July 8, 2014 Uber will no longer apply surge pricing to its service during emergencies and other extreme events to avoid falling foul of price gouging laws in the US. The controversial taxi service hikes fares in line with higher demand, but doing so during incidents such as a hurricane Sandy caused lawmakers to consider the regulations in more [...]
Uber cuts fares by 20 per cent in New York in price war with taxis July 7, 2014 Uber is cutting its prices by 20 per cent in New York in a bid to make the mobile app service for private hire cars more competitive than the city’s famous yellow taxis. The move follows similar price cuts for its UberX service in San Francisco, where the firm is based. Uber has seen strong growth [...]
TfL court ruling delayed as Uber drivers are sued July 3, 2014 The battle over Uber’s controversial car hire app escalated yesterday as Transport for London (TfL) said its attempt to get a High Court ruling on the dispute would be seriously delayed following news that the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) was taking its own legal action against Uber drivers. The dispute focuses on whether Uber’s [...]
Uber saved from London court battle and is operating within the law says TfL July 3, 2014 Transport for London (TfL) has announced that the High Court cannot proceed with a case regarding taxi app service Uber because the magistrates courts are deluged with cases concerning individual Uber drivers. Furthermore, as far as TfL is concerned, Uber is acting within the law by using an app to calculate fares based on the [...]
Uber’s south east Asian rival looks to make history June 25, 2014 The chief executive and co-founder of Malaysian-based startup Grabtaxi believes his mobile app has the potential to take south east Asia by storm and revolutionise the taxi industry. Speaking to the Financial Times, Anthony Tan said: "We all believe that if we get this right, we can literally go into the history books." The taxi app [...]
Uber app wins the heart of EU commissioner after taxi protests June 12, 2014 Smartphone app Uber has found a new champion in the form of EU digital affairs commissioner Neelie Kroes. After protests against the San Francisco startup swept Europe yesterday, Kroes wrote "we cannot address these challenges by ignoring them, by going on strike, or by trying to ban these innovations out of existence." “The disruptive force [...]
Uber app vs black taxis: Cab war heats up June 11, 2014 Taxi drivers bring central London streets to a standstill over Uber – yet smartphone app says it won the day Thousands of black cabs caused gridlock in London’s west end yesterday as taxi drivers protested over the smartphone app Uber and warned that they could bring more chaos to the streets of the capital with [...]
In pictures: Uber cab protests in London and the rest of Europe June 11, 2014 European cities have come to a standstill as cab drivers protest against the rise of taxi apps such as Uber. Uber customers can hail a ride using their smartphone, which will show them the nearest vehicle available, rather than having to flag a cab. London, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Paris and Berlin have suffered traffic disruption [...]