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Uber is on Wednesday launching its own version of a bus system along busy routes, calling it its most affordable ride option yet. The rideshare company has introduced Route Share, a new service offering pickups every 20 minutes along busy corridors during weekday commute hours. Available from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time, the service will launch in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Baltimore Riders can select the Route Share option to see nearby routes and book a seat anywhere from seven days to 10 minutes before their intended pickup. They’ll then be prompted to walk to the set pickup area where the driver will wait for a maximum of two minutes. Customers will share those rides with up to two other passengers. Rides will be up to 50% less than an UberX, the company said. The new service was announced as part of Ubers annual GO-GET product event, where the company spotlighted more affordable options for cost-conscious consumers navigating todays economic pressures. Heres what else Uber unveiled at GO-GET 2025: [Image: Courtesy of Uber] RIDE PASSES Similar to how airlines have monetized the ability to lock-in prices while airfare is low, Uber is introducing a feature that allows riders to secure a fixed price for a one-hour window each day on select routes. For instance, someone commuting daily to the gym can lock in a fare to avoid price surges from weather or traffic. The pass costs $2.99 and will last for 30 days or until they hit $50 of savings, whichever comes first, the company said. Uber is also launching an option for users to prepay for 5, 10, 15, or 20 rides on regular routes in exchange for discounted fares. [Image: Courtesy of Uber] SHARED AUTONOMOUS RIDES In a major step toward autonomous mobility, Uber and Volkswagen announced in April a partnership to deploy thousands of all-electric, fully autonomous vehicles across the U.S. over the next decade. Uber said Wednesday that a shared autonomous ride option is expected to launch in Los Angeles early next year. [Image: Courtesy of Uber] OPENTABLE PARTNERSHIP Additionally, Uber is rolling out a new Dine Out feature, which lets users access in-person dining deals directly through the Uber Eats app. Its also partnering with OpenTable in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Ireland, and Australia to enable restaurant reservations within the app. [Image: Courtesy of Uber] UBER ONE MEMBER DAYS Uber is introducing a promotional savings event akin to Amazons Prime Week. The Uber One Member Days will run from May 16 to May 23, featuring tens of thousands of deals across the platform and its partners for subscribers paying the $10 monthly fee. Think 50% off shared rides, 20% off Uber Black, and 40% off Comfort Electric, with new deals each day of the week, Uber said in a press release.
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E-Commerce
California’s top insurance regulator said Tuesday that State Farm can soon start raising premiums by 17% for all of its home insurance customers in the state to help the insurer rebuild its capital following the Los Angeles wildfires.State Farm has argued the emergency rate hikes are necessary to help the company avoid a “dire” financial crisis that could force them to drop more California policies. The state’s largest home insurer said it was already struggling financially before this year but the LA fires, which destroyed more than 16,000 buildings in January, have made things worse.The increase will apply to all of the roughly one million homeowners State Farm insures in the state.The decision comes as California is undergoing a yearslong effort to entice insurers to continue doing business in the state as wildfires increasingly destroy entire neighborhoods. In 2023, several major companies, including State Farm, stopped issuing residential policies because of high fire risk. Last year, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara unveiled a slate of regulations aimed at giving insurers more latitude to raise premiums in exchange for more policies in high-risk areas. Those rules kick in this year.State Farm initially asked for a 22% rate increase for homeowners but revised it to 17% during a recent hearing before an administrative judge. The request also includes a 38% hike for rental owners and 15% for tenants. The new rates will take effect in June. In exchange, State Farm will get a $400 million cash infusion from its parent company and agree to halt some nonrenewals through the end of this year.On Tuesday, administrative Judge Karl Frederic Seligman ordered a ruling supporting State Farm’s request, calling it “a rescue mission to stabilize State Farm’s financial condition while safeguarding policyholders.”Lara adopted the recommendation the same day. The new rates are temporary until the state has a chance to consider State Farm’s request from last year for a 30% rate increase for homeowners. The hearings for that request are set for October.“I expect State Farm provide the highest level of service to its California customers and to fulfill its promises. State Farm must now justify its financial condition and detail its recovery plan in a full rate hearing before a neutral judge and my Department’s experts,” Lara said in a statement.State Farm said in a statement that the approval “is a critical first step for State Farm General’s (SFG) ability to continue serving our California customers.” The company received a financial rating downgrade last year and has seen a decline of $5 billion in its surplus account over the last decade.The company said it has paid more than $3.51 billion and is handling more than 12,600 claims as of this week.“Today’s decision that would make consumers pay now but allow State Farm to wait months before having to show its math is a great disappointment for consumers,” Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, said of the ruling. The group opposes State Farm’s request for higher premiums.State Farm said it plans to refund the emergency rates if California later approves lower rates. The insurer last received state approval for a 20% rate increase in December 2023. Trān Nguyn, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Apple just announced new accessibility features coming to its operating systems. Theres a redesigned braille input experience, and a new reader that allows you to customize your text so its more legible. But theres one that will be great for anyone attending any lecture or presentation: Magnifier for Mac.The iPhone and iPad got their Magnifier apps back in 2016. It worked pretty much like the iOS camera: You point your device anywhere you want and zoom in to the desired level. It also allows you to apply real-time filters to enhance readability depending on your visions condition, like turning a books black text over white page into white text over blue, as well as changing the images contrast and brightness. It also can detect objects around you.The new Mac version takes all that up to an 11 with its new features. To get the view of the world the new Magnifier needs, you will need to use a USB camera or an iPhone. The latter automatically connects to your computer using MacOSs Continuity Camera feature, allowing you to use your phone as the eyes for your Apple desktop or laptop. Zoom in to focus on something far away, apply the same filters, and adjust the image, just like in iOS and iPadOS.[Image: Apple]A matter of perspectiveWhat makes the update brilliant is the new perspective adjustment. Since you cant move your Mac around like with Apples handheld devices, you need a way to frame the text you want to read correctly.Like Apples introductory video shows, you can point your Mac with the attached camera to a whiteboard. Since you are probably not going to be looking at it from a fully perpendicular perspective, the app allows you to draw a polygon by clicking on each corner of the whiteboard in your screen. Then, applying some image deformation magical maths, Magnifier will automatically correct the perspective, turning the skewed whiteboard with deformed text into a perfect flat image that gives you the best view in the class, auditorium, or conference room.From there, you can do whatever you want with that text, including transforming handwriting into a typeface for easier reading. Magnifier uses Apples new Accessibility Reader, too, which allows you to customize how a page looks with the colors, fonts, and sizes you preferas well as copying and pasting from the whatever text the camera is looking at, regardless of it being handwritten or not. Its similar to what you can do now with other Apple apps, like Preview, but in one continuous, seamless experience.Bonus points: Magnifier also supports reading any paper-based media using Desk View, the feature that uses your iPhones wide-angle lens to capture whats flat on the table in front of your screen. Just put that novel on the table and transform its small type into something you can read easily (or have your Macs text-to-speech abilities to read it for you). Its easy to imagine every single student, office person, and TED Talk drone using the new Magnifier to get a better experience possible at a presentationsleeping pills notwithstandingonce it comes out later this year (according to Apple). This new little jewel will make your Macbook the best seat in the house no matter where you are sitting.
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E-Commerce
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