Tag: covid-19
Ola suspends shared ride option in India
Ride-hailing giant Ola said on Friday evening that it is temporarily suspending pool rides on its platform, called Ola Share, in India in a bid to slow the coronavirus pandemic by encouraging social distancing. The Indian firm, which operates in several countries including Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, offers…
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Waymo suspends all self-driving services in light of coronavirus pandemic
Waymo has extended the partial suspension of its autonomous vehicle service pilots to include fully driverless vehicle testing, the company confirmed on Friday. While Alphabet-owned Waymo had already stopped operation of the autonomous driving vehicles in its fleet that have safety drivers on board, in the interest of minimizing the…
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New York Governor announces ‘100% workforce reduction’ for non-essential services
In a press conference today, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced orders for residents to stay at home amid rising COVID-19 concerns. The Governor was careful to avoid terms like “quarantine” and “shelter in place” during the otherwise typically blunt presser, but noted a “100% Workforce Reduction,” with the…
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Yelp commits $25M in waived fees and free services to local restaurants and nightlife
Yelp announced this morning that it’s making a number of changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it says it will be providing $25 million to local restaurants and nightlife businesses that are seeing a massive drop in business as a result of the crisis. This will take the…
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Amazon follows Netflix’s lead, reducing streaming quality in Europe
Following moves by Netflix and YouTube, Amazon announced today that it, too, will be throttling streaming bitrates in Europe in an effort to conserve bandwidth. The online giant confirmed the move in a statement to TechCrunch, writing, We support the need for careful management of telecom services to ensure they…
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Scanwell aims to launch at-home 15-minute coronavirus test, but it still needs FDA approval
At-home diagnostics startup Scanwell, which produces smartphone-based testing for UTIs, is working on getting at-home testing for the novel coronavirus into the hands of U.S. residents. The technology, which was developed by Chinese diagnostic technology company INNOVITA and has already been approved by China’s equivalent of the FDA and used…
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