7 posts and columns on taxi

News Byte

Square Gets Approved for New York City Taxicab Pilot

in Mobile on March 1 at 8:24 am PT

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has approved a proposal to deploy Square payments technology in 30 taxicabs as part of a test phase. VeriFone Systems Inc. and Creative Mobile Technologies LLC currently hold contracts to power credit card payments in more than 13,000 cabs across the city, and many more nationwide. It’s unclear whether using Square’s mobile payments technology in cabs would result in lower processing fees for taxicab medallion owners, but David S. Yassky, current chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, has said he hopes credit card transaction fees could be lowered.

Fare Play: Rivals Have Reason to Be Wary if Square Grabs NYC Cabs

in Commerce on February 22 at 2:38 pm PT

Mobile payments start-up Square wants to snag New York City taxicabs — and its rivals are unlikely to keep quiet about it.
VeriFone

Was New Year’s Eve a Netflix Moment for Uber?

in Commerce on January 3 at 10:10 am PT

For Uber, the start-up behind a smartphone app for requesting car service, raising fares on busy nights is a no-brainer. But for consumers, the premium pricing may put the service just out of reach.
Image from Flickr/McSmith86

Uber CEO Responds to New Year’s Eve Complaints, Plans More Surge Pricing

in Commerce on January 1 at 8:31 pm PT

Even though some customers are uber-angry about the price of their Uber car rides on New Year’s Eve, CEO Travis Kalanick still says the night was a success.
uber_screen

Bing Marketing Dollars at Work: Farewell, Michael Jackson

in News on June 29, 2009 at 4:46 am PT

Where is Microsoft spending its $100 million in marketing for its new Bing search service? Here’s a photo that was forwarded to me showing an advertisement on top of a taxi in Manhattan of a goodbye message from Bing, as well as NBC, to the late pop legend, Michael Jackson.
img00008-20090626-1455

Condé Nast’s Most Drastic Cuts Yet: The Disappearing Town Car

in Media on March 25, 2009 at 2:30 am PT

Sure, fabled magazine publisher Condé Nast has been forced to shutter magazines and trim its staff. But now you know things have really gotten dire: They’re cutting back on cars. Top Condé editors are eschewing the use of chauffeured autos to make their way across Manhattan and beyond. Alas, that kind of cost-cutting likely won’t stave off another round of layoffs.

CES-tastic!: No Taxi Lines, Barry Manilow and a Geek ZZ Top (But, as Always, Scoble-Stalked!)

in News on January 8, 2009 at 5:32 pm PT

Here is BoomTown’s first video from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which kicked off last night with a keynote speech by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. So far, it’s been a definitely thinner crowd, a reflection of the weaker economy. But CES is still a reliably noisy, often pointless, gadget cavalcade–with introduction of a new smartphone from Palm, called Pre, as the highlight so far.