The latest from TechCrunch
- There's No iTunes Store Refresh Tonight. I Wonder Why…
- What If UberCab Pulls An Airbnb? Taxi Business Could (Finally) Get Some Disruption
| There's No iTunes Store Refresh Tonight. I Wonder Why… | Top |
| It’s like clockwork. 9 PM PT rolls around on Monday evening, and Apple rolls out an update to the iTunes Store. You see, Tuesday is the day that new movies and music are typically released in the U.S., so it makes sense to overhaul the store at this time to show off that new content. Only tonight, that didn’t happen. Why? Because why roll out an update when you’re going to completely overhaul the store the following day? As you’re probably well aware, Apple is holding an event in San Francisco this Wednesday . They tend to hold events related to iTunes and the iPod every year around this time, though this is a little earlier than normal. The invitation gives every indication that it will be music-related, but it will likely be more than that. Speculation is mounting that we’ll see an update to the Apple TV , called iTV, and some new iPod hardware as well. But iTunes itself is also due for some changes, and that’s very likely why we’re not seeing any updates tonight. One such change may be the introduction of iTunes television show rentals . Apple has had movie rentals for some time now, but with television shows, you have only had the option to purchase up until now. For many people, this makes no sense — but $0.99 rentals might. Apple has clearly been tinkering with the television show layout pages, and it looks as if they may be making room for a new “rent” button below the “buy” one. Oddly, the movie and music sections of iTunes haven’t been updated either. CNET reported earlier today that Apple is likely to double the song preview limit from 30 seconds to a minute, but that probably doesn’t require any front-end changes. Might something else be changing? Meanwhile, if the iTV does come, movies are likely to be a big selling point of the device. Perhaps Apple is getting ready to emphasize that. Or maybe there will be some kind of new streaming video service ? To be clear, there is new content in the iTunes store. For example, here’s the movie Harry Brown which was released today. And here’s the new Heart CD that was released today. But Apple isn’t highlighting any of this new content as it normally does on Tuesdays with a front-end change. Again, likely because some major changes are coming to iTunes tomorrow. It’s quite likely that will include a new version of iTunes itself. CrunchBase Information iTunes Apple Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| What If UberCab Pulls An Airbnb? Taxi Business Could (Finally) Get Some Disruption | Top |
| If you live in San Francisco and you haven’t tried UberCab yet, do it. The service, which we first covered in July , eliminates everything bad about a taxi experience. In my order, that’s flagging one down, finding the cash to pay, and being in a sometimes disgusting car. For bonus points, I always enjoy negotiating whether or not I get air conditioning in the summer in NY. UberCab contracts with black car services – mostly Towncars and Escalades. There’s a lot of unused inventory in those businesses and they are happy to work with someone who eats up that inventory. As a user you download an iPhone app (I have it on my iPad) and add your credit card information (that’s the last time you ever have to deal with that). When you want a car to pick you up you hit a button. The app knows where you are and finds a car and driver nearby. The driver accepts via his/her own iPhone app, and you then get to watch them come to you on a map with a pretty darn good estimate of the number of minutes it will take for them to get there. When they arrive you get in the car and tell the driver where you want to go. When you get there you see the charges and accept them, which are then billed to your credit card, tip included. A receipt is emailed to you. And then each side gets to rate the other – I love the fact that the driver rates the passenger, too. Makes for good tips and a happy overall transaction. Watch a demo video here . When I tried UberCab a few days ago I had to wait just 5 minutes for the car to arrive (a big Mercedes), and the overall experience was way better than a taxi. The charges are 1.5x taxi rates, and it’s worth it. You’re in a much more comfortable car and you don’t have to waste time finding a cab in the first place, a real problem in San Francisco. I’ll use this all the time now when in San Francisco. The company is planning to expand to other markets, so you may not need to wait long to use it (and if they move too slow, others will pop up anyway). But here’s where things get really interesting – the difference between UberCab and its various competitors is that the driver uses his own iPhone app, not some clunky one-use device installed in his car. That means there’s no technical barrier to anyone becoming an UberCab driver. Which means that anyone with a car, theoretically, could join the network and start picking people up. That’s exactly like Airbnb for people’s homes, and Square for credit card transactions. And don’t think people won’t want to do this – drivers generally make around $50 per hour. There’s no reason I couldn’t become a UberCab driver and maybe charge less than others for driving – meaning competition will drive the rate down to some sort of equilibrium pricing. I can also sell myself based on the car I’m driving (hybrid, SUV, whatever), and my overall rating. What’s standing in the way of all this? Not much. You need a special type of license to drive other people and your insurance rates will probably double or triple. But UberCab could help new drivers get through that paperwork and reduce the friction. In most cities today you need to purchase or lease a medallion to drive a taxi. That’s just a way of keeping out competition and keeping rates high – it has nothing to do with making sure only qualified people drive those cars. In most cities you can drive people outside of taxis but you can’t let them flag you down, a big competitive disadvantage. With UberCab they’ve solved that problem – click a button and car arrives in a few minutes wherever you are. Instead of looking for pedestrians to flag you down, wasting gas and not being the safest road aware driver, UberCab drivers will just park near where they know that a lot of clicks happen and watch their phone, bidding and grabbing those nearby clicks as they come through. I can imagine it now – click a button and see a variety of options. A five star rated driver 15 minutes away in a late model Prius at 2x taxi rates, or a 1975 Camero 1 minute away with a three star rating for .5x taxi rates. Choose your car, driver and price and get exactly what you pay for. And help break the back of the taxi medallion evil empire. CrunchBase Information UberCab Information provided by CrunchBase | |
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