Uber saw record gross bookings in March 2021, according to a filing posted Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The increase may signal the beginning of a comeback for the ride-hailing business, which suffered mightily in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Uber’s mobility segment, which includes its ride-hailing business, was up 9 percent last month from March 2020, with an annualized run rate of $30 billion. Uber’s food delivery segment UberEats, which helped the company stave off even bigger losses in 2020, doubled its annual run rate from March of last year, coming in at $52 billion, a 150 percent year-over-year increase.
“As vaccination rates increase in the United States, we are observing that consumer demand for Mobility is recovering faster than driver availability, and consumer demand for Delivery continues to exceed courier availability,” Uber said in the SEC filing.
In February, Uber reported it lost $968 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 and had a net loss of $6.7 billion for the year, which improved on its $8.5 billion loss in full-year 2019. Its UberEats division saw gross bookings rise 130 percent in the fourth quarter, to $10.05 billion.
Uber said on April 7th that it was launching a $250 million “stimulus” of incentives for its drivers to coax them back behind the wheel. The company said in a blog post announcing the incentive program that many drivers had stopped driving in 2020 because they weren’t getting enough trips to make it worth their time. Dennis Cinelli, Uber’s vice president for mobility in the US and Canada, wrote in the post that “in 2021, there are more riders requesting trips than there are drivers available to give them—making it a great time to be a driver.”
In Monday’s filing, Uber also cautioned that it expects a “significant accrual” in costs after it reclassified all its drivers in the UK as workers last month.
Uber will release its first-quarter financial results on May 5th.
Ordering delivery through an app like DoorDash or GrubHub saves the trouble of cooking and lets you be a little picky — you can order from your favorite restaurant. But imagine receiving your food, sitting down to eat, and it tasting… different. And then, following your gut, you learn that you’ve been duped by a fake, an imposter restaurant that stole its name. For many people ordering from two Japanese restaurants in San Francisco, that exact thing may have happened, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
One restaurant, now styled as an izakaya called Chome, originally opened for delivery and takeout in the former location of Blowfish Sushi. Except it didn’t bother to change the name, awning, or logo at the start. Chome, operating as if it were Blowfish Sushi, served sushi to people ordering through apps like GrubHub, Postmates, DoorDash, and Uber Eats using the identity of a restaurant that closed in December 2020. Before it closed, Blowfish Sushi had been serving its neighborhood for two decades.
Blowfish’s former owner, Jason Teplitsky, was not exactly thrilled. “How does someone decide to do something like this? Did they think we all got COVID and died?” Teplitsky tells the Chronicle.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the real Wagyumafia is famous for its use of wagyu beef Photo: Wagyumafia
Another fake restaurant, SF Wagyumafia, shares the name of a famous sandwich shop known for its $180 wagyu sandwich and locations in Tokyo and Hong Kong. This San Francisco restaurant has no connection with the actual chain, according to the real Wagyumafia, but it was advertising the $180 sandwich. The fake was convincing enough to initially fool one food writer, the Chronicle writes. When you’re ordering through an app without any real way to gauge what you’re getting into, what can you do but take a restaurant at its word?
At first glance, both these restaurants might seems like ghost kitchen schemes gone awry. They’re seemingly focused on delivery, readily accessible through the most popular apps, and of an unknown origin. But blatantly copying other well-known restaurants to the point that people mistake one for the other, or think a classic has suddenly reopened, seems more like straightforward fraud. The new “Blowfish Sushi” even registered as Blowfish with the city of San Francisco, which makes it seem like the owner knew what they were doing.
Teplitsky and the original Wagyumafia are considering legal action, according to the Chronicle.
In response to the concerns over both restaurants’ legitimacy, DoorDash and GrubHub have removed Wagyumafia and Blowfish Sushi from their listings,the Chronicle writes. I wasn’t able to find a listing for either restaurant on Postmates or Uber Eats, either.
DoorDash, Postmates, GrubHub, and Uber Eats either didn’t respond to our questions about how they verify restaurant listings in the first place, or weren’t able to tell us whether they have any specific protections to keep one restaurant from stealing another restaurant’s name.
GrubHub did at least reply with a generic description of its practices:
We have no tolerance for misconduct or misuse of the Grubhub platform. We have a number of safeguards in place to prevent potentially fraudulent listings on our marketplace and we are constantly improving our processes and testing new features to prevent these situations. In the case of any listings that might be fraudulent, we immediately investigate and remove them from the marketplace if they’re in fact fraudulent.
In GrubHub’s case, it says fraud like this isn’t widespread, but says it’s unable to explain exactly how it prevents fraudulent listing because doing so would potentially make its methods no longer useful.
Fake restaurants aren’t the only surprises potentially awaiting you in food delivery apps: some legitimate brands have also tried to entice diners by changing their name for delivery. Remember, that pizza you purchase from Pasqually’s actually comes from Chuck E. Cheese.
Swedish electric performance automaker Polestar says it will build the world’s first truly zero-emissions vehicle without relying on carbon offsets, which it described as a “cop-out.”
The company, which was spun out of Volvo and Volvo’s parent company Geely, framed its effort to cut carbon emissions by changing the way its cars are made as a “moonshot goal” that would result in the world’s first carbon neutral vehicle by 2030.
Carbon offsets, like tree planting, have become a standard way for car companies and other businesses to write off their carbon emissions by investing in renewable energy or conservation projects aimed at bolstering forests’ ability to naturally store carbon. But there’s growing evidence that offsets haven’t succeeded in slowing global warming and have instead given companies license to keep polluting.
“Offsetting is a cop-out,” says Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO, in a statement. “By pushing ourselves to create a completely climate-neutral car, we are forced to reach beyond what is possible today. We will have to question everything, innovate and look to exponential technologies as we design towards zero.”
FedEx, United, Delta, and JetBlue said they would eliminate all of their emissions over the next several decades. And Uber and Lyft have pledged to go carbon neutral within a similar timeframe.
The automaker makes two cars: the $155,000 hybrid coupe Polestar 1 and the all-electric fastback sedan Polestar 2. The Polestar 3, an electric crossover SUV, is expected to be released in late 2021. After its first vehicle, the company has said it will only produce electric vehicles.
The real challenge for Polestar will be the elimination of carbon emissions from its production process and supply chain. Several major automakers have pledged to phase out gas-powered vehicle production by a certain target date, including General Motors, Ford, and Polestar’s parent company, Volvo. But automobile production, including the mining of the rare earth minerals that go into lithium-ion batteries, is an intensely carbon-heavy process. Even reducing those emissions, to say nothing of eliminating them, will be a hugely consequential task.
Polestar, as a boutique operation, may have more flexibility to achieve its goals than other larger — and thus, less nimble — companies. The company announced its so-called Polestar 0 project as part of its first annual review, in which it also said that sustainability declarations would be applied to all future Polestar models.
Sustainability declarations, popular in industries like food and fashion, is a checklist of all the carbon emissions and waste associated with a product or process. Starting with the Polestar 2, the company says it will list on its website the carbon footprint and traced risk materials associated with the production of each of its vehicles.
“Today, Polestar 2 leaves the factory gates with a carbon footprint,” Ingenlath said. “In 2030 we want to present a car that does not.”
Uber was sued in 2014 for discriminating against blind people and their guide dogs, and agreed to change that as part of a $2.6 million settlement two years later. But apparently, that didn’t entirely happen.
Uber will now pay an additional $1.1 million to a blind woman who says said she missed work, missed her birthday celebration, missed Christmas Eve church services, and was left out in the dark, in the rain, and other such humiliations because Uber drivers refused to carry her and her dog on 14 different occasions — a number of which happened after Uber finalized its 2016 settlement.
“Uber allowed drivers who discriminated against disabled riders to continue driving without discipline,” an arbitrator concluded this week (via The San Francisco Chronicle).
This line from the arbitrator’s report is also worth considering: “When Uber did conduct an investigation, its investigators were trained, in some instances, to coach drivers to find non-discriminatory reasons for ride denials, sometimes even to ‘advocate’ to keep drivers on the platform despite discrimination complaints.”
Lisa Irving, the woman, isn’t suddenly a millionaire, by the way. The arbitrator awarded her $324,000 in damages, with the rest ($805,313) going to legal costs, including attorney fees. She spoke to the Chronicle about her dog and her memories, including one where a driver did pick her up, then got vocally angry about having a dog in the car and threatened to leave them on the side of the road. She says she was rejected at least 60 times.
Uber now has a dedicated support form for issues with service animals. “Was a service animal denied?” is the very first question. Here’s Uber’s service animal policy.
You can read the full arbitrator’s decision below.
Alan and Alex Stokes, twin brothers who rose to fame on YouTube filming prank videos, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment and reporting false emergencies in connection with a pair of now-removed videos they filmed in the fall of 2019 in which they pretended to have just robbed a bank. The 23-year-old brothers were charged in August of last year.
They faced a maximum of five years in prison if convicted on all counts, leading to the guilty plea in exchange for reduced sentences, according to a press release put out dated March 31st by the office of the district attorney of Orange County, California.
“The guilty pleas were in exchange for a judge reducing the felony false imprisonment charge to a misdemeanor. Prosecutors objected on the record and in a trial brief to the court’s offer to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor,” the press release states.
Both received a sentence including 160 hours of community service and one year of probation in addition to both having to pay restitution. The Stokes brothers are also barred from returning to the University of California Irvine, where they filmed the prank videos, and they were also ordered not to produce any more videos “that mimic criminal behavior.”
The videos in question involved the Stokes brothers dressing in black garb with face masks filming themselves interacting with strangers, some of whom were distraught at the prospect of encountering what they believed were on-the-run criminals.
In one poorly thought-out situation filmed for the videos, the brothers called an Uber driver and demanded they be taken somewhere. The driver refused, but he was later questioned by law enforcement who initially approached the man with their guns drawn, mistakenly believing he was involved after numerous bystanders called law enforcement on the brothers for thinking they were attempting to carjack the driver.
The brothers pulled this prank twice in the same day on October 15th, 2019, choosing to film the second of the two videos at the University of California Irvine after already having been questioned and released by police elsewhere in Orange County earlier in the day.
“These crimes could have easily resulted in someone being seriously hurt or killed,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “An active bank robbery is not a casual police response and these police officers were literally risking their lives to help people they believed were in danger. It is irresponsible and reckless that these two individuals cared more about increasing their number of followers on the internet than the safety of those police officers or the safety of the innocent Uber driver who was ordered out of his car at gunpoint.”
The Stokes Twins YouTube channel remains active with more than 6.6 million subscribers. The most recent video, titled “FUNNY April Fool’s Pranks on Friends!,” was posted two days ago, and it’s already amassed 1.4 million views.
(Pocket-lint) – Setting out on a mission to find the very best gaming headsets was a daunting task. There are a multitude of options out there – wired, wireless, closed and open cup designs, stereo and surround sound headsets, oval and round earcups, leather and material finishes, the list goes on and on.
A lot of what makes a great gaming headset will be down to personal preference, but what we were looking for was a product that struck a perfect balance between quality of design, value for money and features that gamers would love. To create this shortlist, we worked through a mass of PC gaming headsets (many of which are also compatible with consoles) to whittle down to a list of finalists that we’re sure you’ll love.
If you’re looking for the best gaming headset for your money, then keep with us as we break down the very best we’ve seen and the reasons why you should consider adding them to your shortlist.
Overall best surround sound gaming headset
Audeze Mobius
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100 mm Audeze planar magnetic drivers
Waves Nx fully immersive 3D audio
Closed-back earcup design
10Hz–50,000Hz frequency response
24 bit, 96KHz sample rate and bit depth
USB-C, 3.5mm and Bluetooth connection options
Uni-directional Electret condenser microphone
This is one of the most interesting gaming headsets on our list thanks to Waves Nx head tracking technology that delivers “immersive 3D audio” by changing the sound to account for the tilt or turn of your head as you play. Combine this with 7.1 virtual surround sound and hi-res audio options and you have some seriously impressive positional audio.
The Mobius boasts awesome 100mm planar magnetic drivers which are capable of delivering a max of 50,000Hz frequency response, with 96Khz sample rate and 24-bit depth resulting in a rich, impressive and convincing sound.
Deep earcups, comfortable padding and a solid build quality round off a superb package.
Verdict
The Audeze Mobius is an incredibly interesting (and incredibly expensive) gaming headset that seemingly offers it all. A premium high-quality design, fantastic audio, brilliant comfort and more. All in one package.
Most versatile wireless gaming headset
SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless
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10–40,000 Hz frequency response via 40mm Neodymium drivers
102 dB SPL sensitivity/32Ohm impedance
Ski Goggle headband and AirWeave material earcups
20-hour battery life via swappable batteries
2.4Ghz wireless and Bluetooth 4.1 support
DTS Headphone: X v2.0 surround sound/Dolby audio via optical input
SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless continues to be one of the very best gaming headsets available, thanks to great sound and incredible versatility.
It has a variety of inputs including optical and USB for PC that allow you to take advantage of the Dolby audio and DTS virtual surround sound processing power inside the transmitter box. Built-in Bluetooth and an understated design mean it can also be taken with you out of the house in place of standard headphones.
Two batteries are included, one in the headset and one in the base station which means one is always on charge so you never need to plug the headset in. The result of all this is a marvellously comfortable wireless headset with a variety of inputs, features and functionality that deliver a superb sound quality whatever you’re doing and whatever gaming system you’re playing on.
Verdict
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless is an expensive option but you get what you pay for, with great sound and convenience.
The most comfortable wireless gaming headset
Astro A50 wireless gen 4
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Open Air Over-Ear design
Cloth ear cushions upgradable to leather
40mm Neodymium Magnet drivers with 20Hz – 20,000Hz Frequency Response
Tuned Astro Audio V2 and two years free access to Dolby Atmos
Game/voice balance button
Optical Pass-through, USB Power & Soundcard, USB Charging Port, AUX In / Mic out (TRRS 3.5mm) inputs via basestation
Compatible with Astro Gaming Command Center
Up to 15-hours battery life and up to 30ft wireless range
The Astro A50 wireless is an uber-comfortable gaming headset. Sporting velour style cloth ear cushions, we feel like we’re wearing small puffs of heavenly goodness resting on our ears. It’s also lightweight and easy to wear for hours and hours.
Astro A50 is also able to deliver fantastic sound quality with deep bass notes and impressively convincing surround sound. A number of equaliser settings tuned Astro Audio V2 and Dolby options give you plenty to choose from sound-wise.
When not in use, this headset is simply docked into the charging base which connects to your computer via MicroUSB for power and audio. Thanks to 15-hour battery life and convenient charging we found we were able to get a full day’s use out of this headset on a regular basis without any need for extra juice.
The microphone on the Astro A50 is a pleasure to use too. It has deep and warm tones and manages to cancel out a fair amount of the surrounding environmental noise during use. It can be tweaked and customised in the software and adjusted to your personal preference.
We liked the sidetone capabilities here that allow you to hear your own voice and gauge volume with ease.
Verdict
The Astro A50 is in our mind, one of the best PC gaming headsets available. It’s convenient, capable and brilliantly designed. It’s easy to pick up and use and equally easy to drop in the charging dock when you need to.
We’re rarely left wanting when using this headset and would happily recommend it to anyone who is looking for a gaming headset that delivers constant comfort throughout the day.
Best closed cup wireless gaming headset
EPOS GSP 670
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10–23,000 Hz frequency response
112 dB sound pressure level
Dynamic, closed transducer
Bi-directional mic with 10–7,300 Hz frequency response
If you prefer a tight-fitting, all-encompassing, passive noise-cancelling headset then look no further than the EPOS GSP 670. This is a gaming headset, that not only offers some serious style, but also great sound as well.
It’s tighter than other headsets, but that’s no bad thing as it won’t fly off your head if you turn too quickly. This, along with the closed-back design means it blocks out a lot of background noise and keeps you immersed in your games.
The GSP 670 also shines thanks to a dual-connectivity option where you can connect via both a low-latency dongle and Bluetooth at the same time.
20-hour battery, fantastic sound, convenient controls and more round off an awesome headset.
Verdict
This is certainly one of the best wireless gaming headsets available. If you want great sound, a good looking headset and something that’s as durable as it is feature-rich then the GSP 670 is it.
Best headset for pro gamers
Astro A40 TR with MixAmp Pro TR
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Dynamic, Open 40mm drivers with 20 – 20,000 Hz frequency response
48 kHz @ 16-bit game audio/16 kHz @ 16-Bit
Cloth ear cushions upgradable to leather
Tuned Astro Audio V2 with two years free access to Dolby Atmos
Optical Pass-through, USB 2.0 Full Speed and USB Audio 1.0, Aux port line in/out
3-metre Micro-USB and Optical cables, detachable 3.5mm audio cable
6.0mm Uni-directional boom microphone
Optional voice isolating upgrade, sidetone and noise gate settings in software
If you’re serious about sound and your gaming, then the Astro A40 Tournament Ready edition might well be for you. Another comfortable headset from Astro, but a wired one that includes the option to daisy chain multiple headsets together for LANs or eSports events.
The Astro A40 TR is an undeniably brilliant gaming headset. It’s snazzy, comfortable and packed full of great sound possibilities. Positional audio is great in-game and you can hear footsteps of your enemies or the rumble of a car in the distance with ease.
Other highlights include long connection cables, easy controls on the MixAmp and a decent noise-isolating microphone too.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a serious headset that’s as useful in an eSports arena as it is at home, then the Astro A40 TR might well be it. It’s comfortable to wear, fantastic to hear and easy on the eye too.
Best affordable wireless surround sound headset
SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless
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40mm drivers
20-20,000 Hz frequency response
32 Ohms impedance
SteelSeries classic cushion design
Wireless and wired options via MicroUSB and USB-C dongle
MicroUSB charging cable
3.5mm jack
Equaliser pre-sets, mic volume/sidetone settings
9-metre/30-foot wireless range
2.4GHz wireless
Approximately 20 hours battery life
Bidirectional Noise-Cancelling
100-6,500Hz frequency response
Detachable design
Mic mute button on the rear
If you’re the sort of gamer that likes to play on a multitude of different devices, then you might find the Arctis 1 wireless highly appealing.
This is a wireless gaming headset that not only works on PC, but is also compatible with PS4, Nintendo Switch and even your phone. You get all those connectivity options, plus the great sound of the Arctis range at a pretty incredible price.
The build quality isn’t quite as good as others we’ve seen but for the price this headset has surprisingly good and sound and plenty more to offer. That includes 2.4GHz wireless audio transmitted over a 30-foot range for up to 20 hours. Up to 20,000Hz frequency response also results in clear and rich audio thanks to the high-quality drivers.
Despite the lack of Dolby or DTS surround sound options, this headset sounds great in-game. If you want a headset that can connect to multiple devices, has a decent battery life and still has good audio too then this is it.
Verdict
We’re thoroughly impressed with the Arctis 1. It’s an affordable, comfortable and feature-packed headset that’s well worth considering. If you want a headset that can connect to multiple devices, has a decent battery life and still has good audio too then this is it.
There’s no Bluetooth, but the USB-C wireless dongle is multi-capable and a great alternative. If you’ve been eyeing the likes of the Arctis Pro Wireless but were put off by the price, then this headset is the one for you.
Most stylish gaming headset
Logitech G Pro X wireless gaming headset
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50mm Neodymium drivers with 20 Hz – 20 kHz frequency response
32 Ohm impedance and 91.7 dB sensitivity
Faux leather or cloth ear cushion options
1.8m USB-C charging cable
Virtual DTS Headphone:X 2.0 surround sound on PC
Noise-cancelling microphone with Blue Voice technology
20 hours battery life
If style and looks matter to you and you’re bored of the same old boring headsets, then this Logitech headset might be an option. Styled more like traditional headphones, the Logitech G Pro X wireless is far more understated, doesn’t have any RGB and as is pleasing to the eyes as it is to the ears.
It’s comfortable, thanks to a choice of faux leather and cloth styled ear cups. It also has large drivers that offer a good range of sound with deep bass levels and a brilliantly immersive sound quality that gamers will love.
One of the main selling points of this headset is the microphone. This headset makes use of the Blue Voice technology (within Logitech G Hub) that allows you to customise the live sound captured from the microphone and adjust it on the fly.
Verdict
All-in-all, the Logitech G Pro X wireless is an impressive headset for the money. It’s comfortable and delivers great sound, but most importantly it does so with style. Unfortunately, there’s no Bluetooth, 3.5mm connection and you can’t connect to your phone using USB-C either. But if you’re gaming on PC and that’s all you need it for then you won’t be disappointed.
We found this headset was capable of delivering rich sound, despite not having as high a frequency response as other headsets on this list. It’s also incredibly comfortable and the choice of (included) ear cup options makes it thoroughly appealing too. The added bonus of Blue Voice tech might be a bit of a gimmick for some, but is a nice touch.
Best high-fidelity gaming headset
Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless
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High-fidelity 96kHZ/24-bit audio
Hi-Res Certified
32 Ohms @ 2.5kHz impedance
109db sensitivity
20-40,000Hz audio response over wireless
RGB lighting on earcups
Equaliser pre-sets, surround sound, RGB illumination controls and mic controls in software
Corsair iCue compatible
Virtual surround sound
RGB lighting on both earcups and mic
Omni-directional microphone with 2.0k Ohms and 100Hz – 10,000Hz frequency response
If you think of yourself as a bit of an audiophile and only the very best audio is enough whatever you’re doing then the Corsair Virtuoso RGB wireless may be for you. The Virtuoso has a few different strings to its bow that make it highly interesting. Multiple connection options, high-fidelity audio, a premium design and hours of battery life are just some of the highlights.
It’s well designed and comes with a high-quality finish that includes faux leather ear cups, a padded headband and an adjustable size that can be easily tweaked to fit your head.
The Virtuoso sports 50mm custom drivers that are capable of delivering hi-res, high-fidelity (96Khz) audio when you plug into a PC. Alternatively, you can use it wirelessly with 40,000Hz audio for as long as 20 hours.
A high-quality, broadcast-quality microphone rounds off a superb package.
Verdict
The Corsair Virtuoso is our favourite high-res, high-fidelity gaming headset with audio that really floats our boat.
Best affordable 3.5mm headset
Fnatic React
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53mm stereo drivers
1.2m and 2.0m extension 3.5mm connection cables
20Hz-40kHz frequency response
Detachable distortion-free boom mic
Large protein leather ear cups with memory foam padding
Also compatible with Xbox One, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, Mac and more
Fnatic’s React headset is interesting proof that a good gaming headset doesn’t have to cost the earth. It also shows that you can have a good set of gaming cans without all the extra bling, RGB or over-the-top features.
Highlights to this headset are the large, all-encompassing earcups that cover the entire ear and boast a premium protein leather design with memory foam cushioning. This design is not only comfortable, but blocks out a lot of external noise and prevents sound bleed too.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that, despite its price, the Fnatic React is capable of delivering a pretty impressive soundscape with a rich sound experience for the money.
The detachable microphone is also superb too. Clear, capable and convenient.
Verdict
All told, the Fnatic React is the underdog but almost certainly one of the best value for money headsets money can buy. If you’re looking for a headset that sports large, capable cans without all the extra fluff and a 3.5mm connection, then look no further. However, we will say that if you want perfect positional audio then you might like to look at others on this list. However, even the React can be improved with the addition of Dolby Atmos.
Most personalisable
Pocket-lint
nuraphone + nuraphone gaming microphone
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Bluetooth aptX H3671301D and 3.5 mm connection options
Up to 20hrs battery life, recharged in 3 hours
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) + Dual passive isolation
Soft-Touch silicone material with over-ear and in-ear design
Unique hearing profile
This is a fairly interesting bundle that takes the unique Nuraphone headphones and transforms them into a gaming headset. We enjoyed the Nuraphone design and sound when we originally reviewed them as earphones, so we were intrigued to see what this setup could bring to gaming.
If you don’t know already, Nuraphones selling points are sound and design. These are unusual headphones which use both in-ear and over-ear designs to immerse you in the sound. The technology contained within these headphones also allows them to be personalised to your specific hearing. On initial setup, the app measures the way your eardrum responds to sound and adjusts audio accordingly. The result is incredibly personalised audio that you really need to witness to appreciate.
The in-ear and over-ear design is then backed up by active noise cancellation to really immerse you into what you’re listening too. Plug into the nura gaming microphone and you can then take this personalised sound into the gaming world as well.
This connection uses a single 3.5mm jack, meaning you need a mixed mic/headphone jack on your PC, but the result is some really interesting gaming sounds and a decent microphone to match.
Pocket-lint
The design takes some getting used to, as you have silicone tips in your ears the whole time, but the way the audio surrounds you is undeniably excellent. You can also crank the immersion up within the app and get a much more bassy experience with a warble that’s close to sticking your head near a subwoofer or next to a trundling tank (perfect for first person shooters).
Verdict
This set up certainly won’t be for everyone. The fit of these headphones is undoubtedly unique and we aren’t entirely sold on comfort, but the sound of Nuraphone is certainly something special. If you’re already a fan, then adding a mic and plugging in is an awesome way to bring that rich, personalised sound to your gaming fun as well.
Others to consider
Pocket-lint
HP Omen Blast
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53mm drivers, 24-bit USB DAC
Retractable microphone
3.5mm connection options
Adjustable headband
The HP Omen Blast is a headset that’s perfect for those with larger heads. It’s got a large flexible headband and earcups to match. It also has a 24-bit USB DAC, 7.1 surround sound and drivers capable of delivering good quality audio too.
EQ settings in the software mean you can adjust sound to focus on footsteps and get the edge on the competition in FPS and Battle Royale games.
It’s not the best looking or sounding headset on this list, but it’s still worth considering if you’re looking for something that’s solidly built and easy to wear.
If you’re looking for a large flexible wired headset that doesn’t break the bank, this might be it.
Pocket-lint
HyperX Cloud II wireless
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Dynamic, 53mm with neodymium-magnet drivers
15Hz–20kHz frequency response
Closed-back design with memory foam cushioning and faux leather earcups
30 hours battery life with 2.4 Ghz wireless (20-meter range)
Detachable mic
The HyperX Cloud II is a bold looking headset with a comfortable fit and a great overall aesthetic. It’s solidly built with an aluminium frame, memory foam cushioning and nice large earcups.
This headset sports large 53mm drivers making it loud enough for a great gaming session and it also makes use of HyperX’s own virtual 7.1 surround sound.
We found this headset not only had a great battery life but sounded fantastic while listening to music, watching movies and more. The positional audio is great and it has a fairly decent microphone too. A great all-rounder but it lacks the audio richness and bass of other headsets on this list and the mic is a bit compressed.
Razer BlackShark V2 Pro
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12 Hz – 28 kHz frequency response
50 mm Razer TriForce Titanium drivers
THX Audio
Breathable memory foam cushion ear cups
Razer HyperClear Supercardioid Mic
This is a wireless version of Razer’s BlackShark headset that Razer pitches as an “eSports Wireless Gaming headset”. It offers an interesting design, comfortable fit and great sound thanks to large drivers and THX audio. The mic isn’t as good as we’d like, but if you’re a Razer fan and want a wireless headset, this is well worth considering.
Pocket-lint
Logitech G733 Lightspeed
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PRO-G 40 mm drivers, 20 Hz-20 KHz frequency response,
29 hours battery life
Lightweight design
Blue Voice tech
DTS Headphone X 2.0 surround sound
The Logitech G733 Lightspeed is a lightweight gaming headset which comes in various different colourways but also sports some other interesting highlights that make it stand out from the crowd. It has RGB lighting that you can show off on camera if you’re a streamer, a lightweight design that makes it comfortable to wear all day long and more besides. DTS headphone X 2.0 gives this headset great surround sound and it can also manage as much as 29 hours use before it needs recharging too. If you want something snazzy, give this one a look.
SteelSeries Arctis 9
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Neodymium Drivers 40 mm with 20–20000 Hz frequency response
20 hours of battery life
Dual connectivity with Bluetooth
DTS Headphone X V2
40-foot range
The SteelSeries Arctis 9 is essentially a more affordable version of the Arctis Pro wireless but with fewer features. Nonetheless, it’s a fantastic headset with great sound, a decent microphone, good looks and more besides. The highlight of the Arctis 9 is the connection options. It’ll work with PC, PS4 and PlayStation 5 as well as a multitude of other things thanks to Bluetooth connectivity. You can also use Bluetooth and wireless at the same time, playing audio from two different places. That alone is fantastic.
EPOS GSP 601
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10–30,000 Hz frequency response
112dB sound pressure
Dynamic closed back transducer
2.5 m PC cable / 1.5 m Console cable
The EPOS GSP 601 and GSP 602 are new models in the EPOS range, with a snazzy finish and a large, wired headset design. They’re closed-back, with ergonomic leatherette earpads that block out loads of surrounding noise and let you focus on the game at hand. We prefer the GSP 670, but if you want something with stylish looks and a wired setup, then this might be the one to turn to.
Sound BlasterX G6
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Dynamic Range: 130dB
Sampling rate: up to 32bit 384kHz
Dolby audio, SoundBlasterX sound, Scout Mode, various equaliser modes
Also works with Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PS4
Although not technically a gaming headset, the Sound BlasterX G6 can be considered as an alternative to buying a gaming headset if you already own a good pair of 3.5mm headphones. This snazzy looking thing is an external DAC that works not only as a USB soundcard but also as an amplifier too.
Plug it into your PC using a USB cable and you get a boosted sound for your headphones, Dolby audio and tuned Sound Blaster sound. The G6, therefore, adds virtual surround sound to any stereo headphones plugged into it, it also ups the levels too. Not only is this Digital-to-Analog converter able to produce a sampling rate of up to 32bit 384kHz it can also deliver 130dB.
We combined it with the Logitech G Pro X, which is already on this list, to see the difference it made. The volume difference alone was staggering. Then with the accompanying software (and easy access buttons) also gave us access to more sound customisation and tweaks that weren’t present on the headset alone. Everything from equaliser changes to voice-altering settings for mic capture. The Sound BlasterX G6 is a great upgrade to your gear as an alternative to a purchase of a new gaming headset.
Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero
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50mm Nanoclear drivers with Waves NX 3D audio technology
Superhuman Hearing Optimized For PC
On-the-fly sidetone adjustment
Pro Specs Glasses Relief system
Up to 30 hours of battery life
The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero is, in our mind, one of the very best gaming headsets we’ve seen from the company. It has a number of features that make it fairly outstanding, not least of which is a rechargeable battery system that lasts for up to 30 hours.
Other highlights include ultra-deep, uber comfortable gel-infused memory foam cushioned ear cups that do a fantastic job of blocking out external noise without making your ears unnecessarily hot. Large drivers with Waves Nx and Maxx technologies offer an impressive 3D audio experience. While the software gives you access to a wealth of customisation options that include masses of EQ presets and custom options.
The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero, unfortunately, doesn’t have the same wireless range of other headsets, but it has plenty of awesome features that we love. The glasses relief system allows you to tighten up the ear cups and create a channel for your glasses so you don’t get any unnecessary pressure on your face while you game.
A detachable microphone and the ability to use this headset with other devices via a 3.5mm cable make this a capable and delightful device to own.
HyperX Cloud Orbit S
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100 mm Audeze planar magnetic drivers
Waves Nx fully immersive 3D audio
Closed-back earcup design
10Hz–50,000Hz frequency response
USB-C and 3.5mm connection options
Uni-directional Electret condenser microphone
The Cloud Orbit S is essentially a more affordable version of the Audeze Mobius, that comes with most of the same features but no Bluetooth.
The HyperX Cloud Orbit S is undeniably an expensive bit of kit, but with large capable drivers, interesting 3D audio technology and a versatile design it’s also highly appealing.
This is a comfortable, great looking headset that delivers really rich convincing audio whatever you’re doing. It’s smashing for gaming and much more besides.
Google plans to open its US offices in a limited capacity in April for employees who want to work in person, the company tells The Verge. The announcement follows Microsoft, Facebook, and Uber’s plans to return to offices in the coming months.
Offices will likely open in April, “based on specific criteria that include increases in vaccine availability and downward trends in COVID-19 cases,” Google says. All employees who prefer to work remotely will also be able to do so until September 2021, which is in line with Google’s previous announcement. Anyone who decides to work in person will be required to follow safety guidelines like wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and passing a health survey, according to an email The New York Times read announcing the plans.
Amazon has also shared an update on when it expects most of its employees to return to working in person. The company never closed its offices, but Amazon says only 10 percent of its corporate employees still head in for work. Given the improved availability of vaccines, Amazon expects “more people will start coming into the office through the summer, with most back in the office by early fall,” it says. The company still views returning “to an office-centric culture as [its] baseline.”
In contrast, when Google extended its remote work plan to September, CEO Sundar Pichai said the company would explore flexible work weeks, where employees would spend three days at the office and the remainder of their time at home.
Facebook is planning to start its return to in-person work in May, after over a year of working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced remote work plans near the start of the pandemic that promised around half of his employees could work remotely in the next five to 10 years, but until then, in-person work, at least in a limited capacity, is in the company’s immediate future.
Facebook is reopening its offices in the Bay Area — including its Menlo Park headquarters — but limiting capacity at 10 percent to start. The company expects its largest offices to not reach 50 percent capacity until September, Bloomberg writes. In addition to limiting how many people are working in close proximity, Facebook also plans to require masks, social distancing, and weekly COVID-19 tests.
Uber is hoping to get back to in-person work even sooner. The ride-sharing company announced that it’ll reopen its Mission Bay, San Francisco headquarters on March 29th, with a limited 20 percent capacity, according to Reuters. Uber plans to follow similar COVID-19 restrictions as Facebook, requiring face coverings, regular cleanings, and asking employees with sick family members to stay home. Prior to this reopening plan, Uber was letting its office employees work from home until mid-September 2021.
Other tech companies inside and outside of California are taking more of a mixed approach (or simply haven’t announced plans yet). Twitter took a big step and made working from home indefinitely an option for all employees at the start of the pandemic. The company doesn’t have a set date for when it will reopen its offices, however, but “it will be gradual, office-by-office, and at a 20 percent capacity to start,” a Twitter spokesperson tells The Verge.
Google and Microsoft are looking into hybrid work models going forward, with Microsoft starting by reopening its Redmond, Washington, headquarters on March 29th. The company also expects working from home part-time to be a standard for all office employees. Google’s plans are less certain, and the company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge, but in 2020, it said employees would be able to work from home until September 2021 and that it would explore requiring employees only to work three days a week in-person.
Apple did not respond to a request to expand on its plans for returning to in-person work, but the company was reported to have ordered some staff to return to its offices as early as May 2020.
There are still risks involved with working indoors in close quarters with others, and being vaccinated doesn’t guarantee the virus can’t be transmitted. But as companies ease back into whatever “normal” working conditions will look like post-pandemic, it seems guaranteed that remote work isn’t going away entirely anytime soon.
Pharmacies using prescription delivery service ScriptDrop will deliver medications to customers through Uber, the company announced today. Uber will be the default delivery service for ScriptDrop pharmacies in 37 states and will eventually expand to others.
The service lets pharmacies offer prescription deliveries for patients. The tool can integrate with whatever organizational software the pharmacies normally use to keep track of prescriptions.
“Being able to combine ScriptDrop’s integrated interface with Uber’s technology means that pharmacies of all sizes will be better equipped to improve prescription adherence and serve the most vulnerable of their communities,” Amanda Epp, ScriptDrop CEO, said in a statement.
The COVID-19 pandemic fueled a rise in mail-order and courier-based drug deliveries, as peopleavoidedin-person trips to the pharmacy.
This is Uber’s second foray into prescription delivery. It partnered with NimbleRx to deliver drugs in Seattle and Dallas in August 2020. It then expanded that service to Austin, Houston, and New York City. The company has other health care functions, including a tool that lets doctors or other providers book rides for patients to and from appointments.
“The world has gone terminally insane,” Monty Python’s John Cleese told Vanity Fair on the topic of getting into NFTs. So naturally, the comic actor known for silly walks is now selling a ludicrously expensive NFT of his own: a Vonnegut-esque drawing of the Brooklyn Bridge made on an iPad Pro. It’s listed on OpenSea and the auction ends in 10 days.
Bidding started at $100 and has now made its way up to nearly $36,000. Cleese won’t let his masterpiece go for that cheap, though. Cleese said he wants $69.3 million for the piece, suggesting the illustration won’t sell unless someone bids at least that much.
While many artists are making more money than ever by selling NFTs for their digital goods, Cleese wants to make a joke of it. NFTs, he argues to Vanity Fair, are “another investment vehicle for the uber-rich.” The auction price refers to digital artist Beeple’s NFT sale at Christie’s, which fetched $69 million — the third highest-grossing sale from a living artist.
Cleese continues by saying “technology is changing and moving so quickly that we can’t even see we’re standing in quicksand as we stare at a bunch of pixelated JPEGs, wondering what they might sell for next.”
Honestly, this sounds like a twisted Monty Python sketch that I want to see actualized. Right before you’re sucked into the sand, surrounded by screens with indiscernible JPEGs, look at the camera and say “It’s!”
Yaseen Aslam and James Farrar, the two lead claimants in the successful tribunal that fought Uber for employee rights in the UK, say the company is continuing to flout the law. After it lost a final appeal with the UK’s Supreme Court in February, Uber announced yesterday it would give its 70,000 drivers minimum wage, holiday pay, and pensions. But Aslam and Farrar say the details of Uber’s new policy mean it’s still short-changing workers.
The issue is that Uber has only committed to paying drivers at least minimum wage for the time “after accepting a trip request.” This, says Aslam and Farrar, contradicts the Supreme Court ruling, which found that working time for Uber drivers included any period when individuals were logged in to the company’s app and waiting in the right area for fares.
As the justice of the Supreme Court, Lord Leggatt, stated in a summary of the ruling: “The judgement also upholds the finding of the employment tribunal that for the purposes of the legislation, the claimants’ working time was not limited, as Uber had argued, to periods when they were actually driving passengers to their destinations. It also included any period when the driver was logged into the Uber app in the relevant territory and was ready and willing to accept trips.”
Speaking to The Verge, Aslam said the language in the Supreme Court ruling was clear, and Uber’s response showed it would continue to try to bend the law to its advantage. “It’s just a cheap PR trick,” he said of the decision. “If I’m working 10 hours, but only have passengers on board for three hours, I’m only getting paid for those three hours.”
Farrar added: “The Supreme Court was asked to decide two things: if we are workers and when we are workers. These were the decisions it had to make and Uber is in clear violation of them. We can’t accept it and we won’t accept it.”
Uber did not respond to requests for comment from The Verge.
Yaseen Aslam (left) and James Farrar (right) were part of a small group of Uber drivers who brought a case against the company in 2015. Image: Getty
It’s not clear how much time Uber drivers spend on average waiting for fares, and thus how much potential income has been lost through the company’s new policy. Farrar and Aslam say that drivers will lose out on 40 to 50 percent of a possible wage increase. A 2019 study by the University of California, Berkeley, found that US Uber and Lyft drivers spent roughly a third of their working day logged in to the app and waiting for fares.
Aslam said Uber’s new policy is crafted to ensure it won’t lose a key advantage versus traditional taxi firms: creating an abundance of drivers who respond quickly to customers without paying for their downtime. “It costs Uber next to nothing to operate in cities,” says Aslam. “All the liabilities — the running costs and expenses of maintaining a vehicle — are shifted over to the driver. So the more drivers they have on the platform, the better it is for them: it doesn’t cost them anything but creates more availability for customers.”
If Uber had to pay drivers for time spent waiting for requests from passengers, it would lose this advantage. It’s for reasons such as this that critics of the company say it doesn’t offer any significant technological innovations at all. It simply extracts extra value from workers by exploiting loopholes in countries’ legal systems.
What’s not clear is what happens next from a legal perspective. Aslam says it’s up to the UK government to enforce the Supreme Court ruling, but he also says London’s transport regulator, Transport for London (TfL), should take responsibility. “TfL has the power to protect workers but they don’t want to get involved,” he says. Farrar added: “It should have been government enforcing this all the way back to the original case, rather than expecting precarious workers to bring complicated litigation all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Paul Jennings, a partner at the London law firm Bates Wells, who represented Aslam and Farrar in their original employment tribunal, said that the discrepancy between Uber’s new policies and the Supreme Court ruling was clear and that the government should act.
“The idea that drivers are only working when they have a passenger in the car is not consistent with the judgement,” Jennings told The Verge. “It’s regrettable that Uber hasn’t done the right thing entirely.” He added compliance could be enforced without additional litigation, but that the latter might be necessary to “reinforce the judgement.”
Overall, Aslam and Farrar say they are pleased that Uber has been forced to change its policies but are disappointed their fight is not yet over. “We suffered financially and mentally. But we’re not delighted. What we’re getting is a bone chucked at us,” says Aslam. “It’s never going to stop, we know that. This is Uber.”
Farrar added that despite the time and resources they’d committed already, the pair was happy to keep on fighting: “Me and Yaseen, we latch on and we don’t let go.”
Uber will classify around 70,000 drivers in the UK as workers and give them some benefits after losing an appeal at the Supreme Court level in February, following a years-long legal battle over their employment status. Drivers will still not be considered full-time employees, but they will receive a minimum wage, holiday time, and will be enrolled in a pension plan starting on March 17th.
The decision in February was one of the biggest wins yet for drivers, and for gig workers writ large, in the UK. But that victory came just a few months after voters in California approved Prop 22, a ballot measure that reversed a previous decision to classify drivers as employees. And despite repeated claims that classifying drivers as employees would make things more expensive for customers, all the major gig economy companies have since raised prices anyway. Uber, which helped bankroll the effort to pass Prop 22, is now looking at making similar moves in the European Union.
The case Uber lost in February began all the way back in 2016 when two drivers argued that Uber had too much control over their actions to not be considered their employer. Uber lost but continued to appeal all the way up to the UK Supreme Court, which affirmed the lower-court decisions in February.
Uber and companies like it have long argued that classifying drivers too rigidly would make it harder for them to work when they wanted, and that flexibility was just as, if not more, important than benefits and other protections afforded by more official employment status.
In an op-ed published Tuesday in the Evening Standard, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said it is “increasingly clear to us that flexibility alone is insufficient, and that it should not come at the expense of social protections.” But he added that he believes “outdated employment laws essentially force that trade-off.”
Cybersecurity researcher Daylam Tayari has found evidence in Twitch’s internal API that the site plans to implement something called a “brand safety score” for its streamers. That score would depend on a number of criteria: the streamer’s age, a rating given by Twitch staff, their ban history, the relationship the streamer has with Twitch, their automod settings, their partnership status, the ESRB rating of the game being played, and whether the stream is set to mature.
Twitch has added an automatic Brand Safety Score which grades how brand friendly every streamer is based on things like chat behavior, ban history, manual ratings by Twitch staff, games played, age, automod and more (See below). 1/5 pic.twitter.com/VBl4HjGv7t
— Daylam ‘tayari’ Tayari (@tayariCS) March 9, 2021
Twitch a couple days ago added to their GQL (internal) API endpoints (keyword to query the API) for a “brandSafetyScore” which is sent to advertisers for ads, sponsors and also probably for bounty purposes. Check this tweet’s images for screenshots of the API changes. 2/5 pic.twitter.com/cHUzvnl50s
— Daylam ‘tayari’ Tayari (@tayariCS) March 9, 2021
If Tayari’s research is indeed accurate — and here I should note that I have reached out to Twitch and will update this story if I hear back — this would represent a shift in the way that advertisers interact with streamers on the platform. Presently, one of the main ways that marketers work with streamers on Twitch is the site’s bounty board; select partners and affiliates in the US, UK, Germany, and France can choose from a list of paid opportunities to either play games or watch branded videos with their communities for automatic payouts. It’s a pretty slick system, one that streamlines and automates the (occasionally arduous) process of working with a brand and getting paid for it.
It’s not hard to imagine that if Twitch does in fact implement a brand safety score for streamers that it would be used to expand the bounty program; it seems like a useful thing for brands to be able to compare streamers on that specific axis, at least. Then again, for streamers, it does mean the site is tracking you on yet another metric that may or may not be available for you to see. I can’t help but think about Uber and Lyft ratings, and how quietly insidious they can be: if your rating gets screwed up for whatever reason, you lose your ability to drive — to make money.
More than half a million people have signed up to a newly launched service called Dr. B in an attempt to snag a COVID-19 vaccine — and reduce the number of doses that might end up in the trash. Led by ZocDoc founder Cyrus Massoumi, Dr. B is a website that aims to function as a kind of emergency alert system for thawed coronavirus vaccines, which typically need to be injected within six hours of being thawed.
“This vaccine is now the scarcest resource on earth,” says Massoumi. “We were concerned about the fact that a lot of the vaccine ends up in this last-minute shuffle at the end of the day.”
A longtime drag on conventional health care, missed appointments have become an unusually vital issue for the coronavirus vaccine. Massoumi estimates as much as 20-30 percent of vaccine appointments are missed, leaving a thawed vaccination dose that must be used within six hours or be permanently lost. State reports suggest that few of the doses are allowed to expire. Instead, vaccination sites distribute them to employees or whoever happens to be standing outside. But that confusion has led to chaotic lines and a haphazard approach to priority lists — something Massoumi delicately describes as “suboptimal.”
Dr. B is designed to serve as a kind of standby list for those situations, giving providers an easy way to summon willing patients in a matter of hours. More than half a million people in the US have signed up to be on the waitlist, each giving their home zip code and filling out a catchall version of their state’s questionnaire. (Each state has a slightly different list of who is eligible for vaccines first. In New York, the first tier, 1a, is people over 65 or with co-morbidities. The next tier, 1b, includes grocery store employees and other essential workers, and so on.)
When a provider ends up with thawed doses, Dr. B sends out texts to participants from nearby zip codes, prioritizing them according to the state health department’s tier list. Once texted, a participant has fifteen minutes to confirm that they can get to the provider, then two hours to reach the location and get their shot. If you say you can’t make it, you go to the back of the line (within your priority group).
The system counts on providers to schedule a follow-up shot, which both the Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines still require — but the hope is that simply getting patients in the door for their first dose will be a significant improvement.
This isn’t the first project aiming to create a standby list for coronavirus vaccines, but it’s quickly become the largest one, absorbing the smaller Vaccination Standby project in February. What’s most impressive is how quickly the effort has grown. Still limited to America, Dr. B’s waitlist currently has more than half a million people, up from 300,000 just two weeks ago.
Providers are coming on board more slowly, since each one needs to be vetted to ensure it’s legitimate, but there are already two sites providing shots through the system — in Little Rock, Arkansas and Queens, New York. The company won’t say how many doses have been given out through those sites, but they do say alerts have been sent out each day that the two test sites were open, suggesting at least a handful have been administered through the system. More than 200 other providers are in the pipeline, spanning 30 states.
Massoumi says signing up those providers is still the biggest bottleneck — but it’s an impressive record for what is still mostly a volunteer effort. There’s no plan to monetize the system and much of the hosting and other back-end services have been donated by companies like Amazon, Twilio, and others. Some staff are on loan to the project from their regular jobs; others are being paid out of Massoumi’s pocket. There’s no clear sign of what will happen to the project after COVID-19 is defeated.
“We’re just trying to get this moving as fast as we possibly can,” Massoumi says. “We have patients and provider sites that want to use this and we just want to make sure that it’s ready for prime time.”
As with any vaccination problem, there are concerns about who will get access and who won’t. Black and Latino communities have lagged behind in vaccination rates, a reminder of long-standing patterns of discrimination in US health care. The new standby list runs the risk of making those inequities worse: the nature of the project means it will only work for patients with phones who can drop what they’re doing and head to a vaccination site at a moment’s notice.
The problem isn’t lost on medical ethicists. Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, a professor at Baylor’s Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, told The Verge he applauded the effort behind Dr. B, but he worried the project could deepen inequality in how vaccines are distributed.
“If Dr. B sends out a text, most of the people who are going to be able to drop what they’re doing and get the vaccine will be people who have access to emergency childcare, people with cars, people who can probably get out of work more easily than most underserved populations,” Lázaro-Muñoz said. “So they’re trying to address the problem, but it also exacerbates the equity issue.”
Many of the fixes the team has tried only address parts of the broader problem. The project has already launched a Spanish-language version of the site and is in talks with Uber and Lyft to provide free rides in connection with the shots — an effort that would make a significant dent in the transportation problem.
But Massoumi believes Dr. B’s queueing system will be fundamentally more equitable than what most states are doing, particularly as more tiers open up. Most state systems have focused on giving the elderly and vulnerable first access to the vaccine — but as more people become eligible to receive the shot, vulnerable patients will find themselves in a larger and larger pool of potential recipients. Under the current system, a first-tier patient who waited to get their shot would have no advantage over anyone else in an open tier. Massoumi compares it to an airplane boarding call, when a Group 1 passenger who arrives late has to wait in the same line with all the other groups. But because Dr. B has granular information on each person’s tier, the system can send the most vulnerable patients to the front of the standby line automatically — a kind of express lane for late arrivals.
Behind it all, there’s the steady march of vaccinations. More than 20 percent of the US population has received at least one dose of the vaccine at this point, and President Biden has said he expects the government to have secured enough doses for every adult in America by the end of May. Even small lags in rate or distribution can compound to huge gaps over the coming months.
Dr. B’s plans are still limited by providers’ willingness to use the system, which has kept them limited to the US rollout and places where the scheduling system fails. But like any startup founder, Massoumi isn’t afraid to dream big, noting that there’s nothing stopping the system they build from being applied for non-thawed doses or in other countries where the rollout is proceeding more slowly.
“It’s not just this country. The entire world is not going to be vaccinated until 2023,” Massoumi says. “It’s a global problem, both the pandemic and the scheduling problem, and what we’re creating is a global solution.”
FedEx will spend $2 billion in “initial investments” to become carbon neutral by 2040, the company announced today. The move comes as many of the world’s biggest automakers are also pledging to phase out carbon-emitting vehicles within the next several decades.
FedEx claims it is the largest cargo airline in the world, with more than 650 aircraft in operation. As such, it has a particularly large carbon footprint, making its pledge to go completely carbon neutral a uniquely massive challenge.
The money will be spent in three key areas: vehicle electrification, sustainable energy, and carbon sequestration. FedEx will also donate $100 million to Yale University’s efforts to devise new ways to achieve carbon sequestration, which is the process of capturing and storing CO2 from the atmosphere. The company said that, initially, it will fund research to help “offset greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to current airline emissions.”
But most of the funds will be spent on buying new electric delivery vehicles to replace FedEx’s largely gas-powered fleet. The phase-out will take place over the next several years, with the goal set for 50 percent of FedEx Express pickup and delivery vehicle purchases to be electric by 2025. By 2030, 100 percent of those vehicle purchases will be electric.
But the real challenge will be to eliminate the carbon output of FedEx’s air operation. While UPS is known for its ground delivery service, FedEx is mostly recognized for its global air express freight. And while there has been a lot of progress in rolling out new electric ground delivery vehicles, the process for eliminating emissions from the aviation industry has been much slower.
That’s probably why FedEx’s goal of becoming completely carbon neutral is so far off in the future. Global automakers like Volvo, Ford, General Motors, and others have set similar deadlines within the next decade. But electrifying ground vehicles is simple compared to building a fleet of non-polluting airplanes.
FedEx currently operates 118 all-electric trucks and 364 commercial hybrid trucks, the company says. That is a tiny fraction of the overall 43,000 motor vehicles the company has in operation currently.
The company says it will also seek to eliminate the carbon produced by its packaging and shipping facilities. This can be achieved through “carbon–neutral shipping offerings and sustainable packaging solutions,” as well as investments in renewable energy.
Notably, FedEx did not say it would purchase carbon offsets as a way to achieve full neutrality, though its investment in Yale University’s research project could be seen as such. Purchasing offsets has become a standard way for car companies and other businesses to write off their carbon emissions by investing in renewable energy or conservation projects aimed at bolstering forests’ ability to naturally store carbon. But there’s growing evidence that offsets haven’t succeeded in slowing global warming and have instead given companies license to keep polluting.
FedEx, which is based in Memphis, Tennessee, is the latest giant corporation to make a specific pledge to go carbon neutral. United, Delta, and JetBlue said they would eliminate all of their emissions over the next several decades. And Uber and Lyft have pledged to go carbon neutral within a similar timeframe.
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