As Uber struggles, Lyft expands into 32 more states

94 percent of the US population will now be able to access Uber’s top competitor.

Enlarge / A Lyft ride in San Francisco, California. (credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Lyft)

The ride-hailing app Lyft will make its biggest expansion yet in an attempt to grab customers from Uber, its much-larger rival.

A spokesperson said that Lyft's expansion into 32 additional states means that the pink-mustached ride-hailing service will be available to 94 percent of the US population. That's up from 79 percent before the expansion.

In all, Lyft now promises state-wide coverage in 40 states, That includes rural areas that are difficult to serve—and where providing services will likely come at a significant cost to Lyft, at least in the early stages. Uber controls about 70 percent of the US ride-hailing market and provides near-statewide coverage in nine states, according to The Associated Press.

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Teléfonica: Neuer O2-Free-Tarif mit 10 GByte Datenvolumen für 30 Euro

Die O2-Free-Tarife werden überarbeitet. Künftig erhalten Kunden von Teléfonica in den meisten Tarifen deutlich mehr ungedrosseltes Datenvolumen und zahlen dabei noch fünf Euro weniger als bisher. Aber nicht in allen Details verbessern sich die Konditionen. (Ifa 2017, Telefónica)

Die O2-Free-Tarife werden überarbeitet. Künftig erhalten Kunden von Teléfonica in den meisten Tarifen deutlich mehr ungedrosseltes Datenvolumen und zahlen dabei noch fünf Euro weniger als bisher. Aber nicht in allen Details verbessern sich die Konditionen. (Ifa 2017, Telefónica)

Engine maker Cummins shows off all-electric truck, high-efficiency diesels

The truck company will combine a battery with an engine-generator option.

Cummins

This week, diesel truck engine company Cummins made an unusual announcement. In addition to several new high-efficiency diesel engines, it also showed off an all-electric truck called the Concept Class 7 Urban Hauler EV. The truck is just a concept at the moment, but it’s coming in the nick of time—just as Tesla is about to announce its own semi EV.

The 18,000-pound tractor cab, built by Roush, comes with a 140kWh battery and is capable of hauling a 22-ton trailer. According to Forbes, Cummins hopes to be able to sell its battery to truck and bus manufacturers by 2019. Forbes says the truck can run for 100 miles and be recharged in an hour, although Cummins is allegedly working on improving the battery so that by 2020, that recharge time is reduced to 20 minutes.

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Garmin: Sportuhr Vivoactive 3 verfügt über Riffelrandsteuerung

Bezahlfunktionen und ein neuartiges Bedienkonzept spendiert Garmin seiner Sportuhr Vivoactive 3 – deren Design kaum Ähnlichkeiten mit den Vorgängern hat. Außerdem hat der Hersteller einen neuen GPS-Fitnesstracker und ein Modell mit Hybridzifferblatt vorgestellt. (Garmin, OLED)

Bezahlfunktionen und ein neuartiges Bedienkonzept spendiert Garmin seiner Sportuhr Vivoactive 3 - deren Design kaum Ähnlichkeiten mit den Vorgängern hat. Außerdem hat der Hersteller einen neuen GPS-Fitnesstracker und ein Modell mit Hybridzifferblatt vorgestellt. (Garmin, OLED)

Bben MN10 is an Apollo Lake mini PC with 3GB RAM, 64GB storage

Earlier this year Chinese device maker Bben unveiled a line of PC-on-a-stick computers with Intel Apollo Lake processors. Now you can buy one. The Bben mini PC with an Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage is now available from AliExpress for $130 and up. Note that the “and up” […]

Bben MN10 is an Apollo Lake mini PC with 3GB RAM, 64GB storage is a post from: Liliputing

Earlier this year Chinese device maker Bben unveiled a line of PC-on-a-stick computers with Intel Apollo Lake processors. Now you can buy one. The Bben mini PC with an Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage is now available from AliExpress for $130 and up. Note that the “and up” […]

Bben MN10 is an Apollo Lake mini PC with 3GB RAM, 64GB storage is a post from: Liliputing

SanDisk launches a 400GB microSDXC card

SD cards with storage capacities up to 1TB are already a thing. But microSD cards? They’ve topped out at around 256GB for a while. Now Western Digital-owned SanDisk is breaking through the barrier with the launch of the first 400GB microSDXC UHS-I card. It should be available soon for $250. The company says the new 400GB […]

SanDisk launches a 400GB microSDXC card is a post from: Liliputing

SD cards with storage capacities up to 1TB are already a thing. But microSD cards? They’ve topped out at around 256GB for a while. Now Western Digital-owned SanDisk is breaking through the barrier with the launch of the first 400GB microSDXC UHS-I card. It should be available soon for $250. The company says the new 400GB […]

SanDisk launches a 400GB microSDXC card is a post from: Liliputing

Arduino: Krimineller hackte hunderte Hoteltüren

Eine Einbruchsserie in Hotels in den USA im Jahr 2012 war offenbar umfangreicher als bislang angenommen. Der inzwischen in Haft sitzende Mann hat offenbar Zimmer in über 100 Hotels mit einem selbst gebauten Gerät auf Arduino-Basis geöffnet. (Security, Black Hat)

Eine Einbruchsserie in Hotels in den USA im Jahr 2012 war offenbar umfangreicher als bislang angenommen. Der inzwischen in Haft sitzende Mann hat offenbar Zimmer in über 100 Hotels mit einem selbst gebauten Gerät auf Arduino-Basis geöffnet. (Security, Black Hat)

New Nest Thermostat swaps stainless steel for plastic, lowers price to $169

Nest cuts $80 off the price of a smart thermostat, saves most of the features.

Alphabet's smart home division, Nest, has an all-new smart thermostat. The Nest Thermostat E takes a cost-cutting pass on the smart thermostat guts and software, sticks it in a plastic case, and lowers the price to $169. Most of the functionality and features survive, but without the super-premium stainless steel body of the regular Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest is willing to cut the price from the usual $250.

Just because it's plastic doesn't mean Nest hasn't obsessed over the design. The all-new look uses a frosted glass display and a white body, which aims to look less "techy" and blend into the wall. The motion-sensing tech—which the thermostat uses to detect if someone is home—has been integrated into a new "Nest pill" located on the front of the thermostat. The app for the Nest Thermostat E gets a similar frosted look.

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FCC’s public comment API lets you post just about anything to .gov website

FCC API could be misused to host malware on FCC’s domain.

(credit: Wired UK/Shuttershock)

The Federal Communications Commission's website already gets a lot of traffic—sometimes more than it can handle. But thanks to a weakness in the interface the FCC published for citizens to file comments on proposed rule changes, there's a lot more interesting—and potentially malicious—content now flowing onto one FCC domain. The system allows just about any file to be hosted on the FCC's site—potentially including malware.

The application programming interface for the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System that enables public comment on proposed rule changes—such as the dropping of net neutrality regulations currently being pushed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai—has been the source of some controversy already. It exposed the e-mail addresses of public commenters on network neutrality—intentionally, according to the FCC, to ensure the process' openness—and was the target of what the FCC claimed was a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. But as a security researcher has found, the API could be used to push just about any document to the FCC's website, where it would be instantly published without screening. That was demonstrated by a PDF published with Microsoft Word that was uploaded to the site, now publicly accessible.

Other researchers reproduced the vulnerability on August 30, posting about their findings to Twitter. Because of the open nature of the API, an application key can be obtained with any e-mail address.

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