Month: March 2018

Enlarge (credit: Walmart)

In another attempt to keep up the fight against Amazon, Walmart is expanding its grocery delivery service. The retailer announced today that it will expand the service, currently available in six markets, to more than 100 cities by the end of 2018. While the exact metro areas haven't been disclosed, Walmart claims the expansion will allow its delivery service to serve 40 percent of US households.

Customers can order groceries online through Walmart's website or through the company's dedicated grocery app. Walmart's network of personal shoppers then gather the items in each order and prep them for delivery. Walmart already employs 18,000 personal shoppers and plans to hire more to support the expansion of this program. The company uses crowdsourced delivery services, such as Uber, to deliver orders to customers. Each delivery order must reach Walmart's $30 minimum, and customers pay a $9.95-per-order fee as well.

Walmart will also expand its current grocery pickup service this year to an additional 1,000 stores. Currently available at 1,200 Walmart locations, this service lets customers order groceries online and pick them up from a store without getting out of their cars.

Enlarge (credit: Sean Gallup / Getty Images)

Google is banning ads related to cryptocurrency from its vast advertising network, effective in June. The move follows a similar decision by Facebook in January.

The move comes as cryptocurrencies—and especially "initial coin offerings" of new digital tokens—have come under increasing scrutiny by regulators. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission warned that many cryptocurrency exchanges are operating outside the law. Authorities have alleged that some cryptocurrency offerings are outright frauds, while many others are just extraordinarily risky investments.

Cryptocurrency markets reacted negatively to the news. The price of bitcoin is down about 6 percent since the Wall Street Journal first reported the new policy early Wednesday morning. Other major currencies, including Ethereum and Litecoin, are also down modestly.

Enlarge / The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy annual summit opens. (credit: Megan Geuss)

WASHINGTON, DC—Ten years ago, a bipartisan group of lawmakers created ARPA-E, or the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. Today, the agency may be living on borrowed time. Or maybe not.

The Trump administration has, for two years in a row, recommended that ARPA-E be defunded and mothballed. But last year, a Republican-led Congress actually voted to increase the agency's budget from its 2016 levels.

But until Congress passes a new budget, the fate of ARPA-E is uncertain. In the face of that uncertainty, the agency's annual summit still convened in Washington, DC, this week, and its leaders addressed the crowd of scientists and entrepreneurs with words that seemed to be more for administration higher-ups than for the choir to whom they preached.

We still fondly recall our time driving the Arcimoto SRK, the most surprisingly fun EV we've driven in ages. Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn of our experience with it in 2016. (video link)

The Arcimoto FUV slices through a wet Vegas parking lot, kicking up spray from puddles and smiles from passersby. Despite the unusual downpour, I stay bone dry under the electric tricycle's semi-enclosed canopy, twisting the throttle to zip back and forth with a grin on my face.

While taxis on the road beside me inch through traffic towards the annual CES trade show, the world's first Fun Utility Vehicle is living up to its name. It's nippier than a car, drier than a scooter, and easier to handle than a motorbike.