Uber may acquire Bird or Lime to accelerate its scooter plans

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/12/01/uber-acquire-bird-lime-scooter/


Uber might see its acquisition of Jump as just the start of its e-scooter ambitions. Sources speaking to The Information claim Uber has “recently” held talks to buy Bird and Lime, two of the biggest names in scooter sharing. The move would reportedly help Uber tackle scooter shortages that limit its growth, and would help it snap up vulnerable competitors who are still scrambling for funding.

While there’s no guarantee a deal could happen, Uber might reach a deal to buy one of the companies before 2018 is over. The companies aren’t necessarily offering much clarity. Lime and Uber declined to comment. Bird chief Travis VanderZanden said Bird was “not for sale,” but a spokeswoman acting on his behalf didn’t say if the company had talked with Uber.

There’s certainly pressure for Uber to make a move. Lyft’s scooter business is still relatively tiny, but it also just completed its buyout of Citi Bike operator Motivate and now has the largest bike sharing network in the US. If Uber is going to pitch itself as a transportation service that goes beyond cars, it’ll want to expand its non-car offerings quickly. A purchase of Bird or Lime could instantly give it wider coverage, not to mention an opportunity to accelerate its growth.

This story by Jon Fingas originally appeared on Engadget.

Related Video:

via Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com

December 1, 2018 at 01:40PM

Panasonic Announces Its First Thunderbolt 3 SSDs

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13655/panasonic-announces-its-first-thunderbolt-3-ssds

Panasonic has unveiled its first external SSDs featuring a Thunderbolt 3 interface. Panasonic’s Thunderbolt 3 Compact Lightweight Portable SSD enables the company to offer high-performance storage devices for its TB3-enabled PCs. However, it looks like the device was not originally designed by Panasonic.

Panasonic’s Thunderbolt 3 Compact Lightweight Portable SSD will be available in 512 GB (RP-SBD 512P3) and 1 TB (RP-SBD 1TBP3) configurations, which will offer up to 1500 MB/s sequential read performance and up to 1000 MB/s sequential write performance. The device is bus-powered and does not need any external power bricks. Measuring 102×40×14.4 mm and weighing around 90 grams, the Thunderbolt 3 Portable SSD can easily fit into a pocket. As for rigidity, the drives come in an aluminum enclosure and can handle vibrations and shock. In fact, Panasonic claims that the SSDs can handle a drop test from 76 cm.

It is noteworthy that Panasonic’s Thunderbolt 3 Portable SSDs bears a striking resemblance to Patriot’s EVLVR external TB3 drives introduced earlier this year, which in turn uses a reference design developed by Phison. Considering the fact that the latter sells turnkey, already-assembled products, it is more than likely that Panasonic’s storage device was designed and built by Phison. That said, the drive packs Intel’s Alpine Ridge TB3 controller, an NVMe 1.2-compliant Phison PS5008-E8 controller with a PCIe 3.0 x2 interface as well as Toshiba’s 256 Gb BiCS3 3D TLC NAND memory. Performance of such drives is well known and it is consistent with manufacturer’s claims.

Panasonic’s Thunderbolt 3 Portable SSDs will come pre-formatted with the exFAT file system, so they will be compatible both with MacOS as well as Windows-based PCs. The drives will go on sale on December 19, yet their prices are unknown. Typically, Phison-powered SSDs are relatively inexpensive, but Panasonic may want to earn a premium for its brand.

Related Reading:

Source: Panasonic (via Hermitage Akihabara)

via AnandTech https://ift.tt/phao0v

November 30, 2018 at 04:10PM