Ad: Apple Accessories, now at Staples
  • CNET
  • All cabs posts

cabs

Uber lives on despite SFMTA cease-and-desist

Uber (formerly UberCab), which received a cease and desist order from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, is alive and kicking despite the SF taxi commission's best attempt to squelch the private car network. In fact, the company is looking to expand in 2011. This week, the company launched in Paris for a day to demonstrate just how easily and quickly it could expand to new cities, and CEO Ryan Graves tweeted that he's studying maps of Brooklyn.

Not bad for a company that started just a few months ago and faced some serious backlash from the local … Read more

Can't find a taxi? Try UberCab

I love it when automotive technology extends its reach to makes life easier even for non-drivers.

Take, for example, UberCab.

Anyone who lives in San Francisco knows it's impossible to find a cab. And many times, even after you battle for 20 minutes on a Friday might to secure the attention of a taxi driver, you can still be blown off by a cabbie who can't (or won't) break a $20. Or take a credit card.

That's when you start wishing you hadn't turned down that Town Car's offer to give you a ride. … Read more

San Francisco's taxis go green

A fleet of fuel-efficient taxis on the streets of San Francisco have reduced gas consumption in the city by 2.9 million gallons per year and lowered greenhouse gas emissions by 35,000 tons annually, the equivalent of taking 4,700 passenger cars off the road.

When Mayor Gavin Newsom sponsored a green taxi law in 2008 requiring San Francisco cab companies to lower their greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, many said the goal was impossible to achieve. But flanked by a collection of green cabs in front of City Hall on Monday, Newsom announced … Read more

Google Android beckons taxis with Cab4me Light

Why isn't there ever a cab around when you need one?

The free Google Android application Cab4Me Light makes finding, scheduling, and calling cabs to your side virtually brainless. Cab4Me Light's interface is simple and efficient, with one tab that shows where you are on the map and another that shows the details of cab companies in your area.

Step 1, drag your approximate location on a zoomable Google map. You can use GPS to locate yourself or enter a new address or a contacts' address to call the cab to a different location. Step 2, either click … Read more

2009 Dodge Ram is tough outside, tech inside

When we first laid eyes on the Dodge Ram, a few words came to mind: gargantuan, behemoth, colossal. The words that didn't immediately come to mind when the big ol' truck rolled into the CNET garage were "high" or "tech." However, after--literally--climbing into the Ram's cab and spending some time behind the wheel, we found a surprising amount of drive-train tech and, more surprisingly, some very sophisticated cabin tech.

Satellite TV, a hard drive-based audio system, and in-vehicle Wi-Fi are just some of the ambitious, if unrefined, tricks the Dodge Ram has up its … Read more

The 404 130: Where Justin dances like a Muppet

Fridays are always the craziest days at the 404--hopefully you saw today's preshow where Justin danced his little Muppet heart out to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." If you missed it, you can still check out the video below. We have the pleasure of speaking to the great Lou Bakalar today over the phone; he gives us his take on cutting edge tech and we pick his brain about the dangers of driving a taxi in the city. The story rundown is equally zany, filled with strip clubs, celebrity death predictions, vegetable oil automobiles, and of … Read more

The Cab, 'One Of Those Nights': Free MP3 of the Day

It's a good time to be a budding pop-punker in Las Vegas; odds are someone in your high school English class already has a record deal. For the Cab, Panic at the Disco did the networking, and it's easy to hear what they liked. Both bands mix vulnerable lyrics with lean and mean guitar power.

Download free MP3 now!

Buzz Out Loud 724: YOU are!

It's episode 724, wherein we argue, but in a happy way. MySpace wins a $234 million antispam judgment they'll probably never collect, and Google blurs faces in Street view, maybe just to be nice. Also, it turns out seniors are more acutely aware of the passing of time (or they hate commercials more than the youngsters do) and Qtrax makes four improbable deals. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 724

Note: We are making a change to our podcast feed system on Monday, May 19. However, you do not need to subscribe to a new feed. One … Read more

Desert tunes: Death Cab For Cutie, Portishead, Jack Johnson

This week, tens of thousands of alt-music junkies are fleeing to the desert to take part in the hottest event around: the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. And when we say "hottest" we mean both temperature hot and, yes, sexy hot, as well. We're impressed with the headliners, such as Portishead , Death Cab For Cutie, Jack Johnson, but we're even more down with the bands in the small print, too, such as Little Brother, Jens Lekman, and Modeselektor.

We're not actually going to Coachella (bummer), but we will be celebrating virtually via the playlist … Read more