Uber to let loose loads of ride data

Uber is known as a secretive company that isn't keen on divulging its data. It's had public spats with lawmakers in New York and Seattle to ensure data on its rides isn't released to the public.

But now the ride-hailing company appears to be changing course.

Uber announced Sunday that it's planning to share the ride and traffic data it's collected from billions of rides. The company is releasing the data to "help urban planners make informed decisions about our cities," it wrote in a blog post.

 

Alexa everywhere, LG's crazy-thin TV and Intel's barf bags at CES 2017 (The 3:59, Ep. 156)

To kick off the new year, we took The 3:59 on the road for the first time to the CES tech show in Las Vegas.

Regular podcast guest Iyaz Akhtar became our generous host for the festivities, where we super-sized our four-minute podcast to hit on all the happenings at CES 2017.

 

Netflix Originals want to keep it in the family

Netflix hasn't been shy about producing its own content. Original comedy and prestige drama made in-house by the streaming service has been raking in awards and acclaim for years now, and while we may all be waiting with bated breath for the next season of "Orange is the New Black" or "Jessica Jones," Netflix thinks it's missing something.

"There's a hole in the TV landscape" says Brian Wright, VP of Family Content at Netflix. The ex-Nickelodeon exec spoke with CNET about how he was brought on to fill that gap with all-ages, family-friendly content. With a $6 billion programming budget and a target of 1,000 hours of original content for the coming year, Netflix is working in earnest.

 

'The Crown' reigns for online TV at Sunday's Golden Globes

The 74th annual Golden Globe Awards, which aired Sunday, further proved online shows have truly arrived.

While traditional shows and movies still dominated -- theatrical release "La La Land" claimed a record seven awards -- original streaming shows definitely made their presence known.

The non-traditional shows made their mark right from the start, with Netflix drama "Stranger Things" earning a prime position in host Jimmy Fallon's opening number. (Barb lives!)

 

Uber to let loose loads of ride data

Uber's new "Movement" website is meant to help urban planners better understand traffic patterns.

Photo by Uber

Uber is known as a secretive company that isn't keen on divulging its data. It's had public spats with lawmakers in New York and Seattle to ensure data on its rides isn't released to the public.

But now the ride-hailing company appears to be changing course.