Category Archives: oud

Google Waze Takes On Uber With SF Bay Area Carpooling App

Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Waze is taking on ride-booking app Uber with a new carpool service in Silicon Valley to “reduce cars on the road and greenify your daily commute,” less than two years after Uber launched its own car-sharing function. Waze Carpool is in beta testing with specific Bay Area employers after a soft launch in Israel last July. The app matches riders with drivers based on their home and work addresses, and like Uber, it arranges payment ahead of time. Uber launched uberPOOL in September 2014 and has since expanded that service to 11 cities globally, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beijing and Shanghai. Uber estimates 100,000 people use uberPOOL every week. But Waze downloads significantly outnumber Uber downloads, according to Google Play, which put the estimated installations at 100,000-500,000, and 50,000-100,000, respectively. Waze is a popular traffic-navigation app which smartphone owners can use to try to avoid traffic jams and find the fastest routes, though it’s sparked controversy by spurring increased traffic in some residential areas not used to handling many cars. Neither Uber nor Google responded to a request for comment Monday. Waze Carpool was unveiled Monday in a YouTube video from Waze Labs. The video emphasizes the cost, time and ecological benefits of carpooling. “Just by pitching in for gas, riders get a comfortable and affordable ride,” Google Waze says. “And drivers cover their gas costs just by helping someone on the way.” Drivers must be 21, but riders can be 18. The pilot program was developed to meet the needs of congested Silicon Valley, Google Waze says in its release. Rides are only available during commuting hours. Google and parent Alphabet are based in the central Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, Calif. “We’re focused on reducing traffic when it’s at its worst — which is rush hour — so Carpool is restricted to morning and evening commute hours,” the release said, with Waze suggesting  users request a ride a day in advance. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Google stock was up 1%, near 732, but shares are down 6% this year.

Five Top Picks In The Internet Sector With Strongest Fundamentals

The companies with the best fundamentals among large-cap Internet stocks are Facebook ( FB ), Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Netflix ( NFLX ), Alphabet ( GOOGL ) and Priceline ( PCLN ), says RBC Capital Markets. Internet trends for these top five in their respective sectors — online advertising, retail and travel — remain very consistent, with strong revenue growth year over year, RBC said in a research report. Online advertising seems to be flowing en mass to Google-owner Alphabet and Facebook, with the two now accounting for close to 55% of global online advertising revenue, up from 50% three years ago, says the report from RBC analyst Mark Mahaney. And Amazon continues to show dramatically greater-than-average growth in the online retail sector. “We believe online retail demand trends have remained solid, particularly highlighted by Amazon’s retail sales acceleration,” Mahaney wrote. But, he said, “there’s little ad oxygen for the likes of Yahoo ( YHOO ).” Online travel remains a duopoly of Priceline and Expedia ( EXPE ), while it’s increasingly hard to see anyone catching up to Netflix in terms of video-streaming subscribers, he wrote. Though shares of Netflix have continued to decline following Q1’s weak international sub guidance and domestic price change worries, “We view the fundamental global subscriber growth story as intact,” Mahaney said. Mahaney has a price target on Netflix of 140. Netflix stock was trading near 89, up nearly 2%, in afternoon trading in the stock market today . The stock is down 20% since reporting first-quarter earnings on April 18, and it’s on the IBD Swing Trader list as a potential short-sale opportunity. He has a price target on Priceline of 1,600, as growth and profitability trends remain intact. Priceline stock was up a fraction near 1,279 Monday afternoon. Priceline is down 6% since reporting Q1 earnings on May 4. On Alphabet, Mahaney’s price target is 1,000, as it remains one of the best portfolio plays on the biggest Internet trends. Alphabet stock was near 727, up a fraction, Monday afternoon. The stock is down 7% since reporting Q1 earnings on April 21. On Facebook, the price target is 165, with Mahaney saying the social media company is firing on all cylinders. Facebook stock was near 118, down 1%, but it’s up 8% since reporting Q1 earnings on April 27. The price target on Amazon is 800. Amazon stock was flat, near 709. Still, it’s up 16% since reporting Q1 earnings on April 28. It also is on Swing Trader, but as a long possibility.

Facebook’s WhatsApp Tests Video Calls; Wireless Firms On Edge?

Facebook ’s ( FB ) WhatsApp is reportedly testing a new, free video calling feature, as both Facebook’s social networking platform and its messenger services like WhatsApp push further into communications. The video calling feature is being tested on a limited basis, says a  report  by tech new site The Verge. Facebook’s emerging video calling platform poses a challenge to Microsoft ‘s ( MSFT ) Skype, analysts say. Facebook’s relationships with wireless service providers have been touchy, although its social platform is a big driver of data consumption for U.S. wireless firms such as AT&T ( T ) and Verizon Communications ( VZ ) as well as other players globally. T-Mobile US ( TMUS ) in March shot down speculation it was working with Facebook on a “sponsored” plan that would exempt usage from monthly data caps. Facebook’s friction with wireless firms has been more apparent in emerging markets, such as Latin America. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the relationship between telecom carriers and  Facebook’s WhatsApp and Messenger is “symbiotic,” not hostile. Zuckerberg said that while “there might be tension in any relationship,” he sees greater use of photos and videos in messaging services as boosting data usage. In India, however, wireless firms Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Group ( VOD ) in early May asked regulators to stop phone calls made through mobile apps. Originally a text messaging service, WhatsApp rolled out free voice calling options to both Apple ( AAPL ) iOS and Android-based mobile phones last year. WhatsApp says it has 1 billion users worldwide. Facebook, though, hasn’t generated much revenue from WhatsApp, which it acquired in 2014 for $19 billion. Aside from WhatsApp, Facebook has taken other steps into communications. Facebook Messenger, a separate app, launched a group calling feature in April. Facebook has also expanded live video streaming to both Apple iPhones and Android software-based devices. Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google, meanwhile, is also active. Google has been working with Sprint ( S ), Deutsche Telekom ( DTEGY ), Vodafone and others to develop next-generation messaging technology based on a standard called Rich Communications Services, or RCS.