Tech Digest daily roundup: Paris votes to ban e-scooters
People in Paris have voted “overwhelmingly” to ban rental electric scooters from the French capital’s streets in a poll which officials have said they will implement. The result is being hailed as a victory for road safety campaigners and comes after a rising number of injuries and fatalities among users of e-scooters. Three deaths and 459 injuries were attributed to e-scooters in Paris last year, compared to one fatality and 353 injuries in 2021. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the result of the non-binding referendum “becomes our roadmap” and promised to bring in the ban. Sky News
Tesla on Sunday posted record quarterly vehicle deliveries, but quarter-on-quarter sales growth was modest despite price cuts as rising competition and a bleak economic outlook weighed. The electric carmaker delivered 422,875 vehicles for the first three months of this year, up 4% from the previous quarter. This was 36% higher than a year ago. In January, the chief executive, Elon Musk, said Tesla could achieve 2m vehicle deliveries this year, up 52% from last year. Investors have been watching Musk’s gamble that cutting prices would stimulate sales, although they worry about eroding profit margins. The Guardian
The New York Times has lost its blue tick on Twitter after it said it would not pay to remain verified. Twitter has started removing verification badges from accounts which already had a blue tick, after announcing they would be part of a paid subscription from 1 April. The New York Times, along with several other organisations and celebrities, said they would not pay for the tick. It prompted Elon Musk to launch a volley of insults at the newspaper. “The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting”, Mr Musk, who owns Twitter, wrote on the platform. BBC
Plans to test a mobile phone emergency siren could bring chaos to the roads with drivers panicking upon hearing the piercing alert, ministers have been warned. The loud, 10-second blast will be sent to all mobiles on Sunday, April 23 as part of a nationwide test of the system announced last month by Oliver Dowden, the Cabinet Office minister. However, officials are concerned that the potential consequences have not been fully thought through. Discussions have taken place with the transport sector, domestic violence charities and sporting officials as well as the police, fire and ambulance services about the trial. Telegraph
Spotify has yet to implement native support for the HomePod and HomePod mini, despite Apple opening up the speakers to third-party streaming music services in 2020. As a result, Spotify cannot be controlled with Siri on the HomePod.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman touched on the matter in his newsletter this weekend, noting that Spotify told him there hasn’t been a “significant volume” of complaints about the lack of HomePod support. A post on Spotify’s community website advocating for native HomePod support has over 5,800 votes in favor of the idea since it was submitted in 2020, but Spotify has refused to budge despite Apple making the necessary APIs available. Mac Rumors
Up to this point we haven’t heard too much about the Samsung Galaxy S24, but a new leak points to a significant display upgrade coming next year: the Ultra model will apparently be fitted with displays that have a 144Hz refresh rate. This comes from SamLover (via SamMobile), which isn’t a source we’ve heard a lot of tips from in the past, so adjust your anticipation levels accordingly. This might not come to pass, but it is also an upgrade that makes sense for Samsung and its top-tier phone. Right now all three Samsung Galaxy S23 handsets boast screens with a 120Hz refresh rate. Tech Radar
