Monday's technology stories

Uber hit with driver lawsuit over anti-Lyft program
A former Lyft driver in California has filed a potential class action lawsuit against Uber over the ride-hailing company's secret program that tracked Lyft drivers. The former driver is seeking compensation for Uber's breach of his privacy, which includes violations of several federal and state laws.
Uber tactics: Uber's ultra-competitive streak is well known, and this isn't the first time the company has used stealth software tools and aggressive tactics to evade regulators or competitors. This lawsuit is also coming at a time when Uber's competitive tactics have come under unusual scrutiny as it's busy fighting off a trade secret theft lawsuit from Alphabet's self-driving car unit, and working to finish a highly anticipated investigation into recent allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Uber declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Most Yahoo execs will be out after Verizon deal
Most of Yahoo's executives, including CEO Marissa Mayer, won't be with the new company, Oath, once the acquisition is completed in June, according to USA Today. The company is planning to announce a new slate of executives on Tuesday.
New lineup: Oath will be led by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who will be joined by two Yahoo executives, senior vice president of communications products Jeff Bonforte, and senior vice president of publisher products Simon Khalaf.

Apple's NASA-trained self-driving car testers
In a permit issued April 14 by the state of California and obtained by the WSJ, Apple lists 6 former NASA employees who will be test driving three autonomous Lexus sport-utility vehicles.
Why this matters: Though the company has been developing its autonomous vehicle technology since 2014 — in an effort known as "Project Titan" — the road tests signal that Apple is focusing on catching up in the race to develop self-driving cars.
Competitors: Apple faces stiff competition. Waymo has used senior engineers to test autonomous vehicles on roads since 2009. Meanwhile, both traditional companies like Ford and General Motors, as well as Silicon Valley companies like Uber and Tesla, are pouring their resources into developing self-driving technology.

Samsung says U.S. Galaxy S8 pre-orders up 30%
Pre-orders of Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ are up 30% year-over-year, beating the record pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 and making the new devices Samsung's best ever in early sales.
"The response is humbling, energizing and points to a great launch week. We aim to push the boundaries of what's possible in the name of a better, smarter, more exciting experience for our consumers." – Tim Baxter, president and chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics America
Why it matters: After the disastrous Note 7 recall, it was unclear how consumers in the U.S. would respond. It seems people in the U.S. are willing to give Samsung another chance — at least for now.
You can check out our review of the Galaxy S8 here.

How Uber nearly got kicked out of Apple's App Store
Between 2014 and 2015, Uber secretly tagged iPhones even after users uninstalled its app as a fraud detection tactic and hid this from Apple engineers, according to a report by the New York Times. The practice, known as "fingerprinting," is not allowed in that form under Apple's rules and earned CEO Travis Kalanick a meeting with Apple's CEO, who was understandably not happy and threatened to kick the ride-hailing company out of the App Store.
Uber trend: Allegations of breaking, ignoring, or bending rules are nothing new for Uber, which has used aggressive tactics to fight off regulations and competitors alike. Until recently, for example, Uber used secret software to evade local law enforcement, and built a way to track drivers who work for its main U.S. competitor, Lyft, to target them with incentives to remain loyal.

Trump: Mexico will pay for the wall some day, in some form
On the campaign trail, the call and response was a feature of every rally: "Who's going to pay for the wall?"
"Mexico!"
President Trump is standing by that, but his tweet Sunday morning shows that it has become a bit more complicated now that he's in office...
The context: Trump wants funds to start the wall included in a spending bill that must pass this week to avoid a government shutdown. The obvious question from his critics is, "didn't you say Mexico was paying?"




