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For millions of older adults, a ride to the grocery store or a friends house isnt just about convenienceits about staying connected, independent, and well. When driving is no longer an option, transportation can become a barrier to everyday life, and even a risk factor for declining health. Aging adults and families who rely on ridesharing apps to get around now have a new option to explore from Uber, which just announced a pair of features designed to make the app easier and more intuitive for senior riders. The ridesharing company is introducing senior accounts, which allow family members to help set up, track and pay for rides, and simple mode, a senior-friendly version of the app for older adults who use it on their own. To set up a senior account, existing Uber users can add a senior adult to their family profile in the app. The head of the family profile can book rides for a senior rider, handle payment and set monthly spending limits. The family profile lets Uber users track a connected family member in real-time, contact drivers and add saved places for frequent stops. Riders using senior accounts can opt to pay with their own payment method, one registered by a family member or using a Medicare Flex card. Ubers new simple mode is for seniors who arent connected to a relatives family profile, with changes that increase the apps text size, streamline its interface and add clear in-app instructions. The refreshed version of the app also features bigger icons, fewer buttons and saved locations to make it easier for seniors to run errands and get out of the house with on-demand transportation. The accounts are now available in the U.S. and in some cities across France, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, South Africa, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In India, simple mode is now available, but senior accounts are not. Last month, Lyft introduced its own app mode for senior adults, known as Lyft Silver. Uber says it developed the new set of senior-friendly features using advice from aging and accessibility advocates. These features reflect our dedication to designing technology that meets people where they are and supports mobility at every stage of life, Uber Director of Product Management Ashu Manohar said, describing the new features as an important milestone in its quest to make transportation more accessible. Ubers senior accounts arent its first profiles designed for a cohort of users with specific needs. Uber previously introduced teen accounts that let users under 18 travel alone in connection with a parents account. Like senior accounts, teen accounts come with payment support and live trip tracking to enhance safety. Tech for seniors matures along with the population Around the world, populations are getting older fast. The number of people over the age of 60 is expected to double between 2015 and 2050. While that trend began with slowing birth rates in high-income countries, low and middle income countries are undergoing similar population shifts. Those changes will leave the global community to grapple with how to accommodate a huge swath of people entering into a phase of life marked by unique challenges to health and well being. Meanwhile, the pace of technological progress feels like it never lets off the gas, particularly with the advent of AI. Aging adults have an impossible amount of new tech tools to keep up with even with classes dedicated to just that but those tools are at their best when they create real solutions that make everyday life easier Transportation is one of the biggest barriers to independence as people age, Silvia Candamil Neirra, Vice President, Global Initiative on Ageing and Longevity, said. Solutions like Ubers senior accounts help break down that barrier by offering a simple and flexible way for older adults to get where they need to gowithout always having to rely on others. Its about dignity, freedom, and staying connected to the people and places that matter most.
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E-Commerce
The White House just unveiled a second version of President Trumps official portrait, and its even more foreboding than the first. The new portrait, which was taken by the chief White House photographer Daniel Torok and revealed on Monday, shows Trump in a dark blue suit and red tie, sitting in a nearly dark room. It appears to be an evolution of Trumps first official portrait, also taken by Torok, which debuted just before his inauguration. Trumps first portrait strayed markedly from the precedent set by past administrations in terms of how the chief executive is presented. But this 2.0 version includes a striking omission that even the first did not: theres no American flag. Its just the most recent development in Trumps monthslong campaign to adopt a darker, sterner personal brand that aligns with his desired image of control. Leaving convention at the door Cara Finnegan is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois and author of the book, Photographic Presidents: Making History from Daguerreotype to Digital. According to Finnegan, presidents are “always deeply invested in their political image.” In an interview with Fast Company back in January, Rhea L. Combs, director of curatorial affairs at Smithsonians National Portrait Gallery, explained that presidential portraits have historically aimed to balance relatability with strong leadership and American pride. To signal relatability, every president in the last 60 years has been photographed with a wide smile, positioned at a straight-on angle to keep the subject eye-level with the viewer. The lighting is typically soft and even, giving the composition an approachable feel. And, to reinforce the concept of commitment to the country, each president since Gerald Ford has included the American flag in the background of their official portrait. During his first term in 2016, Trump hewed closely to this historical approach. In contrast, for his inaugural portrait this year, he bucked nearly every traditionincluding lighting, framing, angle, and facial expressionresulting in an official image that aimed to convey dominance rather than relatability. Still, he kept a sliver of the American flag in the background. For portrait 2.0, though, that final vestige of convention has also been abandoned. “The mug shot arguably is his presidential portrait” At the time of the first portraits release, Torok took to his personal X account to confirm that his portrait of Trump was inspired by the Presidents mug shot, taken after he was found guilty of 34 felony counts in May 2024. Trump used the mug shot as a marketing tool throughout his campaign, repositioning it as a kind of badge of honor by selling pieces of the suit he wore in the photo and featuring it on rally posters. This 2.0 version blurs the line between mug shot and presidential portrait even more. Once again, Trump is pictured making his signature scolding, eyebrow-raised expression from his mug shot that Torok already emulated once before. Compared to the first portraitwhich was significantly darker and more harshly lit than the average presidential portraitversion 2.0 has brought the dimmers down even further, obscuring almost half of Trumps face in shadow. And instead of an illuminated background featuring the American flag, this image features what is essentially an ominous black hole surrounding the President. On X, Torok responded to a commenter with a brief explanation of how he chose to capture the image: Fairly dark room. One massive overhead soft box. And a streak of sunlight from the sunset over his right shoulder. Cinematic lighting. That last detail of emulating cinema seems to hint at the broader rationale behind Trump’s sterner second term image, from an oil painting in the White House of his bloodied face to the commercialization of his mug shot: Its all about using production to craft a specific narrative. With portrait 2.0, the Trump administration seems to be saying Trump is the star, and the United States is merely the set. “What’s striking to me is that the release of each second-term official portrait has prompted comparisons to the 2023 mug shot,” says Finnegan. “It’s clearly become the image to which every subsequent photographic portrait of Trump is inevitably compared. Yes, Trump himself immediately embraced the mug shot and commercialized it, and now it even hangs outside the oval office, so he’s authorized it himself in that way. But if every photographic portrait of Trump is compared to the mug shot, then the mug shot arguably IS his presidential portrait.”
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E-Commerce
Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group is expected to go public this week. Share pricing is expected to surface on Wednesday for a possible listing on Thursday, though the company has not confirmed the timeline. The companys paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), filed Monday, shows that Circle plans to sell 32 million shares and is aiming at a price target of $27 to $28 per share. That would give the company a valuation of more than $7 billion, an increase from earlier estimates. In a previous SEC filing, which surfaced last week, Circle said it was planning to sell 24 million shares priced between $24 and $26. In all, the company is expected to raise around $880 million with its updated numbers. Shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol CRCL. The offering is being led by J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Circle declined to comment. Headquartered in New York, Circle has grown significantly over the last five years, reporting $1.7 billion in revenue and reserve income in 2024, compared to just $15.4 million in revenue in 2020. It had net income of $155.7 million in 2024, verses net income of $267.6 million in 2023, and a net loss of $768.8 million in 2022. Why is Circles IPO a big deal? As Fast Company previously reported, Circles IPO has been a long time coming, and has generated a lot of excitement among potential investors. That’s in large part due to the surge in interest around stablecoinswhich are a form of cryptocurrency that have their values pegged to real assets. For instance, Circle’s flagship USDC, one of the largest cryptocurrencies on the market, is pegged to the U.S. dollar, which means one USDC is worth $1. Circle also issues EURC, which is pegged to the value of the euro. Meanwhile, stablecoin legislation is currently working its way through Congress, which could be adding to the anticipation around Circle’s imminent market debut. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act, could soon pass the Senate, and with a crypto-friendly administration in office, it could become law. That would set up a regulatory framework for stablecoins, effectively and further ingraining them into the financial system. With that as a background, and a surge in interest this year in the crypto space, many investors have had Circles IPO date circled on their calendars.
Category:
E-Commerce
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