Amazon Starts Taking Venmo; Comcast-Higher Upload Speeds Require $ xFi Add-On; Rent-Setting Software Co Sued for Collusion; Toyota Switching EV Tech-Delays EV Changeover

Amazon will now let customers use Venmo to make payments on its platform. This is rolling out now, and should be available to all US customers by Black Friday. TechCrunch.com reports that you just choose ‘Select a payment method,’ then ‘add a Venmo account’. Users will be able to use their Venmo balance, linked bank account, or eligible debit card. It appears that Amazon is adding Venmo after a recent study showed that Venmo users shop twice as frequently as the average shopper. 

Comcast is offering upload speeds of up to 100Mbps from 10…sounds great, right? Well, it is if you need that kind of upload speed. The catch? Yeah, there’s always a catch. According to slashdot, you have to buy a $25 a month xFi Complete add-on. Comcast does say that faster upload speeds will come to customer-owned modems ‘later next year.’ Hey, you want a break? Comcast will let you have the service for $20 a month for the 1st year if you sign up before December 31st!

Renters sued a company this week that makes price-setting software for apartments used by nine of the nation’s biggest property managers. Arstechinca.com says the suit against RealPage has enabled a cartel to artificially inflate rents in violation of federal law. The company strongly denies the allegations, and the nine property managers named in the suit didn’t respond to requests for comment. RealPage’s software uses an algorithm to churn through a trove of data each night to suggest daily prices for available rental units. The software uses not only information about the apartment being priced and the property where it is located, but also private data on what nearby competitors are charging in rents. RealPage brags that clients—who agree to provide RealPage real-time access to sensitive and nonpublic data—experience “rental rate improvements, year over year, between 5% and 12% in every market,” according to the lawsuit.

Although Toyota announced an EV strategy last year, it now looks like they may be hitting the brakes to switch to a different EV architecture. Theverge.com reports that they had planned to use their e-TNGA flex EV platform…which is the setup in the bZ4X crossover and had been planned for the ’23 Lexus RZ 450e. Apparently, Toyota isn’t feeling secure about 30 new EVs by 2030, and is looking to switch to a manufacturing process that is quicker and less expensive to build. The Prius hybrids continue to be a hit, but Toyota has fallen behind the curve when it comes to EV production.