Daily Tech Snippet: Tuesday, June 7

• Uber Rolls Out App Improvements to Meet Driver Demands: Tensions have long simmered between Uber and its drivers who power the ride-hailing service. Drivers held protests when Uber cut fares with little warning and have filed class-action lawsuits to be recognized as company employees rather than independent contractors. Uber is now trying to improve the experience of its drivers. On Monday, the company announced a host of software improvements to its app to address driver demands. Among the changes, drivers can now more easily pause ride requests, making it easier for them to take bathroom breaks and fill their gas tanks. Drivers can now also be paid instantly for each ride they complete, rather than weekly, and see on the app’s dashboard how much they have earned.Among the many changes for drivers that Uber announced on Monday was a partnership with companies that can give tax advice to drivers. Uber said drivers could now also receive discounts on Uber rides, auto maintenance and cellphone data plans. In addition, Uber created a fuel finder function in the app that shows drivers the cheapest places nearby to fill up the gas tank, with the aim that Uber can someday negotiate with filling stations to provide discounts to Uber drivers. And the Uber app will automatically start a ride two minutes after arriving at a rider’s location so that drivers are paid if they have to wait for passengers. Tardy passengers are a frequent complaint on driver blogs.Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
• Line Plans Year’s Biggest Tech IPO, Pitching U.S. Investors: 
  • Japan’s Line Corp. is headed for what could be the biggest initial public offering for a technology company this year, including a major pitch to American investors. The company behind one of Asia’s most popular messaging apps plans to go public in Tokyo and New York in mid-to-late July, with a goal of raising between $1 billion and $2 billion at a valuation of $5 billion to $6 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The Tokyo-based company aims to get about half the money from U.S. investors as it plots a long-term expansion there after pushing further into Southeast Asia, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Line is already profitable and it will make that a focus for investors when it begins a roadshow toward the end of this month, according to one of the people. If it reaches its goals, Line would be this year’s biggest tech offering globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, providing a rare bright spot for the moribund market for listings. No business has raised more than $150 million in a technology IPO in 2016, even though more than 160 private companies are currently valued at $1 billion or more. The market debut would come two years after Line filed an application to list in Tokyo in July 2014. That offering valued the company at 1 trillion yen ($9.2 billion), people familiar with the situation said at the time. A deal didn’t materialize and the company, controlled by South Korea’s Naver Corp., later replaced its chief executive officer. Naver shares, which aren’t trading on Monday due to a national holiday, are up 7.4 percent this year.The lower valuation for next month’s expected listing reflects the company’s slowing user growth and a cooling in technology valuations and listings. Global tech companies raised about $900 million in the first quarter of this year, down from $6.5 billion during same period in 2014 and $2.8 billion in the first quarter of last year, according to Ernst & Young LLP. This year’s biggest tech listing is Australia’s WiseTech Global Ltd., a logistics software company that raised about $130 million in April, according to Bloomberg data.
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• T-Mobile is giving every customer a share of its stock: T-Mobile had another of its un-carrier events today, which now have so many regular giveaways they are starting to look like an episode of Oprah. First, the company announced that every current T-Mobile account holder on a postpaid plan will get one share of common stock in the company, which is currently worth about $43. New qualifying customers will also get one share once they sign up with T-Mobile. Plus, existing customers will be able to earn another free share (or two if you’ve been a customer for over five years) for each new customer they refer to the company — maxing out at 100 shares a year. The prospectus for the offering is here, and gives a little more color on how exactly the promotion will work. Once a customer redeems the share via T-Mobile’s new app, the security will be held in a brokerage account at LOYAL3 Securities. Stockholders can then hold on to their new investment, sell their shares via the platform or transfer their shares to another brokerage account. Customers can even electronically participate in proxy votes to vote their shares. Notably, instead of issuing additional shares, T-Mobile says shares needed to meet the needs of the program will be purchased on the open markets.

• Facebook founder Zuckerberg's social media accounts restored after alleged hack: Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter and Pinterest accounts have been resecured, a spokesman from the social media platform said on Monday, responding to questions about weekend media reports that the founder's sites had been hacked. Zuckerberg's Twitter and Pinterest accounts were compromised over the weekend, according to a report on Sunday from technology news website VentureBeat. Those accounts have since been "re-secured using best practices," a Facebook spokesman told Reuters, adding, "no Facebook systems or accounts were accessed." Zuckerberg's Twitter account, @finkd, last used in January 2012, posted a tweet on Sunday with the message, "Hey, @finkd You were in LinkedIn Datatbase with the password 'dadada' ! DM (direct message) for proof," according to a screenshot posted to Twitter by Ben Hall (@Ben_Hall), founder of Katacoda, an interactive learning platform for software developers. The tweet appeared to ask Zuckerberg to contact the sender, who claimed to have accessed his account. Zuckerberg's Pinterest page, meanwhile, was defaced with the headline "Hacked By OurMine Team" according to a screengrab of the page posted by VentureBeat. "Hey , we are just testing your security ,please dm (direct message) us for contact! twitter:twitter.com/_OurMine_," the compromised page said in a message that seemingly identified the hackers as being associated with the linked Twitter account. The Twitter page associated with that account, @_OurMine_, has since been suspended.