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The Daily Five

Driverless robotaxis hit Europe, 2026's record breach wave & a RAM myth busted

Today's five: Uber and Pony.ai bring 2,000 driverless robotaxis to Europe, 2026 becomes the worst data-breach year on record, a hidden Samsung audio trick, the 'more RAM = faster phone' myth busted, and a quick poll on whether you'd ride driverless.

  1. commentary

    The robotaxi era just got real

    Uber and Pony.ai are putting 2,000+ driverless cabs on European roads — Gen-7 robotaxis rolling out across 5 cities, starting in Zagreb, with the Middle East next. This isn't a flashy demo anymore; it's an actual fleet you'll be able to hail from the Uber app. The tech has quietly stopped being the hard part — trust and regulation are now the real bottleneck.

    The problem
    Self-driving has spent years stuck in the 'impressive demo' phase — pilots, safety drivers and endless 'coming soon' promises. Putting driverless cars into everyday commercial service at scale, on messy real-world roads, has been the gap nobody could close.
    What changed
    On Aug 14 Uber and Pony.ai expanded their partnership to deploy 2,000+ of Pony.ai's seventh-generation robotaxis across Europe — growing from the existing Zagreb service (run with local operator Verne) to four more cities, with a Middle East rollout also planned. Gen-7 already runs commercially in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
    The catch
    It's a phased rollout — cities and dates beyond Zagreb haven't all been named, and each market still needs local regulatory sign-off. Fleets also rely on local operators, so 'launched' won't mean 'everywhere at once.'
    What it means for you
    If you travel in Europe, a driverless Uber option is moving from sci-fi to something you may actually get matched with — worth deciding now how you feel about a car with no one in the front seat.
  2. security

    2026 is already the worst breach year on record

    We're barely half through 2026 and US data-breach notices have already topped 471 million — more than in all of 2025. The uncomfortable part: most of it isn't elite hacking. It's scam calls (vishing) and passwords reused across sites. You can't stop companies from leaking your data, but reused passwords are the one link fully in your control — so a password manager and unique logins are the highest-leverage move you can make today.

    The problem
    Everyone assumes breaches are the work of genius hackers cracking unbreakable systems — so it feels hopeless and out of our hands. That framing makes people shrug and do nothing.
    What changed
    The Identity Theft Resource Center's H1 2026 report shows US compromises on pace to smash the record: 1,803 incidents and 471M+ victim notices by midyear — already above the 297.5M for all of 2025. The main drivers are credential theft, vishing (voice-phishing scam calls) and reused passwords, not exotic zero-days.
    The catch
    'Notices' isn't the same as unique victims — one person can receive several, so the human count is lower than 471M. And no personal habit protects you when a company you trusted is the one that leaks.
    What it means for you
    Do the two things that actually blunt this: use a password manager with a unique password per site, and never approve an OTP or payment from an inbound call or text. Those alone neutralize most of what's driving 2026's numbers.
  4. tip

    One Samsung phone, two audio outputs at once

    Samsung's Separate App Sound has been hiding in the settings since the Galaxy S8, and almost nobody uses it. It sends one app's audio to a different output than everything else — so Maps navigation can play through your car speaker while your music streams to your earbuds at the same time. Find it under Settings > Sounds and vibration > Separate app sound, pick the app and the output device, and you're done.

    The problem
    By default a phone sends all audio to one place, so navigation, music and calls constantly fight over the same output — annoying when you want directions out loud but music somewhere private.
    What changed
    Samsung's Separate App Sound (Galaxy S8 and newer, Android 7+) lets you route a single chosen app to a different audio device while the rest of the phone keeps using its main output. Set it in Settings > Sounds and vibration > Separate app sound.
    The catch
    It only works when the second output is genuinely different from the main one (a connected Bluetooth speaker or earbuds), it's Samsung-only, and just one app can be split at a time.
    What it means for you
    If you're on a Galaxy, turn it on for your maps or music app before your next drive — nav on the car speakers, everything else in your ears.
  5. myth buster

    More RAM won't fix your phone

    '16GB RAM?! That'll be so fast' — not really. Once a phone has enough RAM, the extra mostly sits idle. What actually makes a phone feel quick is smart memory management, a strong efficient chip, and fast storage — not a bigger number on the box. 8GB handled well can beat 16GB handled badly, so don't pay flagship money chasing RAM you'll never use.

    The problem
    RAM is the easiest spec to market, so brands lean on huge numbers and buyers assume more RAM automatically means a faster phone — and overpay for it.
    What changed
    In practice, modern Android and iOS aggressively manage memory, so past a comfortable amount (roughly 8-12GB for most people) extra RAM largely stays parked. Real-world speed comes from the chip, storage type (UFS/NVMe) and how well the software handles memory.
    The catch
    RAM isn't useless — heavy multitaskers, gamers and people juggling dozens of apps do benefit from headroom, and some cheap phones cut RAM too far. 'Enough' depends on how you use it; the point is the ceiling is lower than the spec sheet implies.
    What it means for you
    Buy for real-world performance: prioritize the chip and storage, pick a sensible amount of RAM for how you actually use your phone, and don't spend extra just to see a bigger number.
  6. community

    Driverless robotaxi — hop in or hard pass?

    Uber and Pony.ai are rolling out 2,000 driverless robotaxis across Europe — nobody in the driver's seat. Genuine question: if one pulled up to you right now, would you get in? Yes and hop in, hard pass, or only depending on the city and the road? Curious where people actually land on this one.