Weekly output: Most Innovative Companies, Serve Robotics, Android 17, United Airlines’ ambitions, Polymarket’s pop-up bar

CHICAGO–This is one of my favorite cities in the U.S., but it doesn’t show up in my work travel as often as I’d like. So I’m delighted that the Online News Association decided to move its annual conference from late summer to early spring and then stage this year’s event here–in a hotel that should be familiar to everybody who’s seen The Fugitive.

Patreon readers got a bonus post that I’d meant to have written weeks earlier: a recap of MWC Barcelona in which I also gave away a global eSIM to the first reader to ask for it.

3/24/2026: The most innovative robotics and engineering companies of 2026, Fast Company

This list, the product of months of research and editorial back-and-forth, finally emerged online this week. And then we had to run a quick correction after one of the companies honored said that we’d mentioned an achievement that they did not want disclosed.

3/25/2026: Delivery Robots Have a Mapping Problem, PCMag

I sat down in a hotel lobby in Austin during SXSW with MJ Burk Chun, co-founder and vice president of product and design at Serve Robotics, to talk about the issues that company is working to address as it tries to scale up having four-wheeled robots cart food deliveries to customers.

3/27/2026: Google Ships Latest Android 17 Beta. Here’s What’s New, PCMag

In between having so many longer stories to write, I was happy to get one that I could bang out in an hour or so.

3/28/2026: United’s New Upgrades Aim to Keep You Online and Fully Charged at 35,000 Feet, PCMag

My week started with me flying to another one of United’s hubs–with the airline covering my airfare and lodging–for its United Elevated event at LAX. In addition to looping me into UA’s ambitions for its onboard product, this event doubled as a reunion with some of the avgeek journalists I met at Cranky Dorkfest in September and with my former Washington Post colleague Lori Aratani, who interviewed United CEO Scott Kirby onstage Tuesday morning.

3/29/2026: Pints meet prop bets: Polymarket’s “Situation Room” pop-up bar in DC, Ars Technica

I thought I saw an opportunity to write for this occasional client for the first time since the summer of 2023; fortunately, my editor then and now agreed.

Delivery Robot Drives Through Bus Stop Shelter, Shattering Glass Everywhere

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.404media.co/delivery-robot-drives-through-bus-stop-sh-shattering-glass-everywhere/

TechSpot: Pokémon Go’s AR data has been turned into centimeter-accurate navigation for delivery robots. “The same location data and street-level imagery that once anchored monsters to sidewalks and plazas have been repurposed by Niantic. Coco Robotics is now using that technology to guide its sidewalk bots through dense urban areas where GPS alone is too unreliable to keep them on course.”

Delivery Robots Ignite Sidewalk Conflicts and Public Discontent

Delivery robots in US cities like Chicago and Los Angeles face vandalism and protests as residents demand a pause due to sidewalk conflicts and accessibility issues.

#DeliveryRobots, #SidewalkWars, #UrbanTech, #PublicSpace, #RobotProtest

https://newsletter.tf/us-cities-sidewalk-robot-vandalism-protests-public-space/

Delivery robots are causing problems in US cities, with over 1,500 people signing a petition in Chicago to stop them. This is a big increase from last year.

#DeliveryRobots, #SidewalkWars, #UrbanTech, #PublicSpace, #RobotProtest

https://newsletter.tf/us-cities-sidewalk-robot-vandalism-protests-public-space/

Delivery robots take over Chicago sidewalks, sparking debate and a petition

https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/12/08/delivery-robots-take-over-chicago-sidewalks-sparking-debate-and-a-petition-to-hit-pause/

#HackerNews #DeliveryRobots #ChicagoSidewalks #Debate #Petition #UrbanMobility #Automation

Skype Co-founder Advances Autonomous Robot Deliveries in Small Towns and Cities

Robots replace jobs, not help.

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Skype Co-founder Advances Autonomous Robot Deliveries in Small Towns and Cities

Ahti Heinla, the Skype co-founder, is driving the growth of Starship Technologies, a startup offering autonomous delivery robots that can operate profitably even in small towns and villages. Starship's robots have completed 8 million deliveries with just 200 employees and are used in cities across t... [More info]