Uber developing tech for non-smartphone users in India
The vice-president and global head of product at Uber, Daniel Graf, has said that the company is committing to reaching people in India with low connectivity - 2G, 3G or less - and those without a smartphone. Although he did not provide details of how this will occur, he acknowledged that there is a large consumer base with little access to internet and out-of-date phone software. He added that the company is striving to improve reliability issues caused by unpredictable traffic, bottlenecks and changing infrastructure. India "continues to be a focus market" for Uber, which has over 1,000 employees there.

San Francisco-headquartered Uber is working on technologies that will allow people in India without smartphones or in low bandwidth areas to book a ride. On the cards are several innovations for India, which is the second-largest market for the ride hailing firm, Daniel Graf , vice-president and global head of product at Uber told ET in an interview.“We are making a big investment in India which could also help other markets with similar conditions… Many areas get 3G or 2G connectivity or even less than that. How do you make it work there? This is an android dominant market and many of the phones are 2012 or older, some folks don’t have a smartphone but they should be able to get an Uber too,” said Graf. He added that the company which already has 1,000 people in India is making a “strong commitment” to grow the talent in India.Graf who is on his first visit to the country, said Uber is investing heavily towards making the trips through the ride sharing app more reliable and affordable. In the works are technology changes that will make predicting the arrival time more accurate despite constant changes to the infrastructure and traffic bottlenecks along making the pricing more stable.“There are stakeholders for Uber — drivers and riders and we want to create a ride which is reliable and affordable. Reliable means low ETA, but that’s not always the case. We have a long way to go to make it more reliable,” said Graf. He added that apart from making it affordable, the company’s goal is to make the ride safer with the use of technology. He added that for instance, Uber has introduced features that can sense if a driver has not mounted the phone (that helps with navigation) and is holding it in his hand. “If the driver has accelerated or braked too aggressively, we can detect that too with the sensors,” said Graf.Despite the management reshuffle at Uber recently which led to its founder Travis Kalanick being replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi as its CEO, Graf said that India continues to be a focus market for the company. On being asked about SoftBank’s proposed investment in Uber which may create conditions for a merger with bitter rival Ola, Graf said, “It’s not about Ola or Uber, it’s about transportation in general. We are (ride sharing) at low single digit of the overall transportation opportunity, even if there were more players, there are so many opportunities in the market.”As far as some features offered by its rivals are concerned such as booking outstation trips or offering rentals is concerned, Graf said the company is currently focused on its priorities which is to make the rides more reliable, affordable and safer. “It always depends, at the end of the day, we want to give reliable transportation. There are so many things we can do, we experiment a lot, and then we decide where we are going to double down and where we are not. Maybe, (accurate) ETAs are more important than something else.”Graf who is credited with building Google Maps and Google Local at his previous stint at Google, said the company is investing heavily in its mapping technology in line with the complexities of India.The idea is to map destinations and pick up points accurately and match rides better on the pool (ride sharing) offering which will not just help riders and drivers but also cities as it may help in reducing congestion.