THE NEWS WRAP: Uber gets the nod to operate in London

London’s transport regulator, Transport for London, has ruled that Uber can legally operate in the British capital.

Under London’s taxi rules, only licensed black taxis can use meters in their vehicles to charge customers based on distance and time.

The city’s licensed taxi drivers argued that Uber’s smartphone technology broke that regulation.

But Transport for London disagreed, saying that the phones are “not taximeters within the meaning of the legislation”.

The decision will now go to a British court where a final ruling will be made.

Charles River Ventures raises $393 million

Early stage venture capital firm Charles River Ventures – based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Silicon Valley – has raised $393 million for a new investment fund.

Charles River is primarily focused on Series A investments, and was the first investor in Twitter and the lead investor in Yammer and Zendesk.

US smartphone market share remains steady

Android continues to lead the way as the top smartphone platform in the US with 52.1% market share, unchanged from February, according to latest figures from comScore.

Apple’s market share rose slightly from 41.3% in February, to 41.9%, while Microsoft was unchanged at 3.4% and Blackberry dropped from 2.9% to 2.3%.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 92.02 to 17,068.26. The Australian dollar is currently trading at US93 cents.