Fish oil. Protein shakes. Vitamin D pills. The packages look alike. Does it matter which you buy? It certainly does, according to Labdoor, a four-year-old, South San Francisco-based startup that tests about 50 supplements and energy drinks each month that it buys off retail shelves, then ranks for consumers. What it finds might intrigue you. Vitamin C degrades in water, for example, so… Read More
Mark Zuckerberg’s drive to “put video first” is also putting money in Facebook’s pockets. The more organic videos Facebook users watch, the more high-priced video ads Facebook can slip into the feed. Now Facebook’s strategy around auto-play video, paying Live content producers and offering more creative tools is helping to propel its massive revenue growth. Read More
Amazon’s investment in its own private label products has been paying off, according to a new report out today. The retailer now competes with vendors via its own products in over a dozen categories, including computer accessories, home goods, pet supplies, grocery items, and more. In some categories, Amazon has even established itself as the online category leader, the report indicates.… Read More
Senator Al Franken has some questions for Uber and Lyft about racial discrimination following the recently released study that says some of those companies’ respective drivers racially discriminate against passengers. The study, conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that black people have to wait longer for rides in Seattle. In Boston, the study revealed that… Read More
Google has now formally responded to two antitrust charges brought against it by Europe’s Competition Commission, rebutting charges of exploiting the popularity of its search engine to boost its price comparison service, Google Shopping, and its ad placement service, AdSense. Read More
CoreOS introduced a new container management concept today known as Operators, which they say will advance the Kubernetes project by offering more automated container management. What’s more, they are open sourcing the technology. “We are introducing the concept of an ‘Operator.’ It’s a concept for taking a lot of the knowledge an engineer [or developer] has inside… Read More
Been a while since we’ve heard much about the Gear S3. Since it was first shown off back in August at IFA, Apple has announced and released their own new offering and, of course, Samsung’s been slightly preoccupied with other things. But fear not, the super-sized smartwatch will be arriving in time for the holidays. Pre-orders start November 6 and the device will be hitting… Read More
Today, PlushCare, a telehealth service, is announcing an $8 million Series A led by GGV Capital with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Exponent. Telehealth is anything but new, Teladoc, now public, was founded in the early 2000s to provide remote care over video conference, but PlushCare aims to accomplish what others have thus far been unable to do — actually get… Read More
Seafood consumption is soaring in China, along with increases in average disposable income there. But live, edible fish and shellfish are challenging to buy, sell and transport across borders within and beyond China. As a result of the complexities in shipping live fish, and complying with health and customs regulations, tons of seafood are wasted each year, at a time when our oceans are… Read More
Vimeo is preparing to take on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and others with the launch of its own consumer-facing subscription service, the IAC-owned company announced on Wednesday as part of its earnings report. In a shareholder letter, Joey Levin, IAC CEO and Interim Vimeo CEO, detailed Vimeo’s plans to more broadly compete in this space, while also differentiating its service from… Read More
Intel has made another acquisition to build out its virtual reality strategy and business: the chip giant has acquired a startup called VOKE, which specialises in immersive sports video experiences, and counted both Intel and the Sacramento Kings among its investors. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed but Intel tells me that it is acquiring VOKE’s technology, talent… Read More
YouTube today is rolling out an upgrade to its comments system, with the goal of putting creators more in control of which comments get featured in the feed, as well as the ability to better interact with their viewers and fans. Along with the ability to pin comments to the top of the feed and hold back inappropriate comments for review, creators will also have their own usernames highlighted… Read More
Yesterday, when local ratings and reviews site Yelp posted strong quarterly earnings with a surprise profit of $2.1 million, it also slipped in the news that it plans to lay off 175 people, or four percent of its workforce, mainly in its international operations in sales and marketing roles, after failing to grow its business outside of North America. We now have more details about what… Read More
In a bid to juice declining sales, department store Kohl’s will begin selling the Apple Watch in 400 of its stores starting on November 15th, according to a new report from Fortune. Unlike Macy’s, which also recently added the device to its in-store Apple boutiques, Kohl’s says it’s not launching Apple Watch as an electronics partner. Rather, it will sell the smartwatch… Read More
When you’re in virtual reality and start associating your limb and head movements with your onscreen avatar, that digital recreation really becomes an extension of who you are. ObEN is a startup launching out of HTC’s new Vive X accelerator that is hoping to craft a more complete digital version of its users so that they can be drawn deeper into VR immersive experiences. The… Read More
Several of the most popular fitness wearable makers have been criticized for having obscure and asymmetrical terms and conditions that impinge on Europeans’ consumer and privacy rights. Read More
The Moto Z is an ambitious and impressive device in and of itself, but its success will, in no small part, ultimately be dependent on accessories. In much the same way a gaming console’s hardware prowess doesn’t mean a heck of lot with a great ecosystem of games, a modular handset isn’t much to speak of without the right set of mods. The Z offered a decent array at launch… Read More
The NES Classic Edition is still a week or so away from release, but, like clockwork, Nyko’s already got a pair of peripherals for the eagerly awaited piece of nostalgia overload, both addressing one of the primary concerns with the retro gaming console. The Miniboss is a wireless controller with design language just different enough to keep Nintendo from breathing down its neck.… Read More
As touched on in this morning’s hands-on, the Mate 9 is a big phone in just about every way imaginable. But just in case, Huawei’s taking things a step further. The company that brought you a pair of watches called the Jewel and Elegant has teamed with Porsche Design to give the world a really expensive version of its new flagship. The limited edition device harkens back to a… Read More
Fitbit is going to have a rough holiday season as the company shared a disappointing outlook for the next quarter on yesterday’s earnings call. As a result, Fitbit shares (NYSE:FIT) opened at $9.03, down 29.5 percent compared to yesterday’s closing price of $12.81.
So what happened exactly? Fitbit’s earning report yesterday wasn’t great, but it wasn’t too bad either. Read More
