Amazon is preparing to roll out a trio of new features that will allow consumers to further personalize their Alexa experience by helping train the Alexa A.I. using simple tools. In a few months’ time, consumers will be able to teach Alexa to do things like identifying specific sounds in their household, such as a […]
Amazon’s newest Echo Show is a 15-inch, wall-mounted digital picture frame
Amazon just took the wraps off the latest — and largest — addition to the Echo Show family. The Echo Show 15 takes the company’s smart screen technology to the wall in the form of a 15.6-inch 1080p display that doubles as a massive digital picture frame. The $250 device is certainly a novel approach […]
Amazon launches a $60 smart thermostat
Amazon kicked off its big hardware event today by announce a new smart. The company worked with Honeywell to create the device, but is keeping its own branding on the product (rather than, say, Ring, Blink or any of the other smart home companies it owns). The device runs $60, though the company notes that […]
Carbon tax to hit people’s pockets if used poorly, ECB warns
September 28, 2021 FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Higher taxes on carbon will hit people’s pockets and make it harder for the European Central Bank to reach its inflation target if governments don’t use the extra revenue well, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday. The European Union has unveiled plans to cap CO2 emissions […]
U.S. consumer confidence falls again in September to lowest since February
September 28, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly weakened in September as soaring COVID-19 infections deepened concerns about the economy’s near-term prospects. The Conference Board said on Tuesday its consumer confidence index dropped to a reading of 109.3 this month from 115.2 in August. That was the third straight decline and the lowest […]
Senate banking chief plans bill to address Fed officials’ stock trades
September 28, 2021 (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday said he plans to introduce legislation that would ban ownership of individual stocks by Federal Reserve officials in the aftermath of revelations that two reserve bank presidents had been active investors. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio told Fed Chair […]
Ford says U.S. salaried employees required to disclose COVID-19 vaccination status
September 28, 2021 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday its U.S. salaried employees would be required to submit their vaccination status against COVID-19 by Oct. 8 and that it had asked its hourly employees to do the same. Ford follows rival General Motors Co in asking for vaccination status of its employees but […]
Notion now offers free credits to any startup globally, partners with AWS and Stripe
Two years ago, Notion partnered with dozens of accelerators and incubators to provide free credits for its work collaboration platform to their portfolio startups. The firm is now aggressively making the program open to all startups. Notion is launching a new startup program Tuesday to offer a credit of at least $500 to any startup […]
Sisu Data raises $62M to stop companies from making clouded business mistakes
Sisu Data, which aims to help businesses make better decisions, announced today it has raised $62 million in a Series C round of funding led by Green Bay Ventures. Existing backers Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and NEA also put money in the round, along with new investor Geodesic Ventures. The financing brings San Francisco-based Sisu’s total […]
Four days left to save $100 on passes to TC Sessions: SaaS 2021
Tick-tock, folks! Our TC Sessions: SaaS 2021 countdown clock says only four days remain before the early bird flies away with $100 clutched in its tight little beak. If you want to take part in our global SaaS conference on October 27 — and save $100 while you’re at it — purchase your early-bird pass […]
Fairmat creates a new material based on recycled carbon fiber composite
Meet Fairmat, a new French startup that wants to improve the recycling process for sophisticated composite materials. The company wants to produce new kinds of materials from material waste and sell them to industrial companies. Fairmat just raised a $10 million funding round (€8.6 million) led by Singular. Various business angels also participated in the […]
Guardian owner invests in Unlock, an NFT protocol designed for subscriptions and memberships
Monetization for the creator economy continues to be a huge issue and opportunity, but creators mostly have to lock themselves into platforms like Patreon to realize their value. A better method would be to have a membership system for creators which sat across several platforms. Now, GMG Ventures (parent company of The Guardian newspaper) has […]
Usyk eyes heavyweight unification fight after Joshua rematch
September 28, 2021 By Sergiy Karazy KYIV (Reuters) – Newly crowned world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk expects a rematch against Anthony Joshua in February or March and has his sights on a title unification bout, his team said on Tuesday. The Ukrainian defeated Joshua in a boxing masterclass at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in […]
Amazon UK to hire 20,000 temporary workers for festive season
September 28, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – Amazon has started recruiting for 20,000 seasonal positions across the United Kingdom to cover the festive period, it said on Tuesday. The group, which has 55,000 permanent UK employees, said the temporary jobs would be in its network of fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations. (Reporting by James […]
Dior brings bold splash of colour to Paris fashion week
September 28, 2021 By Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) -Christian Dior showcased a burst of colorful 1960s- and 1970s-flavored mini dresses as crowds returned to its hometown show at the Paris fashion week. Guests showing health passes on their mobile phones had their temperatures checked and were waved in by guards at the marquee sited in […]
Demand for Lufthansa flights to U.S. soars on re-opening
September 28, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) – Demand for transatlantic flights has jumped since the United States announced plans last week to reopen to fully vaccinated travellers from countries including most of Europe, German airline Lufthansa said on Tuesday. On some days last week, bookings for transatlantic flights were up threefold from the week before, with […]
Mastercard taps into buy now, pay later market with latest offering
September 28, 2021 (Reuters) -Mastercard Inc on Tuesday launched a buy now, pay later service, tapping into a market that is threatening to chip away at the dominance of credit cards as a main source of payments. The buy now, pay later sector got a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic as cash-strapped shoppers were attracted […]
Fed’s Powell says economy is a long way from maximum employment
September 28, 2021 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday the U.S. economy is still far from achieving maximum employment, a key component of the central bank’s requirements for raising interest rates. “What I said last week was that we had all but met the test for tapering,” said Powell, testifying before […]
“Don’t worry,” says jailed Egypt rights researcher as he is driven from court
September 28, 2021 By Nadeen Ebrahim MANSOURA, Egypt (Reuters) -A jailed Egyptian human rights researcher told supporters on Tuesday not to worry, as he was driven away from a courtroom where he is standing trial in a “fake news” case that has resonated in Italy where he was based. Patrick Zaki, 30, a graduate student […]
Fed’s Powell would welcome a Black woman on the Fed board
September 28, 2021 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said he would welcome the appointment of a Black woman to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for the first time. “I would strongly agree” that a wider range of “voices” on the Fed board would enhance the central bank’s mission, Powell said […]
