Amazon debuts Halo smart health subscription service and Halo Band wearable activity tracker

Amazon today introduced an entirely new membership program called Halo that aims to provide comprehensive personal health and wellness monitoring and advice. The Halo service, which is opening to early access by special request today, includes both the service and a new Amazon Halo Band wrist-worn

Christopher Ward’s C1 Moonglow moonphase automatic watch is perfect for space lovers

The moonphase watch is a long-standing marvel of the analog watch industry — featuring a complication that allows it to accurately track the phases of the moon across a long period (provided the watch remains wound). Christopher Ward’s C1 Moonglow ($1,995) is a fresh, contemporary take

Narrative raises $8.5M as it launches a new data marketplace

Narrative has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding and is launching a new product designed to further simplify the process of buying and selling data. I’ve already written about the company’s existing marketplace and software for managing data transactions. With the new Data Streams

Amazon opens its first Amazon Fresh physical grocery store, in LA

The shift to online shopping has accelerated in the COVID-19 pandemic, but today Amazon made a bold move that underscores its belief that physical stores will remain a key component of how consumers shop. In the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills, the e-commerce giant today opened its first

Samsung will reportedly test remote work program as South Korea copes with new COVID-19 cases

Samsung Electronics will reportedly begin trialing a work-from-home program for some employees next month in South Korea as the country deals with its largest increase in COVID-19 cases since March. According to Reuters, a company official said the pilot program will be open to some employees at Sa

Passion Capital has backed Fronted, the startup that wants to offer loans to cover rent deposits

Fronted, the new London-based startup aiming to make life easier for renters, including lending the cash needed for a deposit, has picked up seed investment from Passion Capital. The investment showed up in a recent regulatory filing for the company. The exact cheque size isn’t yet disclosed,

Delivery Hero picks up InstaShop in $360M deal to expand in groceries in the Middle East

Grocery delivery has emerged as one of the hottest categories in e-commerce in the last six months, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, where stay-at-home orders plus a general reluctance to avoid crowded places have led many more consumers to shopping online. Today, one of the big players in o

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns after 100 days

Kevin Mayer, the chief executive of TikTok, announced on Wednesday that he is resigning, just over 100 days after the former Disney executive joined the world’s largest short-video app in mid-May. The news came on the heels of TikTok’s move to sue the U.S. government over its forthcomi

Facebook removes ‘Kenosha Guard’ militia account after shooter kills two at protest

Facebook has removed a local self-declared militia’s page and a related event following the events that unfolded last night in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Two people were killed and another was wounded when a man believed to be 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly began firing on a group protesting

Here's the Surface Duo

I can't remember the last time I did a hands-on with a device prior to powering it on. The idea of basing posts entirely around glamour shots without really interfacing with the product feels like a relic of an early era of gadget blogging. But every so often a device comes along that warrants

Daily Crunch: Spotify is testing virtual events

Spotify explores virtual concerts, Twitter tests a “quotes” count and Google’s Nest Hub becomes more hotel-friendly. This is your Daily Crunch for August 26, 2020. The big story: Spotify is testing virtual events We can’t have real-world concerts at the momen

Instagram Guides may soon allow creators to recommended places, products and more

Instagram is working to expand its recently launched “Guides” feature which initially debuted with a specific focus on wellness content. The feature, which launched in May, has allowed select organizations and experts to share resources related to managing your mental health — inc

Property tech startup Habi raises $10M to drive expansion in Latin America

When Brynne McNulty Rojas moved to Bogotá, Colombia four years ago, she encountered a fragmented real estate industry that lacked a central database for consumers to find or compare homes. Rojas was struck by the magnitude of the problem; she was also inspired by the opportunity. Rojas and busines

Ford, Bosch and Bedrock announce an automated valet parking garage in Detroit

Ford, Bosch and Bedrock today announced an automated valet parking demonstration in downtown Detroit. This system is designed to allow drivers to exit a vehicle and the vehicle would park itself in the parking structure. Systems in a Ford Escape test vehicle communicate with Bosch sensors to locate