With competitors like TikTok and BeReal, Instagram needs to double down on its roots

In a TikTok-centered world, I’m still a big fan of Instagram. In fact, I even have an account where I mainly post short videos and image carousels of New Age and ambient music cassettes from the ‘’80s, along with stories about the artists. Back when I started it, the appeal for me was creating a collection of content, just like a collection of tapes.

But in the world of recommendation algorithms and since the mandatory conversion of all feed videos to Reels, my

Microsoft is bringing Windows and Teams to Meta’s Quest VR headsets

Microsoft announced on Tuesday a partnership with Meta to bring its most popular productivity and collaboration apps to the new Quest Pro VR headset.

While wearing the Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets, users will be able to access their Windows 365 apps within Meta’s VR “Workrooms.” They’ll also be able to participate in Microsoft Teams meetings in VR.

“We are bringing a Microsoft Teams immersive meeting experience to Meta Quest in order t

Modern technology and enlightened management to support—and drive—growth

Studio McGee, founded by the team behind Netflix’s Dream Home Makeover series, decided it needed a makeover of its own to support its booming business.

The problem was that the business had a patchwork of legacy systems—Xero for accounting, Stitch Labs for inventory, Shopify for e-commerce, ShipStation for order fulfillment, and myriad Excel spreadsheets to try to make sense of it all—which made it difficult to access, coordinate, and analyze key financial data

Meta’s Quest Pro is no breakthrough metaverse device, but it does enable better remote work experiences

The company formerly known as Facebook announced its next-generation VR headset, the Meta Quest Pro at its Connect developer conference on Tuesday.

Meta says the device “enables the metaverse,” but the new features in Quest Pro seem focused on more practical things, namely remote work and productivity.

The Quest Pro—which is available for pre-order today, and will ship on October 25th—is also Meta’s answer to many of the shortcomings and

The Labor Department’s new proposal would be a huge win for gig worker advocates

The Labor Department unveiled a proposal on Tuesday that would impose additional barriers on companies trying to claim workers as independent contractors rather than employees, which some believe could overhaul the business models of rideshare and delivery giants.

The new rule would essentially take the form of a test, which would weigh how much control a worker has over their job as well as the permanency of their role. Workers who may have less control, for example, would likely

Fitbit integrates new technology linking people in recovery to caregivers

Boston-based behavior analytics company Pretaa announced Tuesday a partnership with Fitbit to give people battling drug addiction a data-driven support tool on their wrist.

Pretaa has worked with Fitbit, the Google-owned wearables company, to build special support features into Fitbit’s products, such as the ability to call out to a clinical caregiver (or a friend, support group sponsor, or family member) if the user feels they’re in danger of relapsing.

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Google launches its AI-driven Translation Hub as a cloud service

Today Google announced a new cloud service called Translation Hub, which allows companies to translate documents on a self-service basis.

An employee can input their document in the Hub and select all the languages for which they’d like translations. The Hub then quickly spits out the translation, even preserving the formatting of the original document (if it’s a Google Doc or Slide, PDF, or Microsoft Word doc). Google says the Hub also offers management controls so t

Delta Air Lines and Joby Aviation want to fly you to the airport before your flight

Joby Aviation, the venture-backed California company that engineers electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), may finally be nearing its inaugural flight.

Today, it’s unveiling a partnership with Delta Air Lines to bring Joby’s futuristic air taxis to New York and Los Angeles within the next few years. The specifics of the partnership, including the timeline for its rollout, are still up in the air, but the deal will pioneer eVTOLS on the consumer marke

The future of the metaverse hinges on interoperability

The term “metaverse” is overused, and we all feel it. It’s buzzy, pigeonholing, and doesn’t encompass how the underlying technologies could change everything, from meeting to playing, working to shopping, and the overall ways we experience life. It is therefore imperative that we are careful about how we even refer to the metaverse. Its potential offerings have yet to emerge in the market, and companies are fearful of overpromising and hype that could contribute t

Scoop: Redesign Health lays off 67 employees a month after raising $65 million

Redesign Health, a company that builds other healthcare startups, laid off 67 employees, or about 20% of its workforce, Fast Company has learned. The cuts come roughly a month after Redesign raised $65 million in Series C funding.

A spokesperson for Redesign confirmed the layoffs, calling the cuts a “restructuring move.” “This move by Redesign was not financially driven—or was something that was related, connected to, or a requirement of the recent round


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