Business category, Page 259
Uber adds more services to its app in its quest for profit
SAN FRANCISCO — Uber is cramming more services into its ride-hailing app as it explores ways to generate more revenue and finally turn a profit. The makeover announced Thursday includes force-feeding its food delivery service, “Eats,” into the Uber app that millions of people use to summon a ride. That...
Alexa users will have Samuel L. Jackson’s voice as an optionVideo
Samuel L. Jackson is set to be the first celebrity voice that can be swapped out for Alexa on Amazon’s Echo devices. For 99 cents, Alexa’s Jackson “voice pack” will be available later this year at that discounted price. After that, the price jumps to $4.99, according to Geek Wire....
U.S. stocks rebound on housing data, Trump trade deal remark
U.S. stocks finished broadly higher Wednesday after President Donald Trump indicated that a deal to resolve the long-running, costly trade dispute with China could happen soon. Trump’s remarks, in addition to a sharp increase in sales of new U.S. homes, helped reverse an early slide for stocks. Technology companies led...
Huntley & Huntley adopts new name, focus
Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration, a natural gas company with several unconventional wells in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, is rebranding itself as Olympus Energy LLC. The Canonsburg-based company said the new name “reflects the company’s focus on driving a new era of energy leadership within the Appalachian Basin, built on...
Arby’s parent Inspire Brands buys Jimmy John’s Sandwiches
ATLANTA — The parent company of Arby’s is buying Jimmy John’s Sandwiches, hoping to reverse sluggish sales at the chain. Atlanta-based Inspire Brands said Wednesday the acquisition will make it the fourth-largest restaurant company in the United States, with annual sales of $14 billion and 11,200 restaurants. Inspire also owns...
WeWork CEO stepping aside amid questions about company
NEW YORK — WeWork’s charismatic but controversial CEO is stepping aside from the company he founded, another moment of reckoning between a fast-growing tech company and its disenchanted investors. The New York-based company, which runs trendy communal office spaces, said Tuesday that Adam Neumann will remain on its board as...
Google wins case over EU’s ‘right to be forgotten’ rules
BRUSSELS — Handing Google a major victory, the European Union’s highest court ruled Tuesday that the EU’s “right to be forgotten” rules that allow people to control what comes up when their name is searched online do not apply outside the 28-nation bloc. Over the past five years, people in...
Can a new space race connect world to internet?
NEW YORK — It’s a 21st century space race: Amazon, SpaceX and others are competing to get into orbit and provide internet to the Earth’s most remote places. And like the last century’s battle for space supremacy that was triggered by the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, this one...
First Lady Melania Trump rings NY Stock Exchange bellVideo
NEW YORK — First lady Melania Trump has rung the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The exchange’s first female president, Stacey Cunningham, escorted Mrs. Trump on Monday and discussed the exchange’s history with her. They were flanked by children from the United Nations International School while standing...
UAW strike puts Trump, GOP in political bind in key states
LANSING, Mich. — Democrats were quick to back working-class United Auto Workers in their strike against General Motors, delivering doughnuts and holding picket signs outside factories to show solidarity. It’s a union they long have aligned with politically. There were no doughnuts from Republicans. Led by President Donald Trump, GOP...
Fresh U.S.-China trade worries erase early gains for stocks
Wall Street closed out a volatile week with losses Friday as investors worried that upcoming trade talks aimed at resolving the costly trade war between Washington and Beijing could be in trouble. The selling, which erased modest early gains for the market, snapped a three-week win streak for the S&P...
Google plans to invest 3 billion euros in Europe
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Google’s top boss said Friday the tech giant is planning to invest 3 billion euros to expand its data centers across Europe in the next two years. Google will bring the company’s total investments in the continent’s internet infrastructure to 15 billion euros since 2007, Chief executive...
Trump says he doesn’t need China trade deal before election
WASHINGTON — As China and the U.S. near a new round of trade talks, President Trump said Friday he doesn’t feel he needs to secure an agreement before next year’s election. Trump told reporters he wants a complete deal with China and won’t accept one that addresses only some of...
What makes Impossible meat possible? A ‘bloody’ ingredient
NEW YORK — What makes Impossible burgers possible? An engineered ingredient that makes the veggie patty look bloody — and one of many new concoctions food regulators expect to see more of in the coming years. Several new vegetarian products are competing to win over meat lovers, but two California...
Walmart to stop selling electronic cigarettes at its stores
NEW YORK — Walmart says it will stop selling electronic cigarettes at its namesake stores and Sam’s Clubs following a string illnesses and deaths related to vaping. The nation’s largest retailer said Friday that it will complete its exit from e-cigarettes after selling through current inventory. It cited growing federal,...
Twitter launches ‘hide replies’ feature to give users more control
Twitter wants to tailor users’ experiences and give them more control with a new feature. The service is now giving tweeters in the U.S. and Japan the ability to hide replies on their tweets. Twitter launches its controversial ‘Hide Replies’ feature in the U.S. and Japan by @sarahintampa pic.twitter.com/NrKwl24rAo—...
Colt suspends production of AR-15 for civilian market
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Gun-maker Colt is suspending its production of rifles for the civilian market including the popular AR-15, the company said Thursday in a shift it attributed to changes in consumer demand and a market already saturated with similar weapons. The company said it will focus instead on...
‘Middle of the herd’ no more: Amazon tackles climate change
NEW YORK — Online shopping giant Amazon revealed a carbon footprint Thursday that rivals that of a small country and vowed to reduce the damage to the planet by cutting its use of fossil fuels. The company, which ships more than a 10 billion items a year on fuel-guzzling planes...
Huawei debuts phone without Google apps as U.S. sanctions bite
MUNICH — Huawei launched a new flagship smartphone Thursday, but it comes without popular Google apps such as Chrome or YouTube after U.S. sanctions kicked in, limiting its appeal to consumers. The Chinese tech giant’s Mate 30 phone series, including one for new 5G networks, runs on an open source...
Walgreens, Google affiliate to launch drone delivery test
Walgreens and a Google affiliate are testing drone deliveries that can put drugstore products on customer doorsteps minutes after being ordered. Snacks like Goldfish Crackers or gummy bears as well as aspirin for sick kids will be delivered starting next month in Christiansburg, Virginia, by a 10-pound drone flying as...
Airbnb says it will go public in 2020
Airbnb Inc. said Thursday it plans to go public in 2020, a long-awaited move by the home-sharing company that is both loved and reviled for its disruption of the accommodation sector. Airbnb disclosed the news in a brief statement. It didn’t give a target date for the initial public offering...
Don’t have anywhere to sit? Wearable chairs are now a thingVideo
Standing room only may now be a thing of the past. A tweet Wednesday afternoon from Tech Insider revealed a wearable chair that would allow people to take a seat basically anywhere. The seat, also known as LEX, is designed as “an extension of your body” by way of “aerospace-grade...
A divided Fed reduces rates but may not cut again this yearVideo
WASHINGTON — A sharply divided Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year but declined to signal that further rate cuts are likely this year. The Fed’s move reduced its key short-term rate — which influences many consumer and business loans — by an...
Oil price drops for 2nd day as Saudi crude output recovers
NEW YORK — The price of oil fell Wednesday after Saudi officials announced oil production halted by an attack on the heart of its oil industry would be fully restored within weeks. Prices continued to slide even as the Saudi military blamed Iran for the attacks and U.S. Secretary of...
Researchers: AI surveillance is expanding worldwide
A growing number of countries are following China’s lead in deploying artificial intelligence to track citizens, according to a research group’s report published Tuesday. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says at least 75 countries are actively using AI tools such as facial recognition for surveillance. The index of countries...
