Techflier

Spotify’s success with its year-end review known as Wrapped , designed for social sharing, may be pushing the company toward building more social experiences directly into its mobile app. The company for many months has been testing different iterations of a “friends activity” tab on its mobile app, and investors have now taken notice. During the streamer’s Q4 earnings call earlier today, the company was asked to clarify some details about its social plans. Though Spotify CEO Daniel Ek declined to comment on the specific feature the investor asked about, he didn’t shoot down the idea of Spotify becoming a more social platform. Instead, he replied that social could become “a meaningful driver of creating an even stickier and more engaging experience” for the company. The exec was answering an investor question about Spotify’s recent tests of a “Friends tab” which appears in the app’s bottom navigation bar for some subset of Spotify’s users. Though only an experiment at present, the te...

Bed Bath & Beyond is closing nearly 300 stores by March. Michael Santiago/Getty Images Bed Bath & Beyond released an updated list of store closures set to take place.  The retailer said in September it would close 150 stores by March and cut jobs in an effort to reduce costs. Bed Bath & Beyond received a loan default notice last week, and could soon file for bankruptcy. The list of store closures is growing for Bed Bath & Beyond.  The housewares retailer on Monday added another 141 stores to its list of store closings, which previously included roughly 120 locations facing cuts. This latest addition pushes the total to nearly 300, up from the initial 56 stores that were announced in September. The company now says it will close an additional 87 Bed Bath & Beyond locations, all of its remaining Harmon stores, and five Buybuy Baby stores. Axios previously reported that liquidation sales are already underway at several locations. Bankruptcy could...

Meta is starting to test closed spaces called “members-only worlds” in Horizon Worlds, its social VR experience. The company has begun a limited alpha test to give creators the ability to grow and moderate their own communities. Meta has selected a small group of creators to build and obtain feedback about members-only worlds. In a blog post , Meta explained that creators can hand-select members and offer them exclusive experiences. During the alpha test, each members-only world can have up to 150 world members and 25 concurrent visitors at any given time. With members-only worlds, creators can launch a dedicated space to do things like host a book club, gather a gaming group, organize a support group or just hang out with friends and family without having to worry about uninvited guests. Image Credits: Meta “Every community develops its own norms, etiquette, and social rules over time as it fosters a unique culture,” Meta explained in its blog post. “To enable that, we’ll provid...

Kurtwood Smith said he never saw himself doing a sitcom as an actor. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images Kurtwood Smith played Red Forman on "That '70s Show" and reprised the role for "That '90s Show." He never saw himself in a sitcom, but it's one of his favorite jobs to date — and he credits the writers with making it so funny. Fans who recognize him will often come up and ask him to call them "a dumbass" just like Red would. This Q&A is based on a conversation with Kurtwood Smith, who plays Red Forman on "That '70s Show" and "That '90s Show." It has been edited for length and clarity.  What's the best money advice you've ever received? Save your money, you'll need it.  Have you ever gone into business for yourself, or thought about it? I've never thought about it. If I hadn't been an actor, I'd still be a teacher. I taught college for five years. People thought I was insane to le...

Female-focused telehealth startup, Teal Health , is popping up today to announce an $8.8 million seed round with a roster of heavy hitting investors on board — including (Serena Williams’) Serena Ventures, ( Chelsea Clinton’s) Metrodora Ventures, and (Laurene Powell Jobs’) Emerson Collective. The February 2020-founded San Francisco-based startup’s first product will be a service that supports women to collect their own sample for cervical cancer screening in the comfort of their own home. It wants to tackle the problem of women not getting screened — either because the traditional route of going to a doctor’s surgery for a pap smear (using a speculum ) is uncomfortable or inconvenient or both. Teal has developed a novel device for women to self collect a sample to mail off for lab analysis. Its websites refers to this device as a “collection wand” — and we gather there’s a sponge involved — but details of what exactly it looks like and how it will function remain under wraps as...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call Senate Democrats want to ramp up the pace of federal judge confirmations this Congress. But their task could grow challenging when it comes to filling vacancies in states with GOP senators. By tradition, senators have essentially a veto power over district court nominees in their home states. Senate Democrats are vying to confirm more of President Joe Biden's nominees to the federal bench after he broke his recent predecessors' records for judges appointed in their first two years in office.  "This Congress, with an even larger majority, Senate Democrats will ramp up to a record pace and continue to make our courts more reflective of our country," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement to Insider. But even with a 51-seat majority, the task for Democrats could grow challenging as many of the 88 open judgeships — a number that's ...

Getty US parents are struggling to find and afford childcare. A group of House Democrats just established the "Dads Caucus" to push for reforms. They want to expand parental leave, the child tax credit, and childcare funding to help working families.  America has a childcare problem . A group of Democratic congressmen say they want to push for a better way forward.  Last Thursday, House Democrats launched the Congressional Dads Caucus , a group that says it will advocate for legislation that includes guaranteed paid parental leave, the expansion of the child tax credit , and universal childcare .  The announcement was made at a press conference by California Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who drew attention earlier this month for bringing his four-month-old son to the House floor during the marathon days-long sequence of votes for speaker of the House. "Dads need to do our part advancing policies that will make a difference in the lives of so many working families acros...

Business Insider Protesters rally as Philadelphia Police officers and Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers look on, June 1, 2020. AP Photo/Matt Slocum Tyre Nichols, 29, died after he was beaten by police at a traffic stop January 7. Campaign Zero, a police-reform initiative, suggested six ways to reduce police violence. Research has shown that the use of body cams and implicit-bias training don't work. Tyre Nichols' death has brought the debate around police violence back to the fore. Nichols, 29, was beaten by police and sent to the hospital in critical condition after a traffic stop January 7. Three days later, he died. Five fired police officers —  Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, and Desmond Mills Jr. — have been charged with his murder .  It is the latest example of police killings of people of color which includes ex-Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin's murdering George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Louisville police offi...

Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the stage after speaking during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home on November 15, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump announced that he was seeking another term in office and officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg established a grand jury for another Trump investigation. The special grand jury is hearing evidence over whether Trump broke laws with his 2016 hush-money payment. Michael Cohen was previously convicted for the scheme in federal court. The Manhattan District Attorney's office will begin presenting evidence to a grand jury Monday in connection with Donald Trump's possible role in paying a hush-money settlement to Stormy Daniels in 2016, the New York Times reported . The move signals that District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg is coming close to making a decision on whether Trump should be charged with campaign finance crimes related to the scheme. D...