Congress Must Stop the Graham-Blumenthal Anti-Security Bill

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Organic farm advantages in biodiversity and profits depend on location - WSU News

Organic farm advantages in biodiversity and profits depend on location  WSU News

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Wisconsin ranks second in organic farms nationwide - Duluth News Tribune

Wisconsin ranks second in organic farms nationwide  Duluth News Tribune

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Airbnb quietly acquired Eliot, an on-demand rental pricing tool, in 2018

• Airbnb quietly acquired Eliot, a real-time pricing calculator for rental property owners, in a previously unreported 2018 deal, an Airbnb spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

• Airbnb had already rolled out a similar tool to Eliot in 2015 called "Smart Pricing."
• Airbnb did not disclose how much it paid for the deal or what it did with Eliot's team or product.
• Airbnb has acquired more than two dozen startups in its journey toward becoming a public company, which it said it plans to do in 2020.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Airbnb bought up Eliot, an on-demand rental pricing tool, in a previously unreported deal in October 2018, an Airbnb spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

Eliot, founded in 2017 by Edouard Tabet, analyzed "billions of vacation rental pricing points to accuratly [sic] predict short-term rental revenue, trends and price surge events," its website said in 2018, according to The Internet Archive.

On-demand or "surge" pricing, where prices for a product fluctuate as demand ebbs and flows, has been an essential aspect of platform-based companies like Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb, allowing them to make more money during busy times and keep consumers coming during slower periods.

In 2015, Airbnb rolled out its Smart Pricing feature, which it said "allows hosts to set pricing controls that automatically adjust to demands in order to stay competitively priced." Since Smart Pricing's debut predated the Eliot by several years, it's unclear whether Airbnb wanted to acquire the company's technology and talent, buy out a potential competitor, or both.

Airbnb did not disclose how much it paid for the company or what the terms were, though Tabet's LinkedIn profile lists his current job title as "head of growth, Growth & Traffic" at Airbnb. The domain for Bold's website now redirects to a company called Velo Payments, which says it's "making the payouts process accurate, reliable and easy." Business Insider could not confirm whether there is any connection between the companies.

Bold is among several acquisitions made by Airbnb that the company has been relatively quiet about, in contrast to its purchases of companies like HotelTonight and Luxury Retreats. With Airbnb preparing to go public in 2020, investors will be paying close attention to how each of its more than 20 past purchases have paid off.

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T-Mobile is outpacing the rest of the Big Four US carriers on value, loyalty, and satisfaction — here's what consumers say is most important when selecting a mobile provider (TMUS, S, VZ, T)

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. This report is exclusively available to enterprise subscribers. To learn more about getting access to this report, email Senior Account Executive Jeff Jordan at jjordan@businessinsider.com, or check to see if your company already has access.

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Although competition in the US wireless carrier market remains fierce, the price war among the Big Four US carriers — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint — began to cool over the past year.

In an attempt to avoid further competition on price, carriers began shifting their focus to adding value to their mobile plans with new offerings to differentiate from the competition. This helped average revenue per user (ARPU) start to stabilize across all carriers in Q1 2018, after declining over the last two years.

The Big Four have now begun reshuffling their unlimited plans to lure subscribers by providing more options. This strategy has been unrolling in two flavors: introducing new, expensive unlimited plan tiers loaded with an array of features and choices, while also catering to price-sensitive customers with more affordable plans that strip away extra perks like free digital content and international coverage. As a result, a new battleground is emerging, with differentiation now coming down to the value loaded in their mobile plans.

Looking forward, the US carrier market will see competitive pressure pick up due to a number of trends: 

• The US smartphone market is creeping toward saturation. Penetration in the US hit 85% in 2018, up from 82% in 2017 and 77% in 2016.
• eSIM technology is making it easier for consumers to switch carriers. eSIM technology is a nonphysical SIM card slot that pairs with the physical SIM card to enable dual-SIM functionality — allowing customers to switch carriers without changing to a different SIM card or device.
• And cable mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are edging in on US carriers' share of wireless adds. Cable MVNOs, such as Comcast's Xfinity Mobile and Charter's Spectrum Mobile, are expected to snag roughly 50% of total wireless customer net adds, or about 2.2 million subscribers, by 2020.

All of this means fostering loyalty and winning over new subscribers is more important than ever for the Big Four, making it crucial for these mobile carriers to understand consumer sentiment around their services.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence uses consumer survey data from our proprietary panel, collected during 2017 and 2018, to evaluate which features are most important to consumers when selecting a mobile provider, as well as to determine which features would convince them to switch to the competition. It contains insights that can help telecoms guide strategic investment and marketing decisions to win and retain customers in this increasingly competitive space.

The companies mentioned in the report are: AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Charter, Comcast, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Sprint, T-Mobile, Tidal, and Verizon.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• T-Mobile came out on top again, outpacing the rest of the Big Four US carriers on value, loyalty, and satisfaction. T-Mobile customers want to see coverage improvements, though. 
• Verizon customers don't see much more value in its offerings than a year ago.
• AT&T was the only carrier to show declines in all capacities. 
• Sprint is still a good deal, but it doesn't offer much else.
• When it comes to features, subscribers still value the basics most. However, demand for international coverage is growing.
• 5G is the next major battleground for the Big Four, and the winner of the 5G race has the potential to leap ahead in customer volumes. 

 In full, the report:

• Determines the features that are most important to consumers when selecting a mobile provider.  
• Identifies which features are nice to have or essential in consumers' willingness to switch carriers. 
• Examines consumers' feelings on emerging technologies and trends in the mobile industry, such as 5G, new network-connected devices, and the T-Mobile-Sprint merger.

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SEE ALSO: 5G in the IoT: How the next generation of wireless technology will transform the IoT

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A Russian law requiring all smartphones to pre-install Russian-made software, which goes into effect in July 2020, could force Apple to quit the country (Josh Nadeau/Fast Company)

Josh Nadeau / Fast Company:
A Russian law requiring all smartphones to pre-install Russian-made software, which goes into effect in July 2020, could force Apple to quit the country  —  In November 2019, Russian parliament passed what's become known as the “law against Apple.”  The legislation will require …

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FCC writes letter to Congress finding that "one or more" US carriers sold customer location data

Over a year and a half ago, each of the four major US carriers was in some way involved with an incident that revealed how carriers were selling location data of its subscribers to whoever wanted to pay for them. It involved a couple of "middle men" companies who could eventually sell location data to whoever wanted to buy it. It eventually involved Securus, a prison company that used carrier information to track phones without owners' permission. On Friday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai sent a letter to key members of Congress, declaring that the FCC has conducted its investigation and concluded...

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'I didn't even google it': Elon Musk's girlfriend Grimes describes her pregnancy and how she feels 'woefully ill prepared'

• Musician Grimes, who is reportedly the girlfriend of tech billionaire Elon Musk, opened up about her pregnancy and how she feels "woefully ill prepared."
• She posted a photo on Instagram asking her followers for pregnancy advice and apologizing for not promoting her album more or posting on social media more often.
• She went on to describe her pregnancy for the first time, talking about how it has "been good" but taken a toll on her physically.
• Grimes said she felt "woefully ill prepared" because she said she didn't really understand what she was getting into.
• "I didn't even google it, I was just like sure [why] not," she concluded her post.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Musician Grimes, who is reportedly dating tech billionaire Elon Musk, opened up about her pregnancy and how she feels "woefully ill prepared."

Grimes wrote on Instagram asking for pregnancy advice and apologizing to fans for not promoting her album more.

"This whole thing has been a bit of an ordeal," Grimes wrote. "Had some complications early on, a decent second trimester but starting to hurt everywhere at 25 wksz [sic]."

Despite the complications, the pop star mentioned that "it's been good too," but has taken a toll on her physically. Grimes said she felt "woefully ill prepared" because she said she didn't really understand what she was getting into.

"I didn't even google it, I was just like sure [why] not," she concluded her post.

Fake or real? Haha. Wow I’m starting to feel bad haha... how do y’all cope with working and having a baby?? I’m sorry I haven’t been promoting my album properly or on social media more. This whole thing has been a bit of an ordeal. Had some complications early on, a decent second trimester but starting to hurt everywhere at 25 wksz. What were yalls experience w this stuff like? I feel like I was woefully ill prepared cuz I dunno if pregnancy is as visible or discussed as it should be. I just didn’t rly understand what I was getting into. It’s been good too, but it makes working a lot harder. Good at writing and having lots of wild ideas tho, but anything physical is hard. Im also way more emo and less capable of bravery in the face of haters online and stuff haha. But my albums out in a sec so I prob need to get back on here. Don’t mind my emo energy, but curious what other ppls experience was like 🤍🐁🍼 I didn’t even google it, I was just like sure y not hahaha smh

A post shared by Grimes (@grimes) on Jan 31, 2020 at 1:58pm PST on Jan 31, 2020 at 1:58pm PST

The musician first ignited pregnancy rumors on Instagram after posting a semi-nude photo of her with a fetus Photoshopped onto her stomach with a caption about being "knocked up." She subsequently posted another photo on Twitter of her looking pregnant, to which Musk cryptically responded "x is y."

The couple officially went public with their relationship after appearing together at the Met Gala in 2018.

• Read more:
• Musician Grimes appears to have confirmed her pregnancy on Twitter, adding to speculation that she and Elon Musk are having a baby
• Musician Grimes posted a 2nd photo where she appears pregnant, adding to speculation she and Elon Musk are having a baby
• 'X is y': Elon Musk sent a cryptic tweet in response to his partner, Grimes, as pregnancy rumors swirl

SEE ALSO: Singer Grimes posts nude Instagram photo of her looking pregnant and comments about being 'knocked up,' leading to speculation that she and Elon Musk are having a child

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Mark Zuckerberg says he's become 'more religious' after becoming a father in rare public discussion about faith: 'The last few years have been really humbling for me' (FB)

• Mark Zuckerberg has grown "more religious" over the past few years.
• The Facebook CEO said the birth of his daughters and the challenges his company have faced have influenced his faith.
• The 35-year-old tech exec made the rare public comments about religion at a conference in Utah.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he's grown more religious over the last few years as a result of fatherhood and the "challenges we've been through as a company."

In an on-stage interview at a conference in Utah on Friday, the 35-year-old technology executive made rare public comments about his Jewish faith.

Asked about who his mentors are Zuckerberg segued into a discussion about religion. "I've become more religious," he said: "The last few years have been really humbling for me."

He went on: "I think there's a comfort in knowing and having confidence that there are things bigger than you ... it's why I have so much faith in democracy overall, it's why I care so much about giving people a voice."

Zuckerberg attributed his evolution to two factors: The issues his company has faced over the last few years, and the birth of his two daughters, now aged four and two. 

He added: "You have to believe in things that are bigger than yourself."

Zuckerberg subsequently jokingly clarified that "I did not mean to say that God is a mentor."

The billionaire chief executive grew up in Dobbs Ferry, New York in a Jewish household. He only rarely talks about his faith, and in a reply to a Facebook post in 2016 said that after a period of questioning in his life, he no longer considered himself an atheist. " I was raised Jewish and then I went through a period where I questioned things, but now I believe religion is very important," he wrote.

His wife Priscilla Chan is Buddhist, he wrote in a Facebook post in 2015.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at (+1) 650-636-6268 using a non-work device, email at rprice@businessinsider.com, Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at @robaeprice. (PR pitches by email only, please.)

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Airbnb quietly acquired payments startup Bold Financial Technologies in 2016

• Airbnb bought payments startup Bold Financial Technologies in November 2016 in a previously unreported deal, a spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

• Bold aimed to make international payments easier and more secure for large marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber.

• Airbnb did not disclose the price or terms of the deal, or what happened to Bold's team or product.
• Airbnb has acquired more than two dozen startups in its journey toward becoming a public company, which it said it plans to do in 2020.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

In November 2016, continuing its under-the-radar buying spree, Airbnb acquired Bold Financial Technologies, a startup that aimed to make international payments safer and more convenient, an Airbnb spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

Bold, started in 2014 by Sean Safahi and Noah Spirakus, targeted clients like Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, and eBay that facilitate payments to lots of recipients, Safahi told the Phoenix Business Journal. Airbnb, whose platform had just surpassed two million listings earlier in 2016, had a growing need for managing payments to hosts across the globe.

Airbnb did not disclose how much it paid for the company or what the terms were, though Safahi now works on "payments partnerships" at Airbnb, according to his LinkedIn profile. The domain for Bold's website now showcases a company called Velo Payments, which says it's "making the payouts process accurate, reliable and easy." Business Insider could not confirm whether there is any connection between the companies.

Bold is among several acquisitions made by Airbnb that the company has been relatively quiet about, in contrast to its purchases of companies like HotelTonight and Luxury Retreats. With Airbnb preparing to go public in 2020, investors will be paying close attention to how each of its more than 20 past purchases have paid off.

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