Money20/20, a fintech and payments conference which holds its European leg in Amsterdam, is showcasing startups from around the continent to help accelerate their growth.

With a panel of VC judges, the event hand picked Europe's top startups and is giving each "unrivalled exposure to financial leaders and some of the most forward-thinking investors on the continent," the organizers said on the Money20/20 website.

Included in the judging panel are VCs including Rob Moffat, partner at Balderton Capital; Ben Brabyn, head of Level39; Reshma Sohoni, founding partner at Seedcamp; and Michael Treskow, partner at Eight Roads Ventures.

Other judges include Samantha Ghiotti, partner at Anthemis Group; Amy Neale, the global lead for Mastercard's 'Start Path' startup engagement program; Sonali de Rycker, partner at Accel; and Jan Hammer, partner at Index Ventures.

Across payments, investment, mortgages, and even the environment, here are 12 companies to look out for at Money20/20.

Picture a grocery store in which humans and robots work together in perfect harmony — moving stock around warehouses, stacking shelves, and cleaning floors. If that all sounds like a hackneyed sci-fi cliché, think again. Step forward Eugene Izhikevich.

The 52-year-old Russian is cofounder and CEO of Brain Corp, a San Diego-based software firm which converts manual machines into autonomous robots for use in public spaces.

To date, Brain Corp has raised $125 million in funding, including a $114 million Series C round in 2017, led by Masayoshi Son's SoftBank.

Speaking to Business Insider, Izhikevich says his ultimate vision is "robots everywhere, taking care of us, and making our lives better" — a vision which Izhikevich says Son shares.

"I have this vision of robots taking care of us, and it turns out he had the same vision before me. So when I met him, it was like meeting my biggest soulmate," he says.

And a certain US retailer shares the vision. In April, Brain Corp revealed it would be rolling out 1,500 floor-cleaning robots in Walmart stores throughout the US, in addition to the 360 already in use. The robots are powered by BrainOS, Brain Corp's artificial intelligence operating system.

'Our tech can turn anything with wheels into a self-driving, fully autonomous robot'

In the same month, Brain Corp also announced AutoDelivery, an autonomous robot powered by BrainOS, which can transport cargo in commercial and retail settings, as well as warehouses and factories. It is set for release in 2020 and is another step in Brain Corp's mission to turn everyday machines into smart, self-driving robots.

Masayoshi Son's SoftBank is one of Brain Corp's most high-profile backers. Reuters / Kim Kyung Hoon

Hailing from a modest background in Moscow, Izhikevich came to the US in 1993, obtaining a PhD in math at Michigan State University. He had earlier spent three years serving in the Russian navy.

"I wasn't born with a PhD," he says. "My parents didn't have college degrees - I was the first one to go to college. I am no stranger to manual work."

After finishing his education, Izhikevich worked as a computational neuroscientist for more than a decade. Along with tech entrepreneur Dr Allen Gruber, he set up Brain Corp in 2009, driven by his dream of creating artificial brains for robots.

Fundamentally, Izhikevich explains, the point of Brain Corp's floor-cleaning robots is to save time, giving human workers more time to interact with customers.

"Our tech can turn anything that has wheels into a self-driving, fully autonomous robot," he says. "This is what we're focusing on. With our technology, the machines [using it] operate autonomously, so that human cleaners can do other stuff, such as corner cleaning, dusting, and so on.

'We see Walmart as a visionary'

"The time saving is significant for any retail business with huge square footage. What we've learned is that our customers like this technology because they want to save on expenses, but they quickly realise that once they reallocate [employees] from cleaning the floor to other mobile-level stuff, there's a huge upside for retailers.

Read more: Brain Corp Named a 2018 Top 50 Company by Robotics Business ReviewAI and robotics company named to global list of robotics industry visionaries

"In terms of the commercial cleaning tech, the stores [that use it] look cleaner; they are cleaner; they're more hygienic. Our customers quickly realise there are other benefits to using our tech which significantly outweigh the operational savings."

Although Walmart isn't the only customer Brain Corp serves, it is quite possibly the most ambitious. For nearly two decades, Walmart has been battling tech behemoth Amazon for supremacy in the retail sector, and Walmart's CEO, Doug McMillon, reportedly refers to Walmart as a "technology company."

Izhikevich says Walmart's technological ambitions make it a 'perfect fit' for Brain Corp. Sarah Bentham / AP Images

"Walmart is very interesting," Izhikevich says, "because it wants to embrace technology, AI, and automation to be more competitive and to provide better service and cheaper prices to its customers.

"So in some sense, [Walmart] is a perfect fit for us, because not only does Walmart want to use our BrainOS for commercial cleaning equipment; it also embraces BrainOS to put into other types of robots that could be deployed in its stores. We see Walmart as a visionary."

Izhikevich says Brain Corp is not killing jobs

Of course, many people wonder how far automation will impact the retail sector given the rise of cashier-less stores such as Amazon Go. The Go stores have faced criticism in recent months, but even they still employ people to interact with customers. What is his response to people who view Brain Corp as a jobs threat?

"We don't replace people," he says. "Robots with our technology augment people. They make people's work more productive, more efficient... Customer service will not disappear. We still need the human touch; we still need human faces to talk to. I don't see stores having no people."

He continues: "We talk to actual users [of our tech] - not just customers, but janitors who use it. One janitor we spoke to loved the robot so much, he put a sticker on it and called it Gemma. We asked him if he was worried about his job, and he said: 'Are you kidding me? I'm the robot guy. My job is more secure now than before.'

While Izhikevich is not ruling out taking Brain Corp public, he says the company's present focus is applying its software to other sectors - and, ultimately, becoming one of biggest robotic firms in the world.

"We're not excluding any exit strategy," he says. "However, today, we're focusing on expanding our software to other types of robots and capturing the market."

"You can find robots with our technology in malls, airports, shopping centres, university campuses, and other retailers," Izhikevich continues. "Walmart is our most recent customer, but not the only one."

"Our tech would work equally well in factories. It works in indoor spaces and outdoor spaces such as parking lots, walkways and pedestrian areas.

"Think of the impact a big California startup can make on the US economy. We have the technology to transform the entire midwest of the US into the robotics hub of the world."

Washington DC insiders began to realise that the US Department of Justice would follow the European Union by opening its own antitrust investigation into Google's market dominance when they tried to talk to their contacts at the Federal Trade Commission — which also looks at monopoly complaints — and were told by staff there to go to the DOJ instead.

A source familiar with both agencies' activities told Business Insider that he recently began hearing rumors that the Trump Administration was moving closer to a formal probe of Google's parent company.

The rumors were based on the notion that, after the two agencies decide who will move into action, they refer sources to the lead agency. So he requested a meeting at the FTC to find out what was going on. Sure enough, he was told to approach the DOJ instead.

Our source — who has a very good track record of obtaining insider gossip from antitrust regulators in DC— said that he believes a formal investigation is now inevitable. "If we're having a conversation that means a probe is happening," is how he characterized the attitude of Trump administration staff involved. The FTC will likely handle an Amazon probe instead, our source speculates.

As far as our source knows, the investigation will be open to look at "everything" about Google. "Adtech, privacy, even the flagship search product," our source believes.

Google did not respond to a request for comment.

The FTC has been down this road before. In 2017, the FTC declined to pursue Google on antitrust issues even though its own staff found that Google was "scraping" content from others' sites and "demoting rival offerings" in favor of its own properties in search results, according to leaked documents from the FTC.

By contrast, the European Commission levied a series of massive fines on Alphabet for abusing its market dominance. It fined Google €1.5 billion ($1.69 billion) for forcing sites to use AdSense; €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) for promoting its own shopping sites above others in search results; and €4.3 billion ($5 billion) for abusing the dominance of Android.

"The FTC prematurely closed the investigation" in 2017, but "Europe did a deeper probe," our source says. "That changed the zeitgeist around what governments are doing."

The DOJ will likely also be guided by the work it did in the 1990s during its antitrust investigation of Microsoft. That, too, revolved around the complicated question of whether a company can be abusing its marketplace position or harming consumers if it gives its products away for free.

At that time, Microsoft's products had been challenged by smaller companies such as Netscape, WordPerfect, and Lotus. Microsoft managed to strangle those companies by bundling its own software — Explorer, Word, and Excel — into Windows products, which was the dominant consumer computing platform at the time.

Our source says he believes Google's mobile search product is in a similar position to Microsoft in the 1990s, in principle. Most searches now take place on mobile, and Google dominates mobile platforms. When it delivers search results, Google's own sites are usually displayed as the topmost results and users have to scroll down to get the "organic" results that actually reflect the top sites competing equally on the open web. That down-ranking of non-Google sites can make it difficult for new businesses to gain marketplace traction in search.

The ultimate question is whether the DOJ can "create an environment where one company is not able to kill startups in their crib," the source says.

Tesla owners won't have to go far to find in-car entertainment.

On Sunday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told IGN's "Ride the Lightning" podcast that he is working with developers to bring the popular shooter video game Cuphead to Tesla's large dashboard touchscreens.

"'Cuphead', we've got working," Musk told IGN's Ryan McCaffrey. "[The developers] have been helping us make it work. It's a cool game. It's insanely difficult. It's sadistically difficult. It's a twisted plot. It's dark. It looks like some cute little Disney thing and you're like, 'This plot is very dark'."

Musk said that the game, modeled after a 1930's comic, will be available later this summer on Tesla Model 3, Model S , and Model X cars. It will only include one section of the game, Inkwell Isle One, due to the storage limitations in the car, according to Musk.

Musk recently tweeted about his team's work with Unity to port the game engine into Tesla cars. The same models already offer a suite of classic Atari games such as Asteroids and Lunar Lander that are playable via the touchscreen or a USB gamepad. It is not clear if Tesla owners will be able to access Cuphead in a similar way.

The game is currently available on Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox One.

YouTube, Snapchat, Gmail, Nest, Discord, and several other web sites were experiencing service interruptions on Sunday due to a larger network issue with Google Cloud services.

According to Google's cloud monitoring dashboard, the issues began around 12:25 p.m. PST Sunday and were found to be related to a larger network issue by 12:59 p.m. PST.

The outage is widespread across the United States and parts of Europe. Much of Google's suite of services is affected, including Gmail, Google Drive, Nest, and YouTube. Other websites like Snapchat and Discord were experiencing interruptions, likely because they also use Google Cloud services.

Google did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

This story is developing.

Cable TV is on the way out, and the new way to watch your favorite TV shows is through streaming. Whether it be on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or even live TV streaming services like Sling TV, there are plenty of ways to enjoy great TV shows as long as you have a decent internet connection and a streaming device or smart TV.

Roku has been working on democratizing TV streaming for some time now with a slate of affordable, yet high-quality streaming devices. Recent devices include the high-end Roku Ultra and the much cheaper yet still capable Roku Express.

Of course, if you're looking into a streaming device, then you might be wondering which Roku device is best for your needs. That, however, is why we've put together this guide. Here's everything you need to know about Roku devices and the differences between them.

Roku streaming device prices and specs

Setup and software

The set-up process is pretty much the same across all Roku devices, and it's incredibly easy. Generally, you'll simply plug your Roku device into a power outlet and your TVs HDMI port, put the batteries in the remote, then follow the on-screen instructions.

You'll be told to log in to a page on the Roku website and input a code, then log in to your Roku account or create a new one, and select which "channels" or apps, you want installed on your device. Simple.

The software experience is the same across all Roku devices, too, though there are a few small differences depending on whether or not you have access to voice control. We'll talk a little more about voice control later, but the idea is that on some devices, you can control the Roku software with your voice, but cheaper ones don't have that function.

Generally speaking, the set-up process and software should not inform your decision on which Roku device you should buy. Video quality, however, might.

Video quality

Roku

The good news is that the majority of Roku devices now support 4K streaming with support for HDR10, meaning that if you have a relatively modern TV with a high resolution, you can take advantage of that cool tech with Roku. That said, there are a few exceptions to the rule in Roku's modern lineup.

If you want 4K streaming and HDR10 support, there are a few Roku devices to avoid, including the entry-level Roku Express and Roku Express+, as well as the Roku Streaming Stick.

However the Roku Streaming Stick+ does support 4K. All of the other Roku devices, including the Roku Ultra, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+, and the aforementioned Roku Streaming Stick+, support 4K and HDR10.

If you want 4K and HDR10 support, there are a number of devices that will work for you. That said, even if your current TV doesn't support 4K or HDR, we recommend buying a Roku device that does, as it will ensure that you can keep using your Roku after you upgrade your TV — despite the fact that next time you buy a TV it will probably have smart software included.

Remote

Roku

The remote is the main way in which you'll interact with your Roku device, but thankfully, if you've used one Roku remote, you'll easily be able to figure out how to use other Roku remotes.

Across most Roku devices, there are two main types of Roku remote that you'll get: one with voice control and a microphone, and one without. The Roku Express, Roku Express+, and Roku Premiere all go without voice control features, while the Roku Premiere+, Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Streaming Stick+, and Roku Ultra all have voice control.

The Roku Ultra goes beyond just adding voice control and also includes another feature — gaming controls. On the Roku Ultra's remote, you'll get two extra buttons (A and B) that can be used to play basic games. Sure, it won't be like playing on a PS4 or Nintendo Switch, but you will get decent entertainment with the Ultra's remote.

Some remotes also allow you to control your TV's power thanks to a built-in power button. This power button works through HDMI to control your TV as well as your Roku, meaning that you can use your Roku without necessarily having to use your TV's remote. The Roku Premiere+, Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Streaming Stick+, and Roku Ultra all have power buttons.

One final small difference between remotes is the quick access buttons. Some have buttons that allow you to quickly launch Netflix, some Hulu, some Sling, and so on. Each remote offers four quick access buttons.

Other features

The biggest changes to Roku come with the different remote and the video quality, but there are still other minor differences between the devices, too. For example, the Roku Ultra offers slightly better Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as the ability to connect your system to other speakers and soundbars. This will be a big difference for many who want good sound-quality to match their good video quality. The Roku Ultra also offers an Ethernet port to ensure a constant internet connection. The Roku Express+ also offers an A/V composite port for older TVs that don't have HDMI.

Price

The last major difference between the Roku devices is price. Check out a list of retail pricing for the Roku lineup below.

The Bottom Line

Roku's lineup of streaming devices has a lot to offer, but they're all a little different. If you want the best out there or need an optical port to connect your device to a sound system, then you'll need the Roku Ultra. If, however, you don't want to spend the cash on a Roku device, then we recommend getting a device with voice control and TV control, like the Roku Streaming Stick+.

Shop the Roku collection of devices on Roku's website or buy them on Amazon.

A New York Times report Saturday found that Boeing kept key stakeholders in the dark as it rushed to overhaul the 737 Max software responsible for two fatal crashes.

According to the report, Boeing made aggressive changes to the automated software, called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS, that caused the system to rely on one sensor instead of two as originally designed. The changes allowed the system to activate at a lower threshold after test pilots reported issues handling the planes at a lower speed than initially projected.

Boeing originally developed MCAS to ensure a s moother ride and counteract the planes' larger engines. Early test pilot Ray Craig didn't like that the software would run in the background with the potential to take over from the pilot, according to the report. Craig relented because he figured the high speeds necessary for the software to kick in would be too rare to make much of a difference.

Read More: Boeing's nightmare year just got worse, as profits plunge in the wake of 2 horrific 737 Max crashes that left the plane grounded worldwide

But as the final year of development wore on, the threshold was lowered to account for handling issues reported by other test pilots at lower speeds. Because it had to activate at lower speeds, the MCAS no longer required a G-force sensor. That left the planes with a single sensor that could cause MCAS to activate.

According to the report, Federal Aviation Administration officials were not made aware of the changes to MCAS and eventually removed references to the software from the pilot manuals at the urging of Boeing officials. The regulators were under the impression that the system was relatively benign and would only activate rarely, and technical pilots were removed from further testing.

Because it wasn't included in the manual, 737 Max pilots were not aware of the software until after the first fatal crash in October. According to the report, Boeing officials continued to defend the software by alleging that the pilots were the backup in case of an MCAS failure.

A second fatal crash occurred in April, and the aircraft was grounded worldwide only days after the second crash.

Jobs detested anyone who was ready to make compromises to get a product out on time and on budget. He found adequacy to be "morally appalling." Jobs' goal for Apple was never to simply beat competitors, or even to make money: it was to make the greatest product possible, "or even a little greater."

He was demanding about everything:

• When the Macintosh booted up too slowly, he badgered the engineer responsible, equating the situation to a matter of life or death.

• He worked with countless artists and advertising agencies to make sure Apple's ads had the right feel, and that the imagery and the audio synced up perfectly.

• Of the iPod engineers, he demanded the ability to access any function on the music player with three button presses, and no more.

• He insisted the production process for all Apple computers be shaved down from four months to two.

Each one of these individual decisions could be considered nitpicks, but when put all together, Apple created a cult-like following unlike any other. Unlike other tech companies that had come and gone, customers and loyal fans felt like Apple put their interests first, and they were, as a result, willing to pay high prices for those products.

"Steve created the only lifestyle brand in the tech industry," Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison told Jobs' biographer. "There are cars people are proud to have — Porsche, Ferrari, Prius — because what I drive says something about me. People feel the same way about an Apple product."

Evidence is mounting that Apple is planning to shutter iTunes after more than 18 years of service.

On Saturday, Mac Rumors reported the Facebook and Instagram accounts associated with iTunes were scrubbed and content was migrated over to pages for the tech giant's Apple TV service. All accounts are still live as of press time, but follower counts, videos, posts, and other content have all been removed.

Business Insider

The move follows a Bloomberg report on Friday that said Apple was planning to announce the end of iTunes at its annual developer conference that takes place Monday. Alongside an update to its MacOS operating system, Apple will reportedly announce three new Mac apps that users can use to access their music, TV shows, movies, and podcasts, all of which currently exist on the company's iPhones and iPads.

Read More: Apple is reportedly set to finally ditch iTunes with the next big update to the Mac operating system

Friday's Bloomberg report also said that without iTunes, Mac users will manage their devices through the Music app moving forward.

There are reports on Twitter that some itunes.apple.com links for songs and artists now redirect to music.apple.com. It was also reported that Apple is in the process of changing iTunes links for apps, podcasts, TV shows, movies, and books, instead using category-specific links such as apps.apple.com, podcasts.apple.com, tv.apple.com, movies.apple.com, and books.apple.com.

Twitter came under fire for suspending the accounts of several Chinese-language users at a sensitive time for the country, which is at the center of tightening censorship.

The crackdown, which came overnight Friday and into Saturday, left a bad taste for many users because it came ahead of the anniversary of the bloody June 4 clash between government forces on pro-democracy protests at Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

The New York Times reported that more than 100 accounts belonging to Chinese-based activists, college students, human rights lawyers, and nationalists were affected.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was among users who spoke out about the suspensions, saying the company had "become a Chinese [government] censor."

However, the company pushed back on similar suggestions, saying in a statement posted to the company's Public Policy page Saturday, that though "some of these were involved in commentary about China," the deletions were part of a "routine action" that suspended "a number of accounts" in an effort to target potential "platform manipulation."

"These accounts were not mass reported by the Chinese authorities — this was a routine action on our part," the company said. "Sometimes our routine actions catch false positives or we make errors. We apologize. We're working today to ensure we overturn any errors but that we remain vigilant in enforcing our rules for those who violate them."

Read more: China's internet censors are on high alert ahead of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests

The company's explanation clarified that the action didn't originate with the Chinese government, but that didn't soothe concerns for all users. Yaxue Cao, founder and editor of ChinaChange.org, a website dedicated to writings on civil society and human rights, pointed out that the company's explanation doesn't add up to justify the suspensions.

"Per @Twitter's explanation, it's cleaning up CCP bots but accidentally suspended 1000s anti-CCP accts," Cao tweeted. "That doesn't make sense."

Though the site said users whose accounts were deleted should be able to recover them, Gab, a social network that is popular among users affiliated with the alt-right and other fringe groups, seized on the incident to promote its own commitment to open posting, tweeting Sunday that the site was "We are working on getting in touch with the Chinese dissidents who Twitter banned on behalf of the Chinese government to get them on Gab."

An Audi car drives past Tiananmen Square as a police officer stands guard on a street in central Beijing February 29, 2012. When China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping pulls up in a motorcade sometime in the next decade, he will probably not be riding in one of the black Audis that have become standard for Chinese top brass. China is Audi's biggest market. It is the largest German luxury marque in the country, but its government sales in China reach only into the low single-digit percentage; the bulk of its customers are companies and individuals. REUTERS/Soo Hoo Zheyang

The incident sparked concerns because of its close proximity to the 30th anniversary of the bloody June 4 crackdown on pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square that has been accompanied by a tightening of censorship across the country.

Twitter in particular site been long-targeted in the country, where users bypass the country-wide block with virtual-private network software. Late last year, China's Ministry of Public Security began to target Chinese Twitter users in a harsh development of President Xi Jinping's widespread campaign to suppress internet activity.

Under the order, a special police force was dedicated to finding, detaining, and interrogating users, who were then forced to delete their tweets.

Warner Bros. needed a giant monster to vanquish Disney.

Its "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" knocked off "Aladdin" from the top of the domestic box office over the weekend by bringing in an estimated $49 million. Disney's live-action remake of its animated classic took in $42.3 million in its second weekend (it now has a global total of $446 million).

But WB was originally hoping for a little more from Godzilla, as its projected opening was between $50 million and $55 million. It also didn't open as strong as 2014's "Godzilla," which brought in $93.1 million, or the other big monster franchise WB has in its stable, 2017's "Kong: Skull Island," which had a $61 million opening.

The studio can only hope that fans of both Godzilla and King Kong will show up when they finally go face-to-face in "Godzilla vs. Kong" next year.

Read more: "Good Omens" author and showrunner Neil Gaiman explains why TV's fantasy and sci-fi "gold rush" is just getting started

Another obstacle facing "King of the Monsters" was that it was a very competitive weekend, as two other wide releases opened. Paramount had "Rocketman," the Elton John biopic, and Universal had its latest release from Blumhouse, "Ma," starring Octavia Spencer.

"Rocketman" took in a strong $25 million, while "Ma" brought in $18.3 million. The Blumhouse playbook was in full effect with "Ma," as it's a $5 million-budgeted thriller fueled from a modest Rotten Tomatoes score of 61% and the pedigree of the Blumhouse label. It resulted in the latest Blumhouse title that made a profit before its opening weekend even ended. "Rocketman" has more of a challenge than last year's hit rock biopic, "Bohemian Rhapsody," as that title opened in November while the Elton John movie is right in the summer season blockbuster fray. But word-of-mouth can hopefully keep that title in the top 10 of the domestic box office in the coming weeks.

How often do you wash your hands? What about your face? Or, your clothes?

The answer probably is — or should be (though I'm not here to tell you how to live your life): a lot.

Now how often do you wash your phone?

The answer is probably close to never, but it shouldn't be. For most of us, our phones are like appendages, traveling with us everywhere we go, accompanying us through all of our daily activities. Maybe you take a cloth to your phone every now and then to wipe away the smudges and call it a day, but if you think that actually cleans it, you're in for a rude awakening.

A cell phone has 18 times more bacteria than a public restroom. That might sound crazy, but think about it — everything your hands touch touches your phone too. So, that bacteria lurking on the grocery cart you pushed, the door knob you opened, the subway pole you held — well, you know where it ends up.

If these cringe-worthy facts just made you never want to touch your phone again, I get it. Luckily, there's a solution — and no, it doesn't involve dousing your phone in hand sanitizer.

Meet PhoneSoap, the little gadget that safely sanitizes your phone, leaving your device free of bacteria and you with some peace of mind.

Amazon

How it works

PhoneSoap has a simple but effective design. It looks like a small, rectangular box — making it the perfect size to keep on your bedside table, at your office desk, or even your kitchen counter. On the outside of the box, you'll find space for three cables — the power cord, a USB, and a USB-C. To get the PhoneSoap set up, simply plug the included power cord into the wall, then into the PhoneSoap and you're all set to get sanitizing. Place your phone inside the gadget and close. Once closed, you'll see the lightning bolt power signal turn blue — this means it's charging. After ten minutes, the light will turn off and your phone is ready to go. If you'd like to charge your phone simultaneously, you have the option to plug in your personal USB or USB-C cord.

So, you put your phone in a box and it cleans it, but how does it actually get the cleaning done? The power of PhoneSoap comes in the form of UV-C light. Inside the little box are two powerful UV-C lightbulbs. UV-C light is germicidal, meaning it breaks down the DNA of nasty bacteria so it can no longer function or reproduce. The lightbulbs on the top and bottom of the device, paired with the reflective interior inside the entire gadget, help achieve 360-degree disinfection — so even the tiny, hard-to-reach crevices of your phone are clean. The UV-C light is so powerful,that it only needs ten minutes to get your phone clean — after that time, PhoneSoap automatically turns off, so don't worry about your phone getting overheated.

PhoneSoap

Does it actually work?

You've probably heard that bacteria is good for you. It boosts our immunity, right? Well, the answer is not that simple. Our bodies do count on some strains of bacteria to function properly, but there are also many forms of bacteria that are harmful and can cause illness and infections. Laboratory tests have shown that PhoneSoap kills 99.9% of common household germs, including bacteria that leads to E.Coli, Salmonella, Staph, Flu, and the common cold.

To some, this product might seem more placebo effect than practical, but the numbers tell a different story — 99.9% is almost all of the germy grime on your phone. Plus, sanitizing with UV-C light isn't new — hospitals and laboratories have been using UV light to keep facilities sterile since the mid-20th century.

As for us, the consumers, I guess there's no way we can really tell that our phone is cleaner. What we can rely on, though, is the data from all of the testing PhoneSoap has done to gauge the effectiveness of the product, and the lab pictures they've got to accompany it (see above).

Bottom Line

For better or for worse, our phones are sticking with us. And, unless you're planning on washing your hands and face before and after each time you pick up your device, all that bacteria is sticking with you too. PhoneSoap is an simple solution to keep harmful bacteria from spreading — not only from your phone to you, but from you to others as well. If you live with anyone who may have a compromised immune system — young children, elderly or ill individuals — PhoneSoap could be a particularly important investment.

At $60, it's generally just a great investment for anyone. PhoneSoap is large enough to fit all phones on the market, even with a case on. Additionally, you can throw in anything else that will fit — earphones, watches, even wallets.

And it's more than just peace of mind. PhoneSoap gives real results that'll help keep you and the people around you healthier. Germaphobe or not, if you're going to treat your phone like your third hand, you should clean it like one, too.

Get the PhoneSoap Sanitizer for $59.95 at Amazon or PhoneSoap

The new "Halo" is the next major entry in the long-running first-person shooter series, and it once again features the iconic super-soldier Master Chief as its main protagonist. And "Halo Infinite" is rife with nods to "Halo" tradition.

But let's be clear: It's not named "Halo 6" for a good reason. The game features a new art style, and is said to take the series in "new and unexpected directions."

But let's not get too crazy: This is still a "Halo" game, and that means that everyone's favorite supersoldier, Master Chief, is still front and center. The game's story focuses on him, and you playing as him, and — if history serves as a guide here — shooting like a trillion aliens as him.

Regardless of the name, "Infinite" is a follow-up to "Halo 5: Guardians," and will continue the story that began in that game.

Check out the trailer right here:

Average demand expressions: 36,555,095

Description: "DOOM PATROL reimagines one of DC's most beloved groups of Super Heroes: Robotman aka Cliff Steele (BRENDAN FRASER), Negative Man aka Larry Trainor (MATT BOMER), Elasti-Woman aka Rita Farr (APRIL BOWLBY) and Crazy Jane (DIANE GUERRERO), led by modern-day mad scientist Niles Caulder aka The Chief (TIMOTHY DALTON). Each member of the Doom Patrol suffered a horrible accident that gave them superhuman abilities, but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found their purpose through The Chief, coming together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence. Following the mysterious disappearance of The Chief these reluctant heroes will find themselves in a place they never expected to be, called to action by none other than Cyborg (JOIVAN WADE), who comes to them with a mission hard to refuse. Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of superpowered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 1): 95%

What critics said: "Doom Patrol's Season 1 finale is a prime candidate for being the single most bizarre hour of television ever conceived." — IGN