Pana’s travel companion app goes free, can automatically check you into flights

If you are an entrepreneur working on a physical product, Jules Pieri’s new book How We Make Stuff Now: Turn Ideas into Products That Build Successful Businesses is a must read.

Jules is the founder / CEO of The Grommet, a website that discovers a new and amazing product every single day. They’ve been doing this for around a decade (over 3,000 products). I’ve known Jules since around the time she started The Grommet and they’ve discovered and reviewed a handful of products that we’ve invested in over the years.

The book has two particularly compelling characteristics. Jules goes through 16 competencies for success for a hardware or consumer product business, each which are a chapter. These include chapters like Design and Documentation, Prototyping, Funding, Manufacturing, Packaging, Direct to Consumer, Logistics, and Inventory Management.

Then, each of these chapters is filled with case study examples from companies that have had products in The Grommet.

Jules’ context, experience, and practical advice combined with the case studies are powerful.

The book also starts off with a section (and five chapters) on starting your business, so it is extra helpful to the aspiring entrepreneur.

Jules (and team) – congrats on all the progress over the years with The Grommet. And Jules, thank you for this book – it’ll be very helpful for a number of entrepreneurs I know.

YouTuber PewDiePie — real name Felix Kjellberg — has released a video calling for his fans to end the "subscribe to PewDiePie" meme, which he himself started.

The "subscribe to PewDiePie" meme began as the result of the YouTuber's struggle to defend his title of most-subscribed YouTube channel against Bollywood music channel T-Series.

In an unusually sombre video, PewDiePie addressed the fact that since then, the slogan "subscribe to PewDiePie" has appeared in two abhorrent acts.

First was in March when a World War II memorial in New York was defaced with graffiti reading "subscribe to PewDiePie." Later that month, the Christchurch shooter referred to the meme during his livestream of the attack, in which the suspect killed 50 people in two mosques.

PewDiePie released a short tweet at the time condemning the act, and in his video said he didn't say anything more out of respect for the victims and their families.

"I just didn't want to address it right away, and I didn't want to give the terrorist more attention. I didn't want to make it about me, because I don't think it has anything to do with me. To put it plainly, I didn't want hate to win," he said. "But it's clear to me now the 'sbscribe to PewDiePie' movement should have ended then."

PewDiePie also addressed criticism of the two "diss tracks" he released mocking T-Series, which an Indian high court ruled must be blocked in the country because they contain racist jokes. PewDiePie said the tracks were meant "in fun, ironic jest," but said that he would keep the videos blocked.

"This was made to be fun, but it's clearly not fun anymore. It's clearly gone too far," PewDiePie said.

Apple has managed to sell more than a billion iPhones in the 12 years since the debut of its most popular product, and the iEmpire seems well positioned to sell at least a billion more devices.

No matter how expensive the smartphone gets or how long customers have to wait for the newest iteration, there's always plenty of demand to sustain the Apple craze.

The 2019 iPhone, which may be called the iPhone 11 or iPhone XI, should be released sometime this year, and to prepare you for its release date, we're keeping an eye on when the latest model should be coming out.

When will the new iPhone come out?

If Apple follows its previous launch cycles, we should be in for a new iPhone launch come September. But a launch is not a release date, and unfortunately, Apple has been much less predictable when it comes to actually offering up the iPhone for sale.

For example, last year, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max arrived in stores in September, while the iPhone XR followed in October. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, on the other hand, came out in September 2017, whereas the iPhone X made its debut in November 2017.

However, it's important to note that both these years saw iPhones with major changes as compared to previous iterations — the iPhone X saw the introduction of an all-screen design, Face ID, OLED, and wireless charging; while the iPhone XR was the first to have a single rear-facing camera. It's unlikely that the iPhone 11 will have as many major changes, which means that it could be the case that it's actually available to buy in stores in September as well.

We'll keep you updated on the launch and release date of the new iPhone as we learn more.

What models and sizes will be available?

It will likely be the case that the 2019 phones will be the same models and sizes as those from 2018: That means there will be an iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Max, and iPhone 11R (those may not be the actual names). Those phones should have screens that measure 5.8 inches, 6.5 inches, and 6.1 inches, respectively.

How much will the new iPhone cost?

Again, there's no exact word yet on how much we can expect to pay for the newest iPhone, but we certainly anticipate a price tag of at least $1,000 for the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 and more for the larger Max model. The R model should be cheaper like 2018's iPhone XR, which has a price of $750.

Generally, the silver lining is that Apple discounts older iPhones once the new ones come out, so you can get a deal on the 2018 iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR come September.

If you want to know more about how much every iPhone model costs, read our full guide to iPhone pricing.

Check back regularly, as we'll update this post when we know the official launch and release date of the 2019 iPhones.

While we wait for the 2019 iPhones to arrive, check out our current buying recommendations in the slides below:

China's technology and electronics sector has sweeping impact on its economy and the rest of the world. Chinese high tech firms have been leading the way in innovation for many technologies, such as 5G.

China's mobile 5G will be the No. 1 Chinese technology to watch in the coming years — with international leaders like Huawei, Qualcomm, and Intel transforming not only industries but entire countries with its broad applications and economic significance.

EqualOcean

But it's not the only technology you should have on your radar.

In the 2019 Technology Trends Report in China, EqualOcean, a leading China-focused industrial tech media and investment innovation research firm, breaks down eight evolving technologies that deserve special attention. These technologies are either currently undergoing or about to undergo major phases of change.

This report represents a guidebook outlining which of China's technology trends will be most significant in the next two to three years.

The technologies included in this report are:

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

In full, the report:

The companies included in this report are: IBM, AWS, Google, Intel, Alibaba, D-Wave, Regetti, 1QBit, Azure, Tencent, HPE, Cisco, Samsung, LG, BOE, Apple, Xiaomi, Visionx, Microsoft, Facebook, Baidu, ByteDance, iFlytek, NOKIA, ZTE, Ericsson, MSD, Novartis, BMS, Allogene Therapeutics, Junshi, BeiGene, I-Mab Biopharma, Hyperledger, Ant Financial, Mastercard, Ethereum, Ripple, SONY, HTC, Oculus, and Magic Leap.

Disney and Marvel Studios are used to winning the weekend box office when releasing its titles, but over the past few days its latest movie has performed like no other.

"Avengers: Endgame," the close of the Infinity Saga — which focused on the formation of The Avengers and their battle with Thanos for the Infinity Stones — took in an estimated $350 million over the weekend and a global total of $1.2 billion, making it the biggest opening weekend of all time.

It's a figure that completely destroyed the record held by the previous film in the franchise, "Avengers: Infinity War" ($257.6 million) and is the first movie ever to cross $300 million domestically its opening weekend.

The weekend take is even more incredible seeing that "Endgame" has a three hour running time, which major studios try to stay clear from as it means a lower number of daily movie showings at theaters. But the outcome shows how high a demand the movie was for audiences, as its performance completely changed how the industry operated to satisfy moviegoers.

Preparing for the onslaught

It goes all the way back to presales for "Endgame," which were so high that it crippled the servers of many movie theater websites and led to Fandango, the leader in online movie tickets, to create an online "waiting room" (the first time ever attempted by the site) to handle the onslaught of ticket purchases. It resulted in the best-selling day in the history for Fandango; also Atom Tickets and other theater sites that could keep up with the demand to set records in business.

Then, leading up to this weekend, along with Disney set to put "Endgame" on over 4,600 screens (the most ever), AMC Theatres, the world's largest theater chain, announced that in the US it would open many of its theaters for 24 hours over the weekend. The chain also reported that it would play the movie a record-breaking 58,000 times this weekend — 10,000 more than the previous record held by "Infinity War." (Over the weekend, AMC upped that figure to over 63,000 showtimes, leading to the chain having record-breaking attendance on Saturday of 2.6 million guests.)

But the craze for "Endgame" wasn't just felt in the States. Audiences internationally couldn't wait for the movie to open. In China, the second-largest movie market, "Endgame" took in over $107 million its opening day in the Middle Kingdom. That's the best single-day performance ever for a Hollywood release in China. (The movie also had the biggest 3D opening of all-time, with 45% of the movie's global tally generated from 3D ticket sales.)

Robert Downey Jr. in "Avengers: Endgame." Disney "We're in the Endgame now"

Back in the US, "Endgame" gave a glimpse at what was in store for the weekend by taking in a record-breaking $60 million in Thursday preview showings, crushing previous record-holder "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($57 million). The movie followed that with a $156.7 million Friday (counting Thursday previews), the biggest single-day performance for a movie ever (passing $119 million by "Force Awakens").

On Saturday, the movie brought in $109 million, another record beating the $82.1 million by "Infinity War" for the best second-day opening. And if you take away the Thursday preview figure "Endgame" had, the movie performed better on Saturday than it did its opening night.

Though earlier in the week there was doubt by some in the industry that "Endgame," with a three hour run time, could hit the rarified air of a $300 million opening, it turned out the movie hit the mark and powered through, coming in with an estimated $350 million. It's a figure that's over $92 million more than the $257.6 million last year by "Infinity War," the previous record holder.

And here's another way to put the weekend "Endgame" had in perspective: the movie took in more domestically than the best weekend even for the industry in North America, which was the $314 million take last summer, the weekend "Infinity War" opened.

Internationally, the movie took in over $850 million, the biggest opening weekend ever. And in China it brought in $330.5 million, giving the movie a $1.2 billion global total. Another record.

The 2019 box office now looks brighter

"Endgame" didn't just help business for movie ticket sites and theaters but also IMAX, which had a record-breaking weekend.

The movie was shot on IMAX cameras, so many fans wanted to see the movie on the large-format screen. By Friday, the movie had already broken IMAX's record for best weekend ever with a global $52.1 million take (the previous record was held by "The Force Awakens" with $47.6 million). By the end of the weekend, it took in $91.5 million.

That's just one example of how the historic performance by "Endgame" has pushed the struggling 2019 box office on the right track.

The first quarter at the domestic box office was down over 16% compared to last year, but "Endgame" has single-handedly improved things, which can only get better with a strong slate of titles coming this summer and the final movie in the "Star Wars" Skywalker saga, "The Rise of Skywalker," coming at the end of the year.

Read more: "Avengers: Endgame" is a mix of a heist movie and revenge tale that is even better than "Infinity War"

The fact is that the current box office era lives and dies on the performance of Disney releases. Before this weekend, it was "Captain Marvel" that was the top earner at the box office in 2019 and going forward, along with "Star Wars," its movies like "The Lion King," "Toy Story 4," and "Frozen II" that are going to motivate huge audiences to the multiplex.

But the performance by "Endgame" is astounding. With the movie's reported $356 million production budget (not counting the hundreds of millions in advertising), by the time official numbers come in on Monday Disney/Marvel Studios could already have broken even on the movie. It's a feat that is mind boggling for a big Hollywood blockbuster. Industry folks were astonished when "Infinity War" only needed 10 days to get in the black.

Paramount Pictures

Uber drivers are set to receive up to $40,000 as a "driver appreciation reward" ahead of the ride-hailing giant's initial public offering.

The company announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing published on Friday that it expected to pay about $300 million to more than 1.1 million drivers worldwide on or around Saturday.

"To acknowledge drivers who have participated in our success, we are paying a one-time cash driver appreciation reward to qualifying drivers in jurisdictions where we operate through owned operations," Uber said in the filing.

Uber said eligible US drivers would receive one of six cash rewards based on the number of Uber trips they've completed: $100 for making at least 2,500 trips, $500 for at least 5,000 trips, $1,000 for at least 10,000 trips, $10,000 for at least 20,000 trips, $20,000 for at least 30,000 trips, and the largest, $40,000, for at least 40,000 trips.

To qualify for the reward, drivers must have completed at least 2,500 trips, including one this year, as of April 7, and have an account in good standing. Uber said payouts to non-US drivers would be adjusted to reflect different average hourly earnings across regions.

Uber is also giving its drivers a chance to buy its stock before the general public, saying it had reserved 5.4 million shares for drivers through a directed-share program. Drivers who qualify for the driver-appreciation reward will be able to buy those shares at the IPO price, which Uber expects to be between $44 and $50.

Average demand expressions: 28,963,977

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): 94%

What critics said: "Doom Patrol is, somehow, pretty fun." — Eric Thurm, Polygon

Season 2 premiered on DC Universe February 15.

When social shopping app Depop was founded in Milan in 2011, the median Gen Z shopper, currently 17, would have been just nine years old.

But as these kids have grown up in the past eight years, Depop has also, learning from this generation and creating a platform that's perfectly in line with their shopping habits.

Depop is a social marketplace that offers users an easy way to buy and sell an array of items — from vintage clothing and limited-edition sneakers or sunglasses to books and concert tickets — via its app. It has been described as a mix between eBay and Instagram and would count sites such as ThredUp and Poshmark as its competitors.

The ease at which you can set up shop on the app, list new items, and engage with your community from a smartphone quickly made it a hit with young shoppers.

So far, it has amassed 13 million customers in 147 countries, hired 150 full-time staff, and raised $43.6 million in funding, according to the company. Throughout its rapid growth, Depop has kept its sights firmly fixed on its core customer: Gen Z.

"This company is for the next generation," Rachel Swidenbank, vice president of Marketplace at Depop, said in conversation with Business Insider.

Swidenbank said that 90% of Depop's users are under the age of 26. The company's mission is to empower these shoppers to disrupt the fashion industry and give them the chance to become entrepreneurs.

In the right place at the right time

Judging by industry research on Gen Z, it's a smart move for Depop to go after this generation. Experts say Gen Z is not only more cost-conscious than previous generations were at that age, but also more sustainability-minded and entrepreneurial. This makes Depop an almost perfect fit for them. Swidenbank agreed that the company has been in the right place at the right time.

Take fashion, for example. Depop gives these shoppers the chance to search for items from hundreds of thousands of sellers, which are often secondhand or upcycled and generally cheap. This feeds the thirst for newness that previously would have sent consumers into the arms of fast-fashion retailers (a notoriously polluting industry), but in this case, allows them to be more sustainability-conscious.

Then, they also have the chance to sell their own items, which not only gives these clothes a second life but also enables them to make money from it.

"It fulfills both habits," Swidenbank said.

And it turns out that flipping vintage clothes and sneakers can also be an extremely lucrative business. According to Swidenbank, some Depop sellers can pull in as much as $300,000 a year on the app and have been able to buy houses and cars before they've even reached college age. Depop takes a cut of this, making 10% on each transaction.

This generation is kicking the stigma around buying secondhand clothes. Online resale site ThredUp recently estimated that one in three Gen Z consumers will buy used clothing in 2019.

"They want to flip their wardrobe, but they want to do that without doing damage to the environment," Karen Clark, vice president of marketing communications at ThredUp, recently told Business Insider.

Plus, this style of shopping also enables these shoppers to dress in more unique ways, Swidenbank said.

"Young people class cool as being unique," she said.

This is bringing about a major shift in the fashion industry and could put fast-fashion stores at risk in the future. Some are looking at ways to get involved; H&M has been doubling down on sustainable collections of clothing in recent years.

It's not just fast-fashion stores that should be concerned. Swidenbank said these shoppers also have a different approach to shopping with household names.

"With millennials you could see brand loyalty in shopping behaviors. Now I feel we see more self-expression," she said.

"If you look at how [Depop sellers] build their following on their shops it's all about styling themselves, it's not about this product or this brand. You really see self-expression trumping brands and brand loyalty."

A treasure trove of data

In the future, Depop could become a valuable resource for predicting trends in fashion.

Swidenbank said that her team is increasingly noticing that the Depop shopping community is identifying trends two to three months before they hit mainstream fashion. Depop currently shares this data with its sellers so they can better identify what users want and bolster their inventory, she said.

But Depop is not averse to sharing this data further afield or partnering with brands.

"We have access to millions of young people in the UK and US and what they are searching for and what they want," she said. "A lot of people want to know what Gen Z is up to at the moment, what they are thinking, and what they are searching for so it is definitely something that a lot of brands would love to get their hands on."

For years, the idea of a new social network disrupting the existing giants seemed highly unlikely.

But given the intense privacy-scrutiny over incumbents including Facebook, and a growing interest in new technologies like Pokémon Go-style augmented reality (AR), the time seems ripe for some kind of disruption in the space.

One such company is Octi — a social app that allows users to transform the world around them with AR effects and profiles.

"The world is ready for a new platform — something exciting, something that's different than what's out there already," Octi CEO and co-founder Justin Fuisz told Business Insider in a recent interview. "We're finding the market to be very receptive to us."

Octi's official launch is set for June, but a beta version of the app has been available in Apple's App Store since last year.

Despite the positive feedback from users thus far, Fuisz knows his product needs to offer utility beyond just being able to display "dancing hot dogs on a table," as he puts it, in an apparent reference to Snapchat's famed frolicking sausage. Lack of an actual use case has been a common criticism of AR products.

"When you think about AR, you want to think about utility, not just novelty," Fuisz said. "AR really hasn't had its breakout moment yet. We really harp on the idea of giving utility to the user."

Today, Octi only offers the ability to add colorful graphics or gifs to videos, similarly to Snapchat. Upon its official launch, however, Fuisz says users will be able to add buttons to their digital profiles that link to information like songs they're listening to on Spotify, or their Instagram accounts.

The goal is that when someone holds up their phone with the Octi camera open, they won't just see people, they'll see people's Octi profiles with animations and information about them. And that experience, Fuisz said, is "an incredible icebreaker" for people to start conversations in the real world.

The twelve-person Los Angeles-based startup raised a $7.5 million seed round for their idea from notable investors like Snap's former VP of Product Tom Conrad and Adobe's Chief Product Officer, Scott Belsky.

For now, Fuisz says the company is still in the "user growth" stage and that its main source of revenue comes from "fun partnerships that make the product cooler," like its partnership with the NFL Players Association. Over time, like other hopeful entrepreneurs spearheading social products, Fuisz hopes to monetize on the data it can collect.

As for fundraising advice, Fuisz said pitch decks are not a "one-size-fits-all" project. Octi, for instance, is a very visual product and so its original deck included animations, rather than static pages. Fuisz also suggested not putting so much information in the deck that an investor might immediately say, "this isn't for me."

"If your technology and product is truly groundbreaking, your goal as an entrepreneur should really just be to get [the investor] in the room," Fuisz said.

Below is the pitch deck that helped the AR social app Octi raise a $7.5 million seed round:

"Guardians of the Galaxy 3" has had a dramatic journey, and it's not even close to being in theaters.

James Gunn, who directed the first two installments, was fired by Disney in July after offensive tweets from years ago resurfaced, resulting in "Guardians 3," which was originally scheduled to be released next year, being postponed.

Then Warner Bros. hired Gunn to write and direct a "Suicide Squad" sequel in October. Last month, Disney rehired Gunn for "Guardians 3," but he'll finish "The Suicide Squad" first, meaning it will be a few years before we see the Guardians return ("The Suicide Squad" comes to theaters in 2021).

After "Endgame," we know a little bit more about what "Guardians 3" could be about, and it's quite unexpected. Thor relinquishes leadership of the Earth-based "New Asgard" to Valkyrie (the original Asgard was destroyed in "Thor: Ragnarok"), and joins up with the Guardians at the end of the movie, implying Thor actor Chris Hemsworth is not only sticking around the MCU, but could even star in "Guardians 3."

He's one of the original Avengers to come out of "Endgame" unscarred, while other veteran franchise actors like Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) and Chris Evans (Captain America) are phased out.

During this scene, Star-Lord is looking at a screen with Gamora's face on it and the word "searching." Gamora died in "Avengers: Infinity War," but a Gamora from the past is brought into the present due to some time-travel wizardry. There's a good chance "Guardians 3" will be about this search for Gamora.