Project Veritas, a right-wing activist group known for sometimes-misleading stings of organisations and individuals, has found its latest target: Facebook.

With the help of a now-fired Facebook worker, the group got its hands on a bevvy of documents and internal files that it alleges show evidence of anti-conservative bias on the social network. Facebook has pushed back hard, saying Project Veritas has misinterpreted the documents and that they show nothing of the sort, calling the whole thing a "stunt."

But the files do provide a fascinating window into how Facebook has been thinking about the problem of coordinated harassment and trolling campaigns on its platform, and how it has considered novel approaches for trying to stop them — from public shaming to a "Twilight Zone."

Facebook says Project Veritas has it wrong

First, some background on Project Veritas: The organisation bills itself as "investigating and exposing corruption," and often goes undercover in sting operations, but has been accused of taking its "gotcha" material out of context. Its has a long history of its projects backfiring, notably when it failed to snare a Washington Post reporter by posing as a sexual harassment victim of former GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, and in 2010 leader James O'Keefe was convicted of a misdemeanor after pretending to be a telephone repairman to try and break into the phones of a former Senator.

(Amusingly, one of the documents Project Veritas has released is a screenshot from Facebook's internal workplace chat platform, in which an employee describes the activist group's modus operandi like so: "There's a recipe here: Find junior person at brand-name company. Record them. Misrepresent their role. Promote wildly.")

The crux of its allegations against Facebook involve a tag that their source alleged was attached to some of the pages of right-wing figures, including the Pizzagate-conspiracy theory-pusher Mike Cernovich: "ActionDeboostLiveDistribution." The tag limits the reach of tagged pages' live video feeds, which Project Veritas alleges is a sign of anti-conservative bias.

Facebook, however, says that's just not how this works. Instead, the tag is applied when users broadcast non-live video using the company's livestreaming tool, in violation of its policies, a spokesperson said — suggesting the pages affected were only being dinged because they were misleading users by using the live tool for non-live footage.

"We fired this person a year ago for breaking multiple employment policies and using her contractor role at Facebook to perform a stunt for Project Veritas," the company said in a statement. "Unsurprisingly, the claims she is making validate her agenda and ignore the processes we have in place to ensure Facebook remains a platform to give people a voice, regardless of their political ideology."

Facebook wants to put trolls in 'Twilight Zone'

That said, one of the documents Project Veritas has obtained still provides interesting insight into how Facebook has thought about trying to police abusive behaviour on its platform without actually banning users.

In a presentation from 2017, the company suggests approaches for tackling trolls who coordinate harassment and trolling campaigns in private Facebook groups, using Kekistan — a far-right group born out of internet meme culture — as an example.

One potential tactic it outlines is putting suspected trolls in a so-called "Twilight Zone" and subtly messing with their ability to use Facebook. This includes things like logging them out every few minutes, randomly redirecting them to the homepage, "magically" making photos and comments fail to upload, and throttling their bandwidth. These methods add friction to users' experiences and making trolling less easy and enjoyable (for the troll), without outright banning them.

Another tactic is the use of shame. It suggests Facebook could tell a user's friends when they've been suspended for something "egregious," displaying a message like "John Smithi's account has been suspected for 7 days because he shared hate speech in [a group]."

It adds: "Fear of being outed as a miscreant is what regulates behavior in real like and we should re-introduce that to the online world."

Other ideas include creating a "toxic meme cache," a registry of problematic images, and a "troll classifier" that detects if a user is a troll based on their vocabulary.

Facebook has not disputed the authenticity of the documents, thought it's not clear if any of these tactics have ever ultimately been tested or incorporated into Facebook's systems. Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on it.

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The layoffs at Apple's self-driving car project mostly targeted engineers and their managers, a newly released filing shows.

Of the 190 people laid off by the iPhone maker, 33 were hardware engineers, 22 were software engineers, and 31 were product design engineers, according to a letter the company submitted to the California Employment Development Department. Another 46 people had managerial titles, including engineering project managers and software development managers, according to the letter.

"The layoff is expected to be permanent," Pam Oyanagi, a senior employee relations consultant at Apple, said in the letter. "All affected employees have been notified of their separation dates and that their separation from employment will be permanent."

The layoffs affected employees at company offices in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, according to Oyanagi's letter, which was dated February 14. The company planned to notify affected employees on February 15 and the layoffs are due to take effect on April 16, according to the letter.

Apple confirmed in January that it was planning to cut some 200 employees working on Project Titan, its autonomous vehicle effort. A company spokesman confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday that the layoffs detailed in its EDD letter were the same ones.

Read this:Apple laid off 200 people from its self-driving car unit Project Titan

Company representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking confirmation or comment. A company representative had previously said that "some" affected employees would be moved to other parts of Apple.

The iPhone maker has reportedly been struggling to get up to speed in its self-driving car effort. Project Titan has reportedly undergone numerous management shakeups and changes of direction since Apple launched it around 2014.

It can be hard juggling remotes. These days, it's not uncommon to have as many as four or five remotes for your home theater at once: one for your TV, for your sound system, for your streaming box, for your cable box, and so on. Logitech, however, has been working on ways to cut down on the remotes with universal remotes in the Logitech Harmony series — like, for example, the Logitech Harmony Elite.

The Logitech Harmony Elite is the flagship device in a series of Logitech Harmony devices. Not only does it make it easy to control all your home theater devices from one remote, but it can also control a number of smart home devices, essentially meaning that when you turn on your system to watch a movie, you can also dim the lights and lock the door.

But at $270, the Logitech Harmony Elite isn't necessarily cheap. Is it worth buying anyway? I put it to the test to find out.

Logitech

The Logitech Harmony Elite comprises two main parts: a hub, which you'll need to place somewhere on your TV stand, and the remote.

The hub is relatively sleek and unassuming, which is good news for those who are buying this to simplify their home theater setup in the first place. The hub sits in at around 4 x 5 x 1 inches, and it's a little under 4 pounds — so it's not too large, and should be easy to find a space for among your other devices. You may also want to connect the two infrared mini blasters. These are helpful if you have infrared devices you want to control that might not be in the line of sight of your remote or hub. I didn't end up needing them during my testing, but they're helpful to have if you have devices behind closed doors or hidden by other devices.

Perhaps more important than the hub, however, is the remote. The remote isn't necessarily small compared to other remotes, but the fact is that it should replace all of those other remotes that you have — so it likely won't be a big deal that it has some heft to it. The remote is 7.5 inches long, 2 inches wide, and a bit over 1 inch thick at its thickest.

On the remote, you'll get a range of controls, many of which you're likely acquainted with. At the top of it, there's a touch display, which allows you to turn on and off "activities," or scenes with your devices. For example, you might set up a basic "watch TV" activity, which would turn on your TV and sound setup and any streaming box you use. Or, you might setup a "watch movie" activity, which would include dimming the smart lights. You can then tap the "Devices" button under the display and control devices individually, if you so choose.

Under the display, there are a range of buttons that you would expect from a remote. These buttons are all programmable from within the app, meaning you can map the volume buttons to your sound system, the play/pause button to your streaming box, and the menu button to your TV. The buttons are programmable depending on activity too, which means that you can program different controls for different activities. It's because of this programmability that you can truly unlock the power of the Harmony Elite.

The only real issue with the design is that because of the fact that the system is so versatile, it is a little complex. You will ultimately get used to it, but it may take a few days to do so. Still, once you do get used to it, you'll find it much simpler than your old system of using four different remotes.

Last but not least is the charging stand, which is where you'll keep your remote when you're not using it. Putting it there every night ensures that it stays nice and charged up, though if you forget every now and then it won't be a big deal. I was able to use the remote for a few days before it ever came close to running out of batteries.

Read more: The best smart speaker you can buy: Amazon Echo vs. Google Home vs. Sonos One

The remote's specs and dimensions

Logitech

The hub:

The remote:

While it's well worth it in the end, setting up the Logitech Harmony Elite is a little complicated.

Thankfully, once you get the hang of the set-up process, you'll be able to replicate that for more Activities. To set the device up, you'll start by finding a good spot for the hub on your TV stand, after which you'll plug it in. Then, you'll need to download the Harmony app on your Android or iOS device, which is where you'll set up Activities and connect different devices. The app then gives you step-by-step instructions to connect your devices, including your TV, sound system, smart home devices, and even your gaming consoles. To do this, you'll need to know the brand and model numbers of your devices.

Actually setting up your devices is relatively easy, but then you'll need to set up Activities, which is a little more complicated. Logitech does suggest some Activities based on the devices you connected to the service, though I preferred to simply make my own since it allows for a little more control over how the Activity plays out. When setting up an Activity, you'll set up the devices you want involved, and what state you want them to be in. For example, you might want the TV to turn on and set itself to HDMI 1 — which you can make sure happens in the app. The device does this by sending a few signals to your TV — the first to turn it on, and the second to switch inputs.

After setting the devices and states for the Activity, you'll probably want to program the remote. Logitech does set some buttons to have certain functions by default, but you should double check the functions that you want. I had to edit many of the buttons to work properly. For example, by default, the volume controls were set to the TV volume, not the soundbar's volume.

You'll need to repeat this process for each Activity that you want to set up. Once you've done it the first time, however, it shouldn't be too hard to do it again for more Activities.

Read more: The 12 best smart home devices you need to live like the Jetsons

Special features of note

Amazon

While a little complicated to set up, once the Logitech Harmony Elite is ready to go, it will seriously simplify your home theater system.

Imagine if every button on the remote simply did what you wanted it to do — hit the volume buttons, and they'll turn up or down the volume on your sound system, not your TV. Use the channel buttons, however, and they will control your cable box. This is the true power of the Logitech Harmony Elite — it makes everything work together beautifully.

One of the coolest things about the Harmony Elite is that it goes beyond home theater devices, also allowing you to control your smart home. This is particularly helpful for devices related to home theater. For example, you might want lights to dim when you're watching a movie. Or, you might want the thermostat to set itself to a nice, warm temperature when you're about to head into a gaming system. The Harmony Elite works with Sonos, your Apple TV, Nest, Lutron, LIFX, Philips Hue, and more.

The Harmony Elite can also be controlled with some digital assistants. For example, you can set it to connect to Google, after which you can turn on and off Activities with Google. It also works with Alexa.

A few downsides

There are a few downsides to the Logitech Harmony Elite, though in our view the pros far outweigh the cons. As mentioned, the main downside is that the system is a little complicated to set up, though if you follow the on-screen instructions and feel comfortable tinkering, then you shouldn't run into too many issues.

The Harmony app could also use a little work. The app takes a few seconds to connect to your setup, and there are a number of menus and screens to get used to. It makes sense that the app would have a ton of features, but it's still something you'll need to get used to.

The bottom line

The Logitech Harmony Elit e is an extremely powerful device. Sure, it's a little complicated to set up, but once it is set up, you'll find it an absolute breeze to use.

I love the fact that it can control home theater and smart home devices, and the fact that it, too, can be controlled by Google Assistant and Alexa. Not only that, but the remote is well-designed, and we found it to be generally easy to use after getting used to it.

Pros: Very powerful, works with a ton of devices, smart home integration

Cons: Pricey, a little complicated to set up

Buy the Logitech Harmony Elite on Amazon for $269.57 (originally $349.99)

Buried in a January report from Bloomberg about Sonos was a nugget some might not have known about: Apple plans to release a pair of high-end over-ear headphones in 2019, to compete with the likes of Bose and Sennheiser.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was the first to report on Apple's over-ear headphones back in February 2018. In his research note (published via MacRumors), Kuo said Apple's high-end headphones will be "as convenient as AirPods with better sound quality."

Last June, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple's over-ear headphones would be separate from the Beats line. (Apple purchased Beats Electronics for $3 billion back in 2014.)

Gurman said Apple had initially planned to release its headphones by the end of 2018, but moved the launch date to early 2019 after "development challenges."

It's unclear what issues Apple may have encountered, as we don't know much about the headphones themselves. We know they would feature an Apple logo instead of the Beats logo, and feature an upgraded W1 chip, like AirPods have, to let them instantly connect to other Apple devices. But we don't know what the headphones will actually look like, how they'll work, or how much they'll cost.

Still, based on Apple's history with personal audio, this kind of premium over-ear offering is bound to be a hit.

Motorola is working on a foldable smartphone, VP of Global Product Dan Dery told Engadget in an interview.

Dery's confirmation is the first official sign of life from Motorola since a January Wall Street Journal report said that the company is working on a foldable phone that'll come with a design reminiscent of Motorola's much-loved Razr flip phone.

Dery didn't go as far as to say that the company's upcoming foldable phone is going to be a revamped version of the original Motorola Razr, but he did shed a little light on what to expect.

For its foldable device, Motorola is doing something a little different from what Samsung and Huawei are doing with their own foldable smartphones. That's to say, Motorola's foldable device won't have a display on the exterior of the phone.

According to Dery, having a display on a foldable smartphone's exterior would make it prone to scratches, which could mar the experience of a foldable smartphone.

Motorola/Amazon Instead, Motorola is focusing on keeping the display in its foldable smartphone's interior, which lines up nicely with a design language that's similar to the Razr. Motorola even has a patent of a foldable smartphone that showcases its idea, and it bares quite a significant resemblance to the original Razr.

Dery also said that the company is looking at other types of foldable designs, too. One design he mentioned included a smartphone that folds in thirds, like "Z" shape when it's folded up into a more traditional phone mode. (You're in luck if you were hoping for something closer to the Razr design from Motorola: Dery said such a foldable design wouldn't be ready for Motorola's first foldable smartphone.)

Perhaps we're being too hopeful in expecting a revamped Razr smartphone. Perhaps it'll have a similar flip phone-type of design, but it won't bear that much resemblance to the original Razr. We'll have to wait and see.

Dery said that Motorola has "no intention of coming later than everybody else in the market" with its foldable phone. If Dery's definition of "everybody else" includes Samsung and Huawei, we could be looking at a foldable Motorola phone between spring and summer of 2019.

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Shares of Square, the mobile-payments company, fell nearly 6% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company issued first-quarter profit guidance that fell short of expectations.

Square said it expects to report first-quarter adjusted earnings per share between $0.06 and $0.08 — a range below the $0.12 that analysts expected. 

Here's what Square reported, compared with what analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting.

Wednesday's report marked the first without the longtime CFO, Sarah Friar. Her departure was first announced last October, a development that slammed the stock. Last month, the company named former Activision Blizzard executive Amrita Ahuja as her replacement.

Ahead of the results, James Friedman, an analyst at Susquehanna, told clients Square continues to innovate in the financial-technology space, and reiterated his price target of $77 — about 2% below where shares were trading Wednesday.

Previously, Friedman lowered his rating on Square's stock from "positive" to "neutral" after the company offered weaker-than-expected profit guidance. Still, Friedman is positive for the long-term.

More broadly, Wall Street's sentiment on the Jack Dorsey-led company is split between neutral and optimistic outlooks.

Of the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, 17 say "buy," 15 say "hold," and just four say "sell."

Square shares surged 190% between the start of 2018 and its all-time high of $101.14 in September. Currently, they're down 23% from their September peak.

Now read:

Markets Insider

After "Aquaman" smashed the box office last year with over $1 billion worldwide, a sequel was inevitable. On Wednesday, the studio Warner Bros. set its release date for December 16, 2022. But the success of "Aquaman" doesn't just benefit the Atlantean superhero. It benefited the entire DC franchise, as Warner Bros. rethinks its superhero movie strategy.

"The universe isn't as connected as we thought it was going to be five years ago," Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Wednesday. "You're seeing much more focus on individual experiences around individual characters. That's not to say we won't at some point come back to that notion of a more connected universe. But it feels like that's the right strategy for us right now."

READ MORE: DC Universe is off to a hot start with 3 original TV series that rival Netflix in quality, but it has a big challenge ahead

Warner Bros.' DC movie universe, once known as the DC Extended Universe, began with "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Suicide Squad" in 2016. Both movies performed well at the box office, but were torn apart by film critics (both have 27% Rotten Tomatoes critic scores).

The critical and financial failure of "Justice League" was the final nail in the DCEU's coffin. Meant to be DC's answer to Marvel's "Avengers," the 2017 movie grossed just $229 million total in the US, less than last year's "Avengers: Infinity War" did in its first weekend.

The silver lining for DC was "Wonder Woman," 2017's blockbuster that was a hit with both audiences and critics. The movie was largely removed from the larger universe, telling more of a standalone story than "Batman v Superman" and "Suicide Squad." It set a precedent for what "Aquaman" could accomplish, and therefore the DC franchise.

The next DC movie, "Shazam!," comes to theaters in April. Warner Bros.

Both "Aquaman" and "Wonder Woman" were disconnected from the shared movie universe Warner Bros. built that culminated in "Justice League." They're also the best-reviewed movies within the franchise, and were major hits at the box office.

Going forward, it's smart for Warner Bros. to zero in on what has worked for the franchise rather than trying to replicate the formula of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only is an "Aquaman" sequel moving forward, but a spin-off movie about the Trench creatures is in development, as well.

A "Wonder Woman" sequel, "Wonder Woman 1984," will once again be set in the past, this time during the Cold War as opposed to World War I. It's coming to theaters next June after being pushed back from this November. The first movie also hit theaters in June, and Warner Bros. obviously wants to take advantage of the summer release date.

READ MORE: How 'Doom Patrol' turned an outlandish superhero team into DC Universe's latest hit TV series

Upcoming movies will try to capture the magic of "Wonder Woman" and "Aquaman."

"Shazam!," about a young boy who is granted magical powers and can turn into a superhero by uttering the title phrase, drops in April. An origin story about Batman's greatest nemesis, "Joker," starring Joaquin Phoenix as the famous villain, comes to theaters in October. And a "Birds of Prey" movie will be released next February, with Margot Robbie reprising her "Suicide Squad" role of Harley Quinn.

As for Batman and Superman, Ben Affleck will not be returning to the role of the Dark Knight in director Matt Reeves' ("War for the Planet of the Apes") reboot, set to hit theaters on June 25, 2021. And Superman actor Henry Cavill won't return, either, The Hollywood Reporter reported in September.

"What Patty Jenkins did on 'Wonder Woman' illustrated to us what you could do with these characters who are not Batman and Superman," Tsujihara told the Times. "Obviously, we want to get those two in the right place, and we want strong movies around Batman and Superman. But 'Aquaman' is a perfect example of what we can do. They're each unique and the tone's different in each movie."

"Shazam!" is a coming-of-age movie, "Joker" will be a crime movie, and Robbie has said that "Birds of Prey" is "not a very serious movie"— its full title is "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)."

The DC universe got off to a rough start, but its future looks bright.

Have a tip about DC, Marvel, or anything else? Email the author at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

iPhones and other smartphones have, in the span of just a few years, rendered consumer video cameras nearly obsolete.

After all, when you always have the ability to capture high resolution and high-quality video in your pocket, why would you lug around a dedicated camera just to shoot a home movie? Indeed, we shoot more video now than ever, thanks to how easy and accessible iPhone video is.

That said, one of the most common mistakes in video recording is unique to smartphones: We sometimes record video holding the phone vertically, which results in ugly black bars on the sides of the clip. You can rotate the video and eliminate those bars with iMovie, a free Apple app. Of course, you can also rotate video for any creative reason with this procedure.

If you don't already have iMovie installed, do that using your iPhone's App Store before trying to rotate video.

How to rotate a video saved on your iPhone

The video will be re-saved to your Photo Library (replacing the original video), rotated to the desired orientation. If you don't like the results, you can re-edit the video and rotate it in the other direction to revert to the original orientation. In fact, you can always rotate the video over and over in 90-degree increments - turning it to either side or upside down.

Troubleshooting: If you don't see iMovie in the list of activities

If you tap the circle icon with three dots and don't see iMovie, it might simply be turned off. Tap More and, if iMovie is installed on your iPhone, you should see it in the list. Be sure it's turned on and then tap Done. Now it should appear in the list of activities and you can rotate video.

The iMovies plug-in might be turned off. Turn it on to rotate videos from the video editor. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

If you're running an older iOS

If you have an iPhone that can't run iOS 10 or later, you can still rotate video, but the process is slightly more cumbersome.

Choose a resolution for the edited video. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

When you save the finished video, iMovie gives you the option to save it in a variety of resolutions. Unless you're short on memory, just choose the best resolution available.

After a moment, the newly rotated video will be saved back to your Photo Library - leaving a copy of the original video in the library as well.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story contained inaccurate claims that a future integration between Apple Music and Google Home was imminent, and had been spoiled by a software glitch. We have since learned that the glitch in question hinged on existing features, and doesn't mean that an Apple Music integration is coming. A corrected version of the story is below.

Earlier on Wednesday, Business Insider reported that Apple Music was coming to Google Home smart speakers — an integration that had been revealed by a "bug" in the rollout of a new feature in the Google Home app for smartphones.

However, later on Wednesday, Business Insider learned that this was a misunderstanding, and that the "bug" in question does not mean that Apple Music is imminently coming to Google Home, as originally reported.

Today, users can already use Google Assistant to help pull up songs in Apple Music. A person familiar with the matter told us that Google Assistant and Google Home apps share various settings for music services, and due to a bug, the Apple Music setting was opened up more broadly than intended, making it visible to Google Home users.

It is still unclear what was being rolled out by Google that would have caused this "bug" in the first place.

MacRumors first discovered on Monday that Google Home users were able to see Apple Music as a pairing option. The option seemed strange, however, given that there was no formal announcement by either company.

Screenshot / Business Insider

By Tuesday afternoon, Apple Music was no longer available within the Google Home app, and the mix-up reportedly had to do with a "software bug." At the time, it was not immediately clear how a bug would have resulted in the Apple Music name and logo showing up in the Google Home app.

Read more: It looked like Apple Music was coming to Google Home speakers, but Google says it was only a glitch

For Apple, bringing its music streaming service to Google Home devices would make sense. As iPhone sales have tapered off, the company's focus may need to shift towards new product innovation and on doubling down on service offerings like music, video, and news streaming.

Last December, Apple announced a deal with Amazon, making Apple Music available on smart speakers with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant built in. Apple Music is also available on the company's own HomePod smart speaker, which doesn't support any other music streaming service apart from its own.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via Signal or WhatsApp at +1 (209) 730-3387 using a non-work phone, email atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Telegram at nickbastone, or Twitter DM at@nickbastone. (PR pitches by email only, please.)

Spend any length of time in Cairo, Egypt and what sticks out immediately is the traffic. Every highway, road, and alleyway is clogged with cars and motorbikes spewing fumes into the air. Crossing a road is akin to beating the final level of Frogger: six crammed lanes with zero traffic lights or crosswalks and constant honking.

There are many options for navigating the city of 23 million people — considered the most populated in Africa - but few are attractive.

With a whopping 4 million daily riders on its three lines, the Cairo Metro is half the size of the Washington D.C. Metro and carries four times as many passengers per half-mile of track. The public bus system is similarly outmatched. Among the world's major cities, Cairo has one of the lowest numbers of buses per million residents.

The most used, and most important, part of Cairo's transit system is the microbuses, a network of semiformal private vans that are ubiquitous on the streets of Cairo (and most African cities). While dirt cheap and with lines all over the city, microbuses are known for driving at dangerous speeds, packing in as many passengers as they can, and ignoring traffic laws. Road injuries are a leading cause of death in the country. A study by the World Bank found that traffic costs the country $8 billion per year, or 4% of its GDP.

Motorists stuck in a traffic jam on a street towards downtown of Cairo, Egypt. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

It would not be uncommon for an Egyptian to spend hours navigating several trains, multiple buses, and a taxi in a single commute each day.

Though the Egyptian government announced it would invest over $100 million to improve and expand the metro in the coming years, young Egyptians aren't waiting for the government to fix the problem.

Transportation is a 'mega opportunity' in Egypt and other emerging markets

A scene at the Rise Up Summit in Cairo, a premier tech and innovation conference in the Middle East.Annie Zheng/Business Insider

As I walked around the Rise-Up Summit, a premier tech conference held in Cairo in December, transportation seemed to be on everyone's mind. Among the booths of hopeful entrepreneurs and established regional tech stars was an assortment of Egyptian transportation startups, each serving a different niche.

Read more:Travel guides will tell you to skip Cairo, but the Egyptian capital is a fascinating city bursting with amazing food and culture

Swvl and Buseet each offer private buses traveling along fixed routes reserved and paid for using their apps. Fyonka is a ride-hailing service hoping to win on safety and harassment issues by connecting only female drivers with female passengers. Meanwhile, Halan is a low-cost, ride-hailing service that only features motorcycles and tuk-tuks, or that autorickshaws that are popular throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Fyonka co-founders Mostafa El Kholy (L) and Abdullah Hussein at the RiseUp Summit in December.Annie Zheng/Business Insider

When I asked Fadi Antaki, a veteran Egyptian entrepreneur and the CEO of A15, a leading Egyptian tech investment fund, why the scene is saturated with transportation startups, he looked bewildered and motioned to the traffic honking outside the Greek Campus where RiseUp was being held.

"A lot of people have long commutes and the existing public transportation isn't working," he said. "The public buses are always jammed and packed. Cars are twice the price here that they are in the US and parking is a nightmare. And the minibuses are packed, dirty, and unsafe."

As RiseUp's founder Abdelhameed Sharara told me the following day, there's an added kicker. Egyptian entrepreneurs understand that the government is not capable of fixing the city's transportation problems.

"There is a mega opportunity there and technology can really enable [the solutions]," he said.

Tech giants Uber and Careem are in a dogfight for the Middle East

Egyptians aren't the only ones to have noticed the opportunity. Tech giants Uber and U.A.E.-based Careem, which operates in 84 cities across twelve Middle Eastern countries, are locked in their own battle for dominance over Egypt's massive transportation needs.

In December, Uber and Careem launched competing bus services in the city, firsts for both companies. Like Buseet and Swvl, both are focused on using tech to remake the ubiquitous microbus sector. Uber Manager of Matching Science Eoin O'Mahony wrote on LinkedIn that it could "unlock a new global business for Uber, serving the $100B, 100 billion annual rides ultra-low-cost transit market for high capacity vehicles."

Like microbuses, Uber Bus and Careem Bus fit around a dozen passengers each with prices aimed at a working-class population that can't afford daily private rides.

Uber has said prices will be 80% cheaper than a standard Uber, while Careem has said its service will be 60-70% cheaper than a standard Careem. Rather than sign existing microbuses onto the service — most of which are old and in disrepair — both services advertise safe, new, branded, and air-conditioned buses.

A typical Uber Bus at the launch for Uber Bus in December. Retuers

The launch represented a retrenchment in the Middle East for Uber after years of backing out of international markets like China, Russia, and Southeast Asia, where Uber has partnered with or sold its business to local rivals like Didi, Yandex, and Grab respectively.

Earlier this month, Anthony le Roux, Uber's chief executive for the Middle East and Africa, told the Wall Street Journal that his region would "play a massive role" in helping Uber reach its goal of a billion users before its initial public offering later this year.

That sentiment was echoed by Tino Waked, Uber's general manager for the Middle East and North Africa. In an interview with Business Insider, Waked pointed to the Middle East's rapidly expanding young population, limited transportation infrastructure, and large demand for low-cost transportation solutions as reasons the company sees the region as an ideal place to invest and test new services.

In the battle for dominance over Egypt and the Middle East, Uber and Careem have made localizations to cater their product to the market. Both companies allow cash payment and offer low-cost rides on scooters, tuk-tuks, and motorcycles. In order to deepen its smartphone penetration in Egypt, Uber will soon launch a version of its app requiring less data, after launching a similar app in other Middle Eastern countries last year.

Uber has reportedly engaged in talks to purchase Careem, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported that some bankers see the sale as inevitable given how much more cash Uber has to burn in its duel with Careem.

Solving Egypt's transportation problems could help solve issues for other countries in emerging markets

Traffic in Cairo is nightmarish.Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

The battle to win Egypt is likely about more than just winning a lucrative market: It's also about unlocking access to other countries suffering similar transportation woes.

"There is tremendous opportunity in Egypt. This is a country of 100 million people and there's a sense that solutions that work here will work in other parts of the world with similar obstacles," Antaki told me.

While the two whales duke it out, the other Egyptian transportation startups are hoping they can outmaneuver both with a better understanding of the needs in a developing market.

Last year, bus startup Swvl raised an approximate $38 million, putting its valuation close to $100 million, and in January it launched a pilot program in Nairobi, Kenya, another city notorious for its snarled traffic and anything-goes microbuses. Swvl has plans to launch in several Southeast Asian cities in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Halan, the startup focused on tuk-tuks and motorcycles, raised $4.3 million in Series A funding in December, opened up a second market in Sudan, and added Uber founder Oscar Salazar to its board. In the announcement, Salazar cited Halan's desire to bring transportation to "the remaining 6 billion" people not being served by major ride-hailing companies.

Annie Zheng/Business Insider

When I asked Swvl founder Mostafa Kandil how the company could compete with Uber and Careem, he suggested that the transportation needs are so dire in Cairo and other similar markets that, unlike cities in the US, one or two transportation companies cannot serve all the demand.

"You see the same problem across emerging markets, whether it's Manila, Nairobi or Jakarta. One single player is not enough to build the network," Kandil told Business Insider. "We like to see ourselves as building a profitable mass transit system from scratch in emerging markets and taking it off governments' hands."

Rather than crowd out smaller players like Swvl, Uber Bus has expanded demand in Cairo, according to Kandil, who said that Swvl signups have quadrupled since the launch of Uber Bus.

For now, Halan founder Mounir Nakhla believes concerns about competition from Uber or Careem is overblown, saying it's like comparing a plane to a taxi. Whereas Uber or Careem is typically used by wealthier consumers for mid-length rides and Swvl and other bus serves are for long commutes, Nakhla said, Halan is focused on short rides of around a mile or less, areas not typically served by Uber or Careem, and low-income passengers.

"When you live in a country like Egypt, where there are so many needs and pain points, it means there are a lot of opportunities," Nakhla told Business Insider.

Nakhla has deep experience both with tuk-tuks and Egypt's low-income population, having co-founded Egypt's largest financing business for utility vehicles like tuk-tuks in 2009 and a micro-finance business in 2015.

Both Kandil and Nakhla suggested their more clear-cut focus on the low-cost market and their first-hand knowledge of emerging markets will help give them a leg up when they do eventually come head-to-head with the tech giants.

That day may be coming sooner than later. As Waked, Uber's general manager for the Middle East and North Africa, told Business Insider, Uber's goal, particularly in the Middle East is to "become a one-stop shop for all your transportation and delivery needs." Every transportation modality — from bikes to scooters to buses — is part of that.

Netflix may be taking one step closer to becoming a traditional movie studio.

On the heels of the streaming giant coming close to winning the best picture Oscar with "Roma" at the 91st Academy Awards Sunday — and still having a historic night with the movie taking home three wins — it is now reloading for another shot at the brass ring next year.

Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" may be the first Netflix movie to get a wide theatrical release.

A source familiar with the release strategy told Business Insider the Oscar winner very much wants a run that goes wider and has a longer life in theaters than Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma."

Read more: What Robert De Niro says about the de-aging in Martin Scorsese's Netflix movie, "The Irishman," and everything else we know about the process

The Hollywood Reporter ran a story on Wednesday with similar news, reporting that Netflix is currently out talking to exhibitors to make it happen for Scorsese's gangster movie that stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci.

But Netflix may have already shown its hand on its release plans for "The Irishman" with the trailer for the movie that ran during the Oscars. Though it didn't show any footage, its text at the end read, "In Theaters This Fall." Typically when Netflix runs trailers for movies it gives a theatrical run, the text reads, "In Select Theaters," or "Exclusive Limited Theatrical Engagements," like it did with "Roma."

Here's "The Irishman" trailer:

"Since that ran in the middle of the Oscars broadcast Netflix knew they had to go wide whether they won best picture or not," the source told Business Insider. "Filmmakers want awards, but they also want real theatrical releases."

And if Sunday's Oscars was any indication, Netflix still hasn't earned enough clout to get a best picture win.

Though the company broke protocol and gave "Roma" an exclusive limited theatrical release for three weeks before streaming, people like Steven Spielberg were adamant that movies considered for the Oscars should be ones that fully respect the theatrical experience.

"I hope all of us really continue to believe that the greatest contributions we can make as filmmakers is to give audiences the motion picture theatrical experience," Spielberg said days before the Oscars while accepting the Filmmaker Award at the Cinema Audio Society's CAS Awards. "I'm a firm believer that movie theaters need to be around forever."

The biggest chains in the country — AMC, Regal, and Cinemark — have refused to show Netflix titles because the company will not adhere to the industry mandate that theatrical releases have a 90-day run before showing up on any other platforms. And to have a true wide release for "The Irishman," Netflix will need to have at least one of those major chains on board.

It seems Netflix has begun to realize that to become the first streaming company to win Hollywood's biggest prize, it has to do something it hates to do: play by the rules.

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

By now you may have heard that later this year Nintendo will release "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" for its best-selling Nintendo Switch console.

Unlike last year's "Pokémon Let's Go," also for the Switch, "Sword" and "Shield" are proper sequels to the 23-year-old gaming franchise. "Let's Go" was a streamlined, simplified remake of 1998's classic "Pokémon Yellow"; these upcoming games will bring new monsters, new gameplay mechanics, and newly upgraded graphics.

It marks the end of an era for Nintendo.

Since the dawn of the franchise in 1996, every Pokémon game in the main series has been on Nintendo's handheld consoles. The Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, DS, and 3DS portables all received at least one proper Pokémon sequel. Nintendo's home consoles have long gotten spin-offs, including "Pokkén Tournament" or "Pokémon Snap," but the main games have always been portable.

And while the Nintendo Switch can be played in an untethered portable mode, Nintendo has positioned it as the successor to its Wii U home console. This means that the tradition is broken, and Nintendo is eschewing its Nintendo 3DS handheld — which is still on the market — and taking a Pokémon sequel to the TV for the first time.

The Nintendo Switch can be played in an untethered, totally portable mode; nonetheless, Nintendo considers it primarily a TV console. Getty Images/Michael Kovac

It's not much of a surprise. Together, the various versions of the Nintendo 3DS have sold a more-than-respectable 75 million units since the original version debuted in 2011, but the company's own data shows that the platform is stagnating.

The Nintendo Switch has sold some 32 million units in just two years, and is only growing. Plus, because the Switch can be taken on the go, it means that "Sword" and "Shield" can be played as portable games just as before.

Still, the end of this era raises some bigger question.

A higher barrier to entry

Even if it's not surprising, the move from the 3DS and toward the Switch is a little frustrating — and raises the barrier for entry, especially for younger players.

Since the launch of the Switch, Nintendo has championed the 3DS as the cheapest way for gamers, especially younger players, to get started with the company's extremely deep bench of classic franchises.

Read more: The Nintendo Switch is a smash hit — but a top Nintendo exec says it's not giving up on the 3DS

Indeed, the Nintendo 2DS, which plays almost every 3DS game, costs just $80, and it comes bundled with "Super Mario Maker" or "New Super Mario Bros. 2." The Nintendo 2DS XL, which is a higher-end version of the console and the model I'd recommend to most buyers, is $150 and comes with "Mario Kart 7."

The Nintendo Switch, however, costs $300 at retail. And while it's a fine piece of hardware, the Switch is definitely not so durable that you can toss it in a coat pocket or backpack without worrying — unlike every model of 3DS, which is designed solely for extremely portable gaming.

The $150 Nintendo 2DS XL is an affordable, durable little console that can play some of Nintendo's biggest hits. Nintendo

This all adds up to a bummer for would-be Pokémon players. I grew up during the original Pokémon boom, and one of the great joys I remember was everybody bringing their console to school to battle and swap monsters. Even after that initial fad has passed, I have to imagine that it still happened in schoolyards everywhere.

It'll probably still happen, to be sure. And "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" will likely go on to sell a bazillion copies, as the biggest new Nintendo Switch game of the year. But the Switch's higher price point and (to a lesser extent) its lack of durability are going to keep the new games out of the hands of kids especially, which is a shame, given that it's always been a kid-focused franchise.

The bigger picture

In the end it's not a huge deal. Kids can, and will, continue playing "Pokémon Go" — free for smartphones — which recently got big updates to bring trading and battling, both major elements of the core franchise. And "Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon," and the sequels "Ultra Sun" and "Ultra Moon," remain available for the Nintendo 3DS.

And if this truly marks the the end of original titles coming to the Nintendo 3DS after its eight-year life, well, it had a good run, and the Nintendo Switch is willing and ready to pick up its slack.

But the bigger picture is that it's much like the gradually rising prices of high-end smartphones like the iPhone Xs and the Samsung Galaxy S10: Everything is getting a little more expensive, making it that much harder for have-nots to get started.

As the gadget industry moves more upmarket, it's worth considering who and what gets left behind.

juul 2014, early startup era vs juul 2019, with enormous amounts of outside capital investment pic.twitter.com/8M0qgjddgW

— rat king (@MikeIsaac) February 23, 2019

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