Microsoft's workplace chat app, Teams, has grown rapidly, reaching 20 million daily active users in November and putting pressure on Slack. Microsoft's head of marketing for its Microsoft 365 division, a bundle of business apps which includes Teams, Jared Spataro, defended Team's daily active user numbers, addressing previous criticism from rival Slack, which said the user growth is not organic. Spataro said at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, that the value Teams can provide to a company looking to modernize its communication and culture is what's driven its growth. Microsoft has increased focus on Teams after seeing this demand, adding more sales people and making sure that Teams can integrate well with the other productivity software in Microsoft 365.Click here to read more BI Prime stories.

Microsoft has touted the growing popularity of its workplace chat app, Teams, sharing in November that the app had reached 20 million users, putting it well ahead of its chat rival, Slack.

On Wednesday, Microsoft's head of marketing for its Microsoft 365 division, Jared Spataro, provided details about how the company measures Teams' daily active user numbers, pushing back against critics who say Microsoft's metrics aren't all that they seem to be.

"Daily active users for us is the maximum number of users who take an intentional action over a 24-hour period ... What we call passive actions do not count," Spataro said at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco.

He added that Microsoft doesn't count things like auto booting the app, minimizing a window, closing the app, or Skype towards its Teams daily active user count. 

His comments come as Teams has put competitive pressure on smaller rival Slack, which went public via direct listing last year. Slack's CEO Stewart Butterfield has previously criticized Team's user growth as inorganic saying that users of older Microsoft products are being forced to migrate to Teams. And the company has touted the value of its 12 million active users, by highlighting figures that show how engaged users are with the product. 

Teams is part of Microsoft 365, a bundle of business apps, what Microsoft introduced in 2017 and includes Office 365 – cloud-based versions of the company's flagship productivity applications such as Word and Excel – collaboration tools like OneDrive and SharePoint, the Microsoft Teams chat app, and even the Windows 10 operating system itself.

This bundling approach has come under scrutiny from Slack, with CEO Butterfield previously calling Microsoft a "surprisingly unsportsmanlike" competitor.

Spataro said to replicate what Teams can do it takes several competitors products. "If you're trying to do what Teams does, you're going to pull together Slack, Zoom, Dropbox and Google ... Against each of those competitors, we have strengths and we have gaps. And I would just say that we are super clear on what our gaps are against the leaders in those categories and we invest every day, every day, every day to close those gaps," he said.

The Microsoft exec ascribed the growth of Teams to the large numbers of companies in the process of modernizing their internal communications tools and their corporate cultures. 

"They're able to say, Hey, this is a new way of doing things. There's a 4-in-1 value prop there. There's chat, meet, call, collaborate, and they say, we're going to do certain business processes this way. So it has some kind of symbolic value to companies as they change," Spataro said. 

As Microsoft started to realize the demand for Teams, it upped the resources behind the product — adding more "customer success managers" or salespeople, and making sure that Teams can integrate well with the other productivity software Microsoft offers. 

Spataro said his strategy to appeal to customers is to highlight the integration that Teams has with other Microsoft office productivity tools, so it can be a central workspace hub for employees. That both makes the process of working easier he said and provides the same security tools for all the tools a company may be using for productivity. 

Teams does not have a set user limit as it relies on Azure Active Directory, a cloud identity service that can support an unlimited number of users, a Microsoft spokesperson told Business Insider. But while an unlimited number of people can be on a company's Team's platform, each workspace or "Team" it creates within that can hold up to 5,000 users and 200 channels, which is the channel scalability limitation Spataro refers to. 

Slack has previously said that its product is more attractive to large companies because it can support an unlimited number of channels and users. Slack's enterprise grid product, which is meant for large organizations, is currently able to hold up to 500,000 users, and a Slack spokesperson recently told Business Insider it would continue to expand that number if it had a customer who met that user limit. Slack allows unlimited workspaces in enterprise grid, 250,000 users per workspace, unlimited channels per workspace, and unlimited members per channel. 

Original author: Paayal Zaveri

Welcome to this week's edition of Trending, the newsletter where we highlight BI Prime's biggest tech stories. I'm Alexei Oreskovic, Business Insider's West Coast bureau chief and global tech editor.

If this is your first time here, this is how you can get Trending in your inbox every week.

This week: Facebook's space dreams have not been extinguished

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg still has his sights set on the stars. Facebook

Way back in 2014, Facebook announced a plan to bring the internet to the skies, and it formed an internal team called the Connectivity Lab to make it happen. The idea was to deploy a combination of different technologies, from drones to satellites, that could provide internet access from the heavens to grateful earthlings below. 

Since then, the rare updates we've heard about the project have not been promising. In 2016, a Facebook satellite literally exploded on the launchpad when the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that was supposed to carry it suffered a fatal "anomaly." Two years later, the social networking giant killed its Aquila drone project.

But as Rob Price reports, Facebook hasn't given up on its space dreams. Documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission in December show the company has quietly moved forward with plans to launch a low-earth-orbit satellite named Athena. There's no official word on when Facebook's bird will fly. However, as Rob notes, French aerospace company Arianespace has a rocket scheduled to launch as soon as next month, and it's exactly the kind of vehicle Facebook needs to transport its new satellite.

The Athena launch is likely the first of what will be many more by Facebook. As the company has noted in the past, to provide constant coverage, it will need to deploy a "constellation" of low-earth-orbit satellites. That means the skies could get very crowded. SpaceX's Starlink project and OneWeb have already launched hundreds of satellites combined in their own efforts to create very similar broadband internet services. And Amazon is working on Project Kuiper, which calls for putting 3,200 satellites into orbit.

The salvo of launches has already raised complaints from astronomers who say the new generation of satellites leave bright streaks in their telescopic images of the skies, as well as "radio chatter" that interferes with observations of deep space. And that's not to mention the other hazards posed by an orbit cluttered with satellites and space junk.

All this is to say that if Facebook does expand its operation into space, it will have to contend with both plenty of competition and some opposition. That sounds a lot like the situation on Earth.

Read the full story here:

Facebook's ambitious plan to build a constellation of satellites isn't dead — and it could launch the first one into space as soon as March 2020

Apple CEO Tim Cook has set aside his company's famous secrecy in at least one area. Getty

What do Airbnb, Calm and Uber have in common?

They all use Swift, the programming language created by Apple for iPhone and iPad app developers. 

Apple has a reputation for secrecy and for doing things its own way, but with Swift, the company is behaving out of character. Swift is an open-source project, and as Rosalie Chan writes, it's left many Silicon Valley techies pleasantly surprised.

Winning the hearts and minds of developers is increasingly important for Apple. Sales are slowing in the saturated smartphone market  Meanwhile, the company has turned to services — its own and those that developers sell through its app store — to provide a new source of growth. 

As Rosalie writes, "to many developers, supporting Swift as open source is a positive sign that Apple, the company that controls the App Store on which they build their businesses, wants a friendly relationship."

Read the full story here:

Why Silicon Valley developers are betting on Apple's programming language Swift and calling it 'the future' of app development

Here are some of the latest tech highlights:

Here's why business experts think Uber's 'profitability' pledge is misleading and meaningless

A VC firm has hired Reddit's HR boss as a new partner, and it shows the importance of having a smart adviser on culture

Leaked emails show Amazon is stockpiling products made in China because of the risk that the coronavirus poses to its supply chain

Slack's IBM deal is a signal to big corporate customers that the chat app is ready to go toe-to-toe with Microsoft, say analysts

And more good reads from across the BI newsroom:

Meet Rebekah Neumann: Insiders describe the spiritual, strategic mastermind who was the driving force behind WeWork and her husband, Adam Neumann

Billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin explains why he modeled his firm after Goldman Sachs' analyst program — and says future leaders can't expect a 9-to-5 lifestyle and a 'great weekend'

31 hot logistics startups that are set to soar in 2020, according to VCs

Thanks for reading, and remember, if you like this newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues they can sign up here to receive it.

— Alexei 

Original author: Alexei Oreskovic

Amazon Web Services boss Andy Jassy spoke on Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference about how AWS had a head start in the cloud industry.Jassy says he was surprised at how long it took for other technology giants to build a cloud like Amazon's.Currently, Microsoft and Google Cloud are competing with AWS in the cloud industry.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Amazon Web Services started offering its cloud services in 2006, well ahead of its rivals Microsoft and Google Cloud – and the head start really pulled the company forward, says AWS CEO Andy Jassy.

At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Jassy said that because of its head start, AWS's biggest advantages over its competitors are that it has more functionality and a large partner network.

"I think that every major technology company either has or is trying to build some kind of replica of what AWS has built in the cloud computing infrastructure space," Jassy said onstage.

Still, Jassy says he never expected AWS to have the market to itself for such a long time.

"Of the many big surprises, and there have been lots of big surprises, probably the single biggest one for me is just how long it took for other large technology companies to build something that looked like what AWS was trying to do," Jassy said.

'No compression algorithm for experience'

Before AWS started, people thought of Amazon as "just a retailer," said Jassy. Because of that, the company knew how important it was to be the first to start selling cloud services and beat its Seattle rival Microsoft to it.

"We felt like if we didn't get to market first, it would be harder for us to be successful, and Seattle's a pretty small city," Jassy said. "We know a lot of people – or on the other side of the lake, and we were just trying to get the launch without anybody knowing. But we never imagined we'd have a six to seven year head start."

Jassy says that today, the maturity of different cloud platforms on the market right now are in "very different spots." In the early days, AWS had to take some major risks, which still impact how the company makes decisions today, he says.

Jassy brought up an internal motto people at AWS use. This motto is "There's no compression algorithm for experience," which means that a company can't learn certain lessons until "until you get to different levels of the curve and scale." He says AWS was able to learn those lessons at an earlier stage.

"What I always share when I get a chance to speak with customers about it is that, there really only two existing significant industries in which Amazon is disrupting," Jassy said. "One is retail, the other is technology infrastructure, and in both cases, they were models that were pretty antiquated, and customers weren't so happy with those models. Somebody was going to end up reinventing them, and in those cases, it turned out to be us."

'Folklore or mythology'

Microsoft and Google Cloud are racing to gain an even bigger slice of the market as they take on AWS.

Analysts say one disadvantage that AWS has, compared to Microsoft and Google, is that many companies fear the competition of Amazon. 

For example, retailers see Amazon as a major competitor, and Walmart decided to use Microsoft Azure. 

Likewise, technology companies that built their business on open source service also see Amazon as a threat. Redis Labs, Confluent, Cockroach Labs, and Sentry changed licenses on how their software can be used in response to AWS selling their software on its cloud, or the possibility of it. Likewise, MongoDB and Elastic also saw AWS make competitive moves.

Even so, Jassy dismissed the notion that Amazon will prevent other companies from flourishing as "folklore or mythology."

"I think also, sometimes people have this folklore or mythology around, if Amazon launches a business in a certain area, it means that all the other businesses in those areas are not going to be as successful," Jassy said. "I just haven't seen it ... And so it's because these segments are so large, they're not winner take all. There's room for several companies to be successful."

Do you work at AWS? Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Signal at 646.376.6106, Telegram at @rosaliechan, or Twitter DM at @rosaliechan17. (PR pitches by email only, please.) Other types of secure messaging available upon request. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Original author: Rosalie Chan

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez may have bought a home of their very own, according to new reports.

Bezos is the new owner of a 13,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion, The Wall Street Journal's Katy McLaughlin and Katherine Clarke reported. The home, which was originally designed for Warner Bros. Studios executive Jack Warner in the 1930s, features two guest houses, a tennis court, a swimming pool, and a nine-hole golf course, according to Architectural Digest. Bezos reportedly paid film producer David Geffen $165 million for the estate, which would make it the most expensive home ever sold in California.

Bezos and Sanchez's house-hunting was a hot topic among high-end Los Angeles real-estate brokers, The New York Post's Josh Kosman and Jennifer Gould Keil reported February 2.

LA's iconic Chartwell Estate — best known for being featured in the opening credits of "The Beverly Hillbillies" — was among the properties Bezos and Sanchez reportedly toured. The 26-room mansion features a 75-foot swimming pool, a five-bedroom guest house, a tennis court, a 12,000-bottle wine cellar, manicured gardens, a secret underground tunnel, and panoramic views of downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean.

That property has since been purchased by fellow billionaire Lachlan Murdoch, the son of NewsCorp founder Rupert Murdoch, Business Insider reported in December. Murdoch paid approximately $150 million for the estate, making it the most expensive home ever sold in Los Angeles, The LA Times reported.

The Chartwell Estate includes a 75-foot pool and pool house. Hilton & Hyland

A representative of Hilton & Hyland, the brokerage firm that represented the Chartwell Estate before the sale, did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Bezos's tour.

Bezos and his girlfriend are also rumored to have toured "Casa Encantada," a 40,000-square-foot estate in Bel-Air, The Post reported. That mansion features a guest house, a pool house, a basketball court, a tennis court, greenhouses, a rose garden, and koi ponds, all with restored 1930s finishings, Business Insider reported. Casa Encantada has an asking price of $225 million, making it the most expensive property currently on the market in the United States, according to The Times.

A representative of Casa Encantada did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Bezos' interest in the property.

Casa Encantada's interior in 1939. The Huntington Library

Bezos was reportedly in the market for a new Los Angeles home for nearly a year. Last March, Bezos and Sanchez secretly toured a different Bel Air mansion, Page Six reported. Asking $88 million, that property features a rooftop deck, infinity pool, and panoramic views, according to a listing from Hilton & Hyland.

Despite having more money than any other person on Earth, Bezos apparently had limited options when it came to home-buying. There were less than ten properties for sale in the Los Angeles area that met the Amazon CEO's "needs," Los Angeles-based luxury real-estate broker Drew Gitlin of Berkshire Hathaway told The Post prior to Bezos's reported purchase of Geffen's home. Gitlin did not specify what Bezos's needs are, however.

Even if the Amazon CEO had struck out in Beverly Hills, he still has two other homes in Los Angeles where he and Sanchez could stay when they're in the city, Business Insider reported. Bezos's expansive real-estate portfolio also includes two homes in Medina, Washington; a 30,000-acre ranch in Texas; three adjacent New York City apartments worth about $80 million combined; and a Washington DC mansion, although it's unclear how these properties were divided in his 2019 divorce.

Original author: Taylor Nicole Rogers

Traders at a flower auction in China were seen working while wearing masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, now officially called COVID-19, as the virus spreads throughout the country. 

The auction floor is in Kunming, Yunnan, a province in southern China that borders Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. The city is about 973 miles (1566 kilometers) from Wuhan, Hubei province, where the virus spread from. 

While the traders in the photo are still working, the virus has caused many in China to stay home — a recent photo from Shanghai showed eerily empty streets in the normally crowded city. Another photo showed a food-delivery worker in China carrying mounds of food for people staying at home during the outbreak. 

In January, China deployed drones around the country to scold residents for being outside of their homes. 

The virus has killed more than 1,100 people and infected more than 45,000 around the world, spreading to at least 25 countries outside of China. 

The US has recorded 13 cases in six states, from California to Washington to Massachussetts.

 

Original author: Bryan Pietsch

Jeff Bezos has amassed a massive real-estate portfolio across the US, from his home state of Washington to New York City.

A 2017 Land Report named Bezos the country's 28th-largest landowner. In June 2019, the Amazon CEO dropped about $80 million on three adjacent New York City apartments in the priciest real-estate deal ever south of 42nd Street in New York, according to appraiser Jonathan Miller. But he had already owned four apartments in a historic building in the city for years. However, his most recent purchase was the Warner Estate in Beverly Hills: According to The Wall Street Journal, Bezos bought the nine-acre property for $165 million from billionaire David Geffen. It's the most expensive home ever sold in the Los Angeles area.

It's unknown how Bezos' properties were divided after his divorce from MacKenzie Bezos was finalized in July 2019. Everything acquired throughout the marriage from real estate to income is considered joint property in the Bezos' home state of Washington, as Business Insider's Tanza Loudenback previously reported. Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on how the properties were divided after the divorce. 

Bezos remains the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $117 billion, while MacKenzie Bezos is now worth $38 billion, making her one of the richest women in the world.

From two neighboring Beverly Hills mansions to a sprawling estate in an exclusive Seattle suburb, here are all the residential properties Bezos is known to own in the US.

Caroline Cakebread contributed to an early version of this article.

Original author: Libertina Brandt and Katie Warren

Spotify will spend nearly $200 million over the next few years to acquire The Ringer, an online publication for sports and pop culture, according to an SEC filing.The purchase, which Spotify confirmed last week, is the streaming platform's latest move to grow its presence in podcasting, and follows nearly $400 million in recent purchases of Gimlet Media, Anchor, and Parcast.The Ringer, which has nearly 40 podcast titles, was founded in 2016 by ESPN sports journalist Bill Simmons.Simmons' exact ownership stake in The Ringer isn't known, but the deal is expected to be a huge payday for the media founder.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sports media founder Bill Simmons scored a massive payout from Spotify, who purchased Simmons' publication The Ringer for nearly $200 million.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Spotify could pay out nearly $200 million in cash over the next few years to acquire The Ringer, an online publication for sports and pop culture. Spotify disclosed it will between €130 million and €180 million: Part of that payment is deferred and based on some contingencies, one of which requires Simmons to stay at the company for an unknown period of time.

This is Spotify's latest move into the podcasting space in the past year, following nearly $400 million in recent acquisitions of podcast networks Gimlet Media, Parcast, and Anchor. The Ringer has nearly 40 podcast titles under its belt, including a number of popular sports shows featuring Simmons that Spotify will now own.

Spotify confirmed the acquisition last week after The Wall Street Journal reported on purchase rumors in January, but the deal price was not known at the time. Citing a source with knowledge of the deal, Bloomberg reported Tuesday that Spotify would pay an initial $200 million to acquire the company, with another $50 million to be paid later.

Spotify has not responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

The $200 million acquisition likely represents a huge payday for Simmons, specifically, who is the company's largest shareholder, though his exact stake isn't known. The entertainment company HBO also owns a 10% stake in The Ringer.

Simmons, a former ESPN journalist, founded The Ringer in 2016. As part of the acquisition, Simmons — as well as The Ringer's estimated 90 employees — will have jobs at Spotify. According to Bloomberg, the deal includes protections for Ringer employees to ensure much of the staff isn't cut.

Spotify has only started investing in podcasting recently, although the streaming service was founded in 2006. In a recent blog post, Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek said he had no idea at the beginning that "audio — not just music — would be the future of Spotify."

"What we really did with The Ringer, I think, is we bought the next ESPN," Ek said in a Spotify earnings call in early February.

Original author: Paige Leskin

Nearly all of China's 70,000 theaters are closed as the country reels from the Wuhan coronavirus.Chinese ticket revenue is at just $3.9 million in the last 20 days, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Revenue was at $1.52 billion during the same timespan last year.Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories.

Nearly all of China's 70,000 theaters are closed as the country reels from the coronavirus, and it has cost the local movie business over $1 billion.

Chinese ticket revenue is at just $3.9 million in the last 20 days, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Revenue hit $1.52 billion in the same timespan last year. The weekend of the Chinese New Year, which was in late January, is usually China's biggest time for moviegoing. It's also when major film releases were canceled and the theaters started to close.

Jimmy Wu, the CEO of Chinese cinema company Lumiere Pavilion, told THR that the Chinese government will have to take drastic measures to save the theater industry. They include offering emergency funding or a refund of the "film fee" from China's Film Bureau that is taken out of ticket revenue.

The coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has spread to at least 25 more countries, has killed more than 1,100 people and infected more than 45,000.

Chinese regulations prevent Chinese movies from being released outside of the country before they've been released in mainland China. This has impacted theatrical releases outside of the region. For instance, Warner Bros. postponed the North American release of the Chinese-produced "Detective Chinatown 3" last month "in accordance with our partner's wishes and based on the current situation in China," a studio spokesperson said in a statement.

It's unknown how long China's theaters could be closed or how the canceled movies will be rescheduled.

Original author: Travis Clark

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly purchased a Beverly Hills mansion for $165 million, setting the record for the most expensive home sold in California.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal's Katy McLaughlin and Katherine Clarke, Bezos bought the home of the media tycoon David Geffen, a sprawling estate that was originally built for the Warner Bros. executive Jack Warner. 

Last week, the New York Post reported that Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, were house hunting in Los Angeles and touring mansions throughout the area. Bezos has been searching for a home for the past year, according to Page Six. 

A spokesperson for Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the purchase. 

The property, which has been described as a "party palace," was designed in the 1930s. It features a 13,000-square-foot mansion, two guesthouses, a tennis court, a swimming pool, and a nine-hole golf course. It also includes a "motor court" that has a garage and gas pumps, according to Architectural Digest.

Geffen bought the estate in 1990 for $47.5 million. Bezos' purchase eclipses the last record set in the Los Angeles area — the $150 million purchase of the Chartwell estate by Lachlan Murdoch last year.

Bezos and Geffen are known to be friendly: The Amazon CEO was spotted partying on board Geffen's megayacht with Sanchez, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, and model Karlie Kloss off the coast of Spain over the summer. 

Along with the Warner estate, Bezos' umbrella company, Bezos Expeditions, also purchased a plot of land in LA that belonged to the estate of Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, according to The Journal. The company paid $90 million for the land, The Journal said. 

Original author: Avery Hartmans

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Getty

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday.

Leaked emails show Amazon is stockpiling products made in China because of the risk that the coronavirus poses to its supply chain. Amazon reached out to a number of suppliers last week and placed last-minute orders to increase its inventory of products made in China.Uber and Postmates have lost a bid to temporarily block California's new gig-worker law, a legal setback that could immediately affect their financials. A statement from Uber reiterated the company's commitment to continuing to challenge the case in court.China has launched an app that lets people check whether they've been at risk of catching the coronavirus. The app tells people if they've been near someone who's been confirmed or suspected of having coronavirus, BBC News reports.Apple has seen $27 billion of market value wiped out amid the delayed reopening of its main Chinese iPhone plants. Foxconn recently got permission to reopen its Zhengzhou plant, but other factories remain closed, Reuters reported.Facebook employees reportedly feel guilty that the company didn't fix a known security risk fast enough to prevent its biggest data breach ever. The Telegraph reported that Facebook was "repeatedly warned" about a security flaw that contributed to the biggest data breach in company history.Bill Gates says the best way to help poorer countries fight climate change is to make sure they're healthy enough to survive it. Countries near the equator – which are disproportionately poor by global standards – are likely to be worst hit by climate change.The SoftBank-backed company that sold everything for $3 is abruptly shutting down, refusing orders, and laying off employees. SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm Brandless, which sold private-label household essentials for $3 each, is shutting down.Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, is preparing to lay off 15,000 workers as it tries to adapt to electric cars. Daimler is wasting no time in making deep cuts to its workforce as the German auto industry continues to face tough times.YouTube's documentary series on Justin Bieber has broken a record for the platform. "Seasons" already set a record as YouTube's most expensive deal: The platform reportedly paid more than $20 million for the series.Elon Musk took another shot at Mark Zuckerberg by calling Facebook 'lame' and saying people should delete it. Musk and Zuckerberg have previously disagreed about the future of artificial intelligence.

Have an Amazon Alexa device? Now you can hear 10 Things in Tech each morning. Just search for "Business Insider" in your Alexa's flash briefing settings. You can also subscribe to this newsletter here — just tick "10 Things in Tech You Need to Know."

Original author: Charlie Wood

Uber excited investors and analysts last week when it predicted it would hit "profitability" by the end of this year.But the company's definition of "profitability" doesn't accord with standard accounting and leaves out a whole mess of expenses.The company's preferred profitability measure — adjusted EBITDA — is problematic, because while it is improving, its outflow of actual cash is actually worsening.It wouldn't be a surprise if the company hits its "profitability" target, business experts say, but investors shouldn't consider that a huge achievement.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Uber finally gave its investors a reason to cheer — the longtime money-losing company announced last week it expects to finally hit "profitability" by the end of this year.

But the company's promise wasn't all that it might have seemed. Uber's executives weren't actually promising that it would be profitable by the end of the year, at least not on standard-accounting basis. Nor were they necessarily promising that it would start generating cash by then.

Instead, they were promising that the company would be profitable on a basis the company itself has created and defined.

That basis — which the company called adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or adjusted EBITDA — leaves out a whole host of expenses, as its name implies, even more so than EBITDA, a somewhat standardized term.

It wouldn't be a big surprise if Uber does post a profit on that basis, business experts told Business Insider. But because the company itself can define what expenses it includes and leaves out in adjusted EBITDA, investors shouldn't be overly impressed if it does become profitable on that basis.

"I think it's likely that they will" hit the profitability target, said Phillip Braun a finance professor at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, said. "But I don't think it's meaningful."

He continued: "I view it as a vacuous statement."

Uber is under pressure to improve its bottom line

Like many other unprofitable tech companies, Uber has been under increasing pressure from public investors to show that it can be a cash-generating business. Under standard accounting rules, the company lost $8.5 billion last year on $14.1 billion in revenue. It saw a $4.9 billion outflow of cash from its operations and investments in property and equipment.

Thanks in part to such numbers, the company's stock has fared poorly since it went public last year, consistently trading below its $45 offering price and the company's $72 billion peak private valuation.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and his team have been trying to assure investors that they have the situation in hand. They previously committed to reaching profitability on their adjusted EBITDA basis by next year. On their call with investors and analysts following the company's fourth-quarter report, they pushed that target forward by a quarter.

"While we've already started demonstrating strong profitability improvements, we view 2020 as a truly transformational year," Nelson Chai, Uber's chief financial officer, said on the call.

Analysts that cover the company largely cheered its report and its profit prediction. Wedbush analyst Ygal Arounian called the announcement of impending positive adjusted EBITDA a "shocker" in a research note.

"This was a giant step forward for Dara and team and shows the business model is starting to hit another gear," he said in the note. 

At least on the surface, Uber officials already had something to crow about. On its adjusted EBITDA basis, its loss shrank from $817 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 to $615 million in the just-completed period.

But those numbers illustrated the flaws in the company's preferred way of reporting its bottom line.

Uber's 'profitability' figure isn't actual profitability

Many tech companies report or point to their EBITDA numbers. EBITDA is typically thought of as a proxy for the profitability or cash flow generated by a company's core operations, since it eliminates certain non-cash charges and income or expenses that don't come from those operations.

But Uber's adjusted EBITDA figure goes far beyond typical EBITDA. Because the company touts numerous non-standard accounting figures and measures, its earnings releases include a glossary to define just what its bespoke terms mean. According to that glossary, adjusted EBITDA excludes not only what's left out of standard EBITDA, but also earnings or losses from discontinued operations, earnings or losses that can be assigned to minority investors in its subsidiaries, and earnings or losses from companies it has invested in.

But that's not all. It leaves out stock-based compensation — a big expense at tech companies including Uber, which saw $243 million of such costs in the fourth-quarter alone. It excludes restructuring charges, $12 million of which Uber recorded in the fourth quarter. It omits impairments of or losses on the sale of assets and any acquisition costs.

On top of all that, it excludes "other items not indicative of our ongoing operating performance," a catch-all phrase that Uber could, in theory, use to leave out just about any expense.

Given all that Uber already leaves out of the adjusted EBITDA and what it could, it wouldn't be at all surprising if the company meets its goal of becoming "profitable" on that basis, the business experts said.

"Do I think that it's possible they will hit the profitability target as they defined it?" said Rob Siegel, a lecturer in management at Stanford Graduate School of Business. "Sure."

Uber's report is reminiscent of those from the dot-com days

The question is whether anyone should pay attention to that, he and other business experts said.

Uber's adjusted EBITDA and other proprietary financial terms triggered dèjá vu among some business experts.

Twenty years ago during the dot-com boom, many startup companies touted their own custom-created financial and performance metrics instead of emphasizing how they were doing under standard accounting principles. Many of those companies touted "pro-forma" profits that were derided as excluding everything but the kitchen sink. Many of those companies ended up going out of business or seeing their share prices plunge when investors and creditors refocused on their actual bottom lines — expenses and all.

"I think it's very similar to the dot-com days, when they're kind of pushing out all these metrics and all of these financial figures for us to try to grab on to, when the bottom line is they're just not making money," said Dan Morgan, a senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust and a longtime tech investor. Synovus owns 7,450 shares of Uber, a relatively small position for the firm.

But Uber's focus on adjusted EBITDA is problematic in another important way, experts said. While standard EBITDA is supposed to be an indicator of a company's operating profitability, Uber's adjusted figure looks increasingly out of sync with its own operating performance. While the company's adjusted EBIDTA loss shrank in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period, it's operating cash outflow actually worsened considerably and was much worse than its adjusted EBITDA figure would have suggested.

In the fourth quarter, Uber's operations burned through nearly $1.8 billion in cash — or about three times more than its adjusted EBITDA loss. In the year-ago period, the company's operations consumed $837 million, only $20 million more than its adjusted EBITDA loss.

"Their cash flow is a real issue and a real concern," said Stanford's Siegel. 

Yet despite their forecasts of adjusted EBITDA profits, Uber's executives had little to say about when the company might start generating positive cash flow or become profitable on a standard accounting basis.

Uber's figure may be more than just 'noise' — but maybe not

Companies tend to promote non-standard accounting measures for two main reasons, said Robert Hendershott, an associate finance professor at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. In some cases, their executives truly believe such figures offer investors insights into their business that investors couldn't get from standard metrics. In other cases, companies use them to try to distract from their real performance.

Hendershott is dubious that the latter strategy works.

When "companies come out with adjusted numbers that are just creating nonsense and noise, investors ignore them," Hendershott said.

But some experts are worried that the heavy promotion of such figures can confuse investors. Uber's forecast was widely reported as a prediction of actual profits — not adjusted EBITDA. And even its own executives, when making the forecast, said they expected the company to post positive EBIDTA — leaving out the "adjusted" part. A company representative clarified to Business Insider that they did in fact mean adjusted EBITDA.

"You really have to ask whether the company's management actually wants investors to understand what's going on," said Gary Lutin, a former investment banker and chairman of The Shareholder Forum, an advocate for investor rights.

To be sure, Uber's focus on turning its adjusted EBITDA figure positive isn't necessarily meaningless, some of the experts said. It's a potentially a sign that the company is focusing on reducing its costs and improving its actual bottom line, they said.

"I think it's really a directional momentum question," said Hendershott. "If they can turn the ship and they can start improving profitability, given their business model, whatever they're doing to do that in 2020, they should be able do more of it."

But many believe that Uber's claims to an improving bottom line shouldn't be believed until it can actually show them on a standard accounting basis.

"I'm personally in a wait-and-see mode," said Synovus' Morgan. "I'm still in the camp that I'm not quite sure these models are ever going to work."

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Original author: Troy Wolverton

Google's head of human resources Eileen Naughton announced that she would be stepping down from her role this year, as tensions between employees and management continue to roil the company. The news was first reported by Fortune.

Naughton will stay on at Google, but it's not clear in what role. In statement provided by Google, Naughton said she was stepping down because she had decided to move back to New York. 

"I'm at the very beginning of the process, and wanted to let everyone know upfront, as I'll be working with Sundar and Ruth to find a great leader for the People Operations team," Naughton said in a statement that Google provided to Business Insider.  

Naughton, who has been with the company since 2006 and headed human resources for the past four years, led the company's charge into becoming a massive operation. She spearheaded the recruitment of 70,000 new employees   and doubled Google's employee headcount.

But Naughton was also in charge of a workforce that grew increasingly angry with the company's management, over its alleged handling of sexual harassment claims, elimination of town hall meetings, and tightening oversight of employees. 

In November 2019, Google fired four employees for allegedly sharing internal information. The employees in question hit back, and filed charges of unfair labor practices. 

In her statement, Naughton said that she was still in the process of stepping down, and said that no replacement had yet been found. 

A statement from Google also confirmed that Naughton would be staying on with the company, although her future role remained undetermined. 

"Over the past 13 years, Eileen has made major contributions to the company in numerous areas, from media partnerships, to leading our sales and operations in the UK and Ireland, to leading our People Operations team through a period of significant growth — during which over 70,000 people started their careers at Google," a statement from Google CEO Sundar Pichai said. "We're grateful to Eileen for all she's done and look forward to her next chapter at Google." 

Original author: Bani Sapra

Slack's biggest customer is IBM, the company revealed on Monday. While IBM has been a Slack customer for several years, IBM recently decided to deploy Slack to all 350,000 of its customers, the company told Business Insider on Monday. Analysts tell Business Insider that the deal is a good sign of Slack's ability to win large enterprise customers and compete with Microsoft Teams, which Wall Street has been worried will put pressure on Slack.Click here to read more stories from BI Prime.

Slack's deepening business with IBM, the chat app's largest customer, is a testament to its ability to win the trust and budgets of large corporations at a critical moment for the newly public company, according to industry analysts. 

Monday's news that IBM is going "wall-to-wall" with Slack, a deal first reported by Business Insider and which means that IBM will expand its use of Slack to all 350,000 of its employees, comes as Slack is facing intense competition from Microsoft and its rival Teams chat product. 

For Slack to withstand the competition from Microsoft, many analysts believe it must make inroads with not just small and midsized business customers, but within the large enterprise corporations where Microsoft's long operating history and scale give it an edge. 

The IBM deal "is a nod to other enterprise CIOs that Slack is ready for wide-scale deployment," wrote William Blair analyst Arjun Bhatia in a note to investors on Monday. 

"Notably," the analyst continued, "it appears that Slack's security, reliability, integrations, and general effectiveness (i.e., users at IBM actually engaged with Slack) played a role in the deal."

Alex Zukin, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, echoed that sentiment and said this shows that Slack's product is "highly scalable."

IBM has been using Slack in smaller teams across the company since 2014, and the partnership with Slack was first struck in 2016, but the company decided late last year to deploy it to everyone inside the organization. Approximately 300,000 IBM employees are now on Slack, and IBM is in the process of onboarding its remaining 50,000 employees. 

Slack's stock surged as much as 15 percent on Monday following Business Insider's report about the expanded deal with IBM.  After Business Insider's report, Slack published an 8-K filing with the SEC stating that the company was not updating its financial forecast as a result of the report, and noting that "IBM has been Slack's largest customer for several years and has expanded its usage of Slack over that time." Shares of Slack gave back some of Monday's gains after the filing and were down roughly 7% in extended trading.

Bhatia writes that once IBM has fully deployed Slack across the company, it could contribute about $30 million to Slack's annual recurring revenue or just over 4 percent of it's total annual recurring revenue.

Dan Newman at Futurum Research said a deal with IBM is a "tremendous win for the company," but that he is not surprised that IBM decided to go with Slack, because as IBM gets more competitive with Microsoft it will want to use tools from companies it doesn't directly compete with. 

"IBM, especially after the acquisition of Red Hat, is going to be entering an even more competitive phase in the coming years with Microsoft and Cisco ... They probably would never even consider at this point, giving such a large collaboration to anybody else, when they have the choice to give it to Slack," Newman told Business Insider. 

He noted that Slack's product doesn't directly compete with IBM and said that Slack has an opportunity to win business with other companies that may not want to use a Microsoft or Cisco product for communication and collaboration because they might be competitors.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Original author: Paayal Zaveri

Impala, a London-based tech startup, just raised a $20 million Series B round only four months after securing an $11 million Series A. The startup provides APIs (application program interface) to "plug in" to hotel databases to improve experiences and raised new funds from top VCs Lakestar and Latitude Capital. "The travel market is one of the largest in the world and we need to scale to take advantage of that," Impala cofounder and CEO Ben Stephenson told Business Insider in an interview. "Fundraising is always a distraction but it helps us grow and bring plans forward to better integrate our services with customers." Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Getting VC fundraising is a notoriously lengthy and tricky process for startup CEOs. Months of meetings and conversations about your company, revenue, and valuations can be a distraction from the day-to-day running of a business.

Despite that, London-based tech startup Impala has just raised its second VC fundraise, a $20 million Series B, only four months after its last round to continue its scaling plans. 

The startup, which wants to be similar to Plaid — a startup which provides the tech infrastructure for financial services — for hotels, was founded in 2016.  It's a massive market, with some $600 billion a year spent on hotel booking every year according to Impala, which led to European VCs Lakestar and Latitude Capital approaching the startup for fundraising.

"When we closed the previous round last October we thought 'let's get cracking,' but when investors like Lakestar and Latitude approach you it's a great opportunity," Impala's CEO and cofounder Ben Stephenson told Business Insider in an interview. "They are great investors with strong experience, networks so are a big value add for us."

In effect, Impala provides APIs to "plug in" to hotel databases to improve experiences with customers able to access booking data to improve how travel booking takes place. 

The company previously closed an $11 million Series A round from Stride.VC, Kima Ventures, and Jerry Murdock, the cofounder of Insight Ventures . Impala had previously raised a $1.75 million seed round.

"I've spent the past six months looking at a capital table, fundraising is always a distraction," Stephenson added. "The travel market is one of the largest in the world and we need to scale to take advantage of that." 

Impala's current customers include Phillips and TripAdvisor and it already works with more than 300 hotels, including Accor, Mercure and Hyatt-branded properties. Impala claims to have a backlog of 3,500 hotels awaiting connection to its platform.

"We have been incredibly active in the travel tech space and our signalling system notified us of Impala," Lakestar partner Christoph Schuh told Business Insider in an interview. "We were disappointed to miss the Series A but we had a good conversation with Ben about doubling down and scaling to go to market. The round was competitive and we're ready to execute with our experience." 

Original author: Callum Burroughs

Uber and Postmates's lawsuit against the state of California suffered a big setback on MondayA Los Angeles judge rejected a bid to temporarily block California's gig-worker law from going into effect while Uber and Postmates challenge it in court. Gig-economy companies like Uber and Lyft have been fighting fiercely to block Assembly Bill 5, which is aimed at giving wage and benefit protections to people who work as independent contractors.The ruling means that the new law will be enforced while Uber and Postmates sue the state of California, and could have serious financial effects on both companies. A statement from Uber reiterated the company's commitment to continuing to challenge the case in court.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Postmates and Uber's lawsuit against California hit its first bump on Monday, as the two companies lost a preliminary motion to temporarily block California's gig-worker law from going into effect while they challenge it in court. 

A Los Angeles District Court judge presiding over the case said that the interests of the public outweighed any 'irreparable' harm that the new law could wreak on the companies' finances.  

"The balance of equities and the public interest weigh in favor of permitting the State to enforce this legislation," Judge Dolly M. Gee ruled. 

The judge's ruling means that the new law will be enforced while Uber and Postmates sue the state of California, a setback for the companies that could have serious financial implications.  

The two companies have been fighting fiercely to block California's Assembly Bill 5, which was approved by lawmakes in September. AB 5 is aimed at giving wage and benefit protections to people who work as independent contractors. But gig-economy companies have said that the additional labor costs could be a death knell to their businesses.

Uber and Postmates sued the state of California at the end of December, two days before AB 5 was set to go into effect. The two companies argued that the law violated federal and state guarantees of equal protection and due process, by targeting ride-share and delivery companies. 

A statement from Uber to Business Insider reiterated the company's commitment to continuing to challenge the case in court.

"We are joining a growing group of companies and individuals suing to ensure that all workers are equally protected under the law and can freely choose the way they want to work," an Uber spokesperson said. 

Shona Clarkson, an organizer with Gig Workers Rising, pushed back against Uber's claim that the law harmed worker protections. 

"The company is trying every trick in the book to get away with not treating drivers with the dignity and respect they deserve," Clarkson told Business Insider. "Drivers won't stop organizing until they get living wages, benefits and a voice at work."

Original author: Bani Sapra

Several email apps scrape the contents of people's inboxes and sell that data to finance and e-commerce companies, according to a new Motherboard report.The apps are primarily interested in tracking "transaction data," gleaning information from receipts and shipping emails that show people's consumer behavior.The apps then sell that data to third-party companies that use the information to make investment decisions.Email apps scraping peoples' inboxes for profit include Edison, Cleanfox, and Slice.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Several email productivity apps, popular for offering people tools to organize their inbox, are scanning the content of users' emails and selling that data to clients for profit, according to a new report by Motherboard's Joseph Cox.

The apps, whose data-selling practices Motherboard learned about from confidential documents, include Edison, Cleanfox, and Slice. 

Edison's website says it "accesses and processes" people's emails, and Cleanfox and Slice offer similar disclaimers. More specifically, the companies scan users' inboxes for emails that include receipts or shipping notifications to track the items users are purchasing and how much they're spending.

The apps then sell anonymized or pseudonymized versions of that information to clients that are interested in consumer trends, like finance and e-commerce companies.

An Edison spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider that it uses software that "automatically recognizes commercial emails and extracts purchase information from them," ignoring "personal and work email." 

A spokesperson for Rakuten, the company that owns Slice, told Business Insider that the company tells its users that it is collecting their data for market research and that the company values "the protection of consumer privacy."

In an email to Business Insider, Foxintelligence CEO Edouard Nattée emphasized that the company discloses to new users that it uses anonymized data from "transactional emails."

"What we do is precisely the opposite of what companies like Facebook or Google are doing. We are building a model where the users get a free product and still, the user doesn't become the product," Nattée said.

While each of the three companies highlighted that the data being collected is anonymized or pseudonymized, multiple recent studies by computer science researchers have called the notion of anonymized data into question — in most cases, researchers found that anonymous data stolen in breaches could be easily tied back to specific people with relatively high certainty. 

Original author: Aaron Holmes

Ola, an Indian ride-hailing firm, launched its operations in London on Monday, giving strong competition to the likes of Uber and Bolt.The Softbank-backed firm is offering users discounts and drivers zero commissions in order to lure numbers. The app has stronger safety features with options like a start code to give to the driver before the journey begins. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories

Ola, a ride-hailing app launched in London on Monday and I decided to take a ride and find out just how different it is from its peers. 

But I am not new to Ola. I have taken many Ola rides during vacations in India where Ola has become the standard means of transport and is more popular than Uber. My parents, who weren't the most app-savvy till about a few years ago, have switched to Ola instead of taking their Hyundai out and so has a large part of the smartphone-savvy Indian population. 

However, back in London, it's always been Uber or Kapten for me. But I decided to give Ola a try on Monday evening and here's how I think it's different from its peers.

Spriha Srivastava/Business Insider

I took a short journey, and used the £5 ($6.46) introductory voucher from Ola. The app is pretty straightforward and easy to use. It gives you the option to add a few stops, and a range of cars to choose from. These are categorized as "Comfort," "Comfort XL" and Exec. Upon selecting your choice of car, a waiting time is shown and you are then connected to Ola drivers in your area.

I selected a Comfort Ola, with a waiting time of 5 minutes. Now, here's where Ola is different from all the other ride-hailing services I have taken. Once you confirm your ride, the app sends you a start code, which is written on the left hand corner of the app. When you sit in the car, the driver asks for this code in order to start the journey. Without this code, a journey cannot be activated. 

Spriha Srivastava/Business Insider I sat in my ride and was welcomed by the driver as his "first Ola customer." The driver, David, whose name we changed because of privacy concerns, said he worked for all the ride-hailing apps in London. This includes a long list of Uber, Bolt, Kapten, ViaVan and now Ola. Upon asking him which one he likes the best, he said Bolt because they cut the lowest commission from drivers. 

"Ola is currently offering zero commissions till March 20. I am not sure what happens after that," he said. 

David, however, wasn't very pleased with the launch of another ride-hailing app.

"It's the same customers but more companies. As drivers, we don't have loyalty toward any of them. It will be so easy if there was a single service for both drivers and riders," he said. 

While on the ride, I began playing around with the app and realized another feature that was very different from Ola's peers - the safety icon. It is conveniently placed on the right-hand side, at the top of the app. Upon clicking it, you get an alarming red message that asks you to swipe in the event of an emergency and promises the safety team will be in contact immediately. 

Spriha Srivastava/Business Insdier

Ola promises a 24/7 customer care support and has been offering vouchers in order to lure riders. The Indian ride-hailing app's launch on Monday saw front-page ads as well as a huge presence on social media. The company, which has raised close to $3.8 billion from Softbank, gives Uber and its peers another rival to battle in the increasingly crowded ride-hailing space. 

Original author: Spriha Srivastava

Of the numerous robot vacuums that were available on Amazon Prime Day last year, the one that could be most credited with beginning the self-cleaning craze is the Roomba from iRobot. Unsurprisingly, given its high-tech capabilities, the line of robot vacuums is not cheap.

iRobot's line of Roomba robot vacuums can clean your house as you sit back and relax or paint the town red. They're usually several hundred dollars and can even cost up to $1,000, which is why it makes sense to take advantage of Prime Day Roomba sales. If you've always wanted to upgrade from your handheld vacuum to a fancy new robovac, Prime Day 2020 may be your chance. 

Other robot vacuums from brands like Ecovacs and Eufy were also on sale last year, but if you're looking specifically for an iRobot model, Amazon's next Prime Day could have some pretty solid deals.

For now, make sure you're an Amazon Prime member so you can shop all the best Prime Day 2020 deals. You can get a free 30-day trial here. And start planning your shopping list by taking a look at all of the best Roomba discounts we saw during Prime Day last year, below. 

Original author: Connie Chen

You can restart an Apple TV in three ways: through a remote shortcut, through the Settings app, or by unplugging it.It can be useful to restart your Apple TV occasionally, especially if you're experiencing bugs or glitches.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Since the Apple TV doesn't have a power button, you can't physically restart it from the device unless you unplug and plug it back in. 

Restarting can be useful for several reasons, especially if your Apple TV is frozen or needs to be troubleshooted. 

Luckily, there are ways to restart an Apple TV that are easier than unplugging it from the wall. Here's how to restart your Apple TV in two ways, using the remote and Settings app.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Apple TV 4K (From $179.99 at Best Buy)

How to restart an Apple TV

First, you can use the remote.

If you have a Siri Remote or Apple TV Remote — this remote has a touchpad and a microphone button — hold down the Home and Menu buttons until the light on your Apple TV flashes. Let go when the light on your Apple TV starts flashing and it will restart. 

Original author: Ryan Ariano

Alyssa Powell/Business Insider Disney's new streaming service Disney Plus is now available. A month-by-month subscription costs $6.99/month. The yearly subscription is a little cheaper and costs $69.99/year ($5.83/month).For these prices, subscribers get ad-free access to thousands of movies and TV shows, including exclusive original programming from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox. There's also a bundled package option. For $12.99/month, you can get Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN+. If you buy each individually, the total cost would be $17.97/month. New subscribers can try the service for free for the first seven days. 

One of the most affordable streaming services on the market is now available on your TV. 

Disney Plus, a new ad-free streaming service created by the Walt Disney Company, became available on November 12 and immediately attracted 10 million subscribers on its first day. Analysts predict there will be 18 million customers by the end of 2020. 

The highly anticipated service features programming from not only Disney, but also all of Disney's subsidiaries: Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox. 

Subscribers can enjoy movies and TV series old and new, including programming that can only be found on Disney Plus. 

Find more information about the cost and features of Disney Plus below. 

There are a few different prices, depending on whether you want to pay on a monthly basis, commit to a yearlong subscription, or bundle Disney Plus with Hulu and ESPN+. Regardless of which you choose, you get a seven-day free trial to see whether you want to sign up for the full subscription.  

Seven-day trial for new subscribers to Disney Plus only: Free 

Month-by-month subscription: $6.99/month

Yearly subscription: $69.99/year (comes out to $5.83/month)

Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle: $12.99/month ($17.97/month if you sign up for each service individually)

Disney Plus, Hulu (ad-free), and ESPN+ bundle: $18.99/month ($23.97 if you sign up for each service individually). Read on to find out how to get the bundle with the ad-free version of Hulu. 

What's included in this price? 

Ad-free streaming of thousands of Disney movies and TV shows, including original movies, series, and documentaries exclusive to Disney PlusUnlimited downloads Ability to stream on four devices simultaneouslyAbility to add up to seven profiles 

How does the price of Disney Plus compare to that of other streaming services? 

Disney Plus offers a competitive price. Here's how it compares to other popular, non-live TV streaming services. The prices shown are for the ad-free plans (if applicable). 

Netflix: $8.99 to $15.99/month 

Hulu: $11.99/month 

Amazon Prime Video: $8.99/month 

Apple TV: $4.99/month

HBO Now: $14.99/month

If you would also like sports content and movies and TV from non-Disney sources, you should consider the bundle option. The Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle, which is also now available, costs $12.99/month. If you sign up for each of these services individually, the total would come out to $17.97/month.

However, the version of Hulu in the bundle still includes ads. In order to enjoy the ad-free version of Hulu while getting the savings of the bundle, you need to become a Hulu customer first. Here's what to do: 

Sign up for ad-free Hulu ($11.99/month). Sign up for the Disney Plus bundle with the same email address you used to sign up for ad-free Hulu. You will have new Disney Plus and ESPN+ accounts but will continue to be billed separately for your Hulu subscription. Every month, Disney will credit you $5.99, which is the value of the ad-supported Hulu in the original bundle. 

Read everything else you should know about Disney Plus here:

Disney Plus: Everything you need to know about Disney's ad-free streaming serviceHow to get a free week of Disney PlusAll the new movies you can watch on Disney Plus — from the live-action 'Lady and the Tramp' to holiday comedy 'Noelle'All the new shows you can watch on Disney Plus — from 'The Mandalorian' to new Pixar shortsAll the kids' movies you can stream on Disney Plus — from 'Snow White' to 'Frozen'All the new kids' shows you can watch on Disney Plus — from 'Vampirina' to the new reboot of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'All the Marvel movies and shows you can stream on Disney Plus — from 'Iron Man' to the new 'Loki'Every single Star Wars movie will be available on Disney PlusAll the Pixar films and shorts you can stream on Disney Plus — from 'Toy Story' to 'Inside Out'

Original author: Connie Chen