Samsung created new packaging for its Lifestyle TVs that lets customers re-use the cardboard in useful ways.Cardboard packaging for The Serif, The Frame, and The Sero TVs can be made into shelves, cat houses, or containers.Samsung teamed up with Dezeen, a British magazine, to award up to $20,000 to the customer that repurposes the packaging most creatively.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Samsung designed new eco-friendly packaging for some of its TVs so customers can transform what might have been a heap of garbage into useful household items like cat houses, magazine and book holders, or entertainment centers, the company recently announced.

Samsung introduced the new packaging, which we first saw thanks to Gizmodo, as a way to limit waste and encourage recycling. The packing comes with some of Samsung's luxury TVs including The Serif, The Frame, and The Sero. 

Check out what you can do with Samsung's cardboard packaging:

Original author: Jessica Snouwaert

The next game in the massive "Grand Theft Auto" game series is currently in production, according to a new Kotaku report, but it's still early days.The game is said to be smaller than a traditional "GTA" game — the series is known for huge open worlds — but it could be expanded out after launch.The game is also said to be "early in development," which would mean we're still a few years away from hearing anything official. "GTA" maker Rockstar Games has yet to officially announce a sequel to 2013's "Grand Theft Auto 5," and representatives did not respond to a request for comment on this report as of publishing.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's been nearly seven years since the last major "Grand Theft Auto" game launched, and the game remains a juggernaut. 

It's the third-best-selling game of all time, just behind "Tetris" and "Minecraft." It just keeps selling — "GTA 5" has been one of the 20 best-selling games in the US nearly every month since it launched.

But where is the next "GTA" — the long-awaited, but still unannounced, "Grand Theft Auto 6"? 

The franchise's creator, Rockstar Games, is said to be working on that very game right now, but it's still early days for the next major "GTA" entry. 

"Rockstar's next big project is still early in development," according to a new Kotaku report. Moreover, the game is said to be smaller than past entries in the series, and there could be ongoing expansions post-launch.

Rockstar Games

The new report is the first major indication that Rockstar is currently producing the next entry in the "Grand Theft Auto" series.

That said, Rockstar's history across the past decade paints a pretty clear picture of what's to come.

The studio's last game, "Red Dead Redemption 2," came out in October 2018. Before that, it launched "Grand Theft Auto 5" in September 2013. And prior to that, it launched "Red Dead Redemption" in May 2010. 

Before that? You guessed it: "Grand Theft Auto 4" in April 2008.

To put it mildly, there's a sense of inevitability about the next Rockstar game being the next "Grand Theft Auto" entry.

Besides a publishing deal Rockstar made with an outside development studio to publish 2011's "L.A. Noire", the company has a steady cadence of one major game launch every two to three years — sometimes it goes even longer, as in the five-year gap between "GTA 5" and "Red Dead Redemption 2."

Given that the next "GTA" is said to still be in the early development stages, and most video games take years to develop, we can safely assume it's planned for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X — so-called "next-generation" game consoles scheduled to arrive this holiday season.

Rockstar itself has yet to announce a new "Grand Theft Auto" game, and a studio representative didn't respond to a request for comment as of publishing.

Original author: Ben Gilbert

I tested a $62,515 2020 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that featured a 3.0-liter diesel engine.The Silverado ranks behind the Ram 1500 and the Ford F-150 in my full-size pickup list, but the diesel motor adds something special to this Chevy truck.Towing capacity is respectable, and fuel economy is appealing at nearly 30 mpg on the highway.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Of the top three full-size pickups in the US market, the Chevrolet Silverado has long been last on my list. Driving the diesel version didn't move it up, but it sure did heighten my opinion of the truck.

That list, of course, includes the Ram 1500 and Ford F-150 ahead of Chevy's offering. The Silverado was new for 2019, but I didn't think the pickup's designers and engineers went far enough. Meanwhile, the F-150 retrained its lordly position, and the revamped Ram 1500 was so good that we named it our 2019 Car of the Year.

The Silverado is a good truck, and it's newer than than the mighty F-150, which is slated for a redesign in 2020. But it just hasn't been good enough to pass the other two. 

A funny thing happened a few months back, however. Chevy loaned me a 2020 Silverado featuring a Z71 off-road package and a 3.0-liter Duramax diesel engine, and it was so good that it made me completely reassess my view of the truck. Read to find out why:

Original author: Matthew DeBord

Advertisers across industries have cut their budgets due to the coronavirus pandemic, but a study from tech company Playground XYZ found people are paying more attention to ads as they spend more time online.Attention paid to ads in certain categories, like finance and food, went up by more than 20%, according to the study.Playground XYZ CEO Rob Hall said brands that pull their ads could miss the chance to make a lasting impression.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Ad agencies and marketers are scrambling to retool their strategies as the coronavirus pandemic leads to campaign cancellations, furloughs, and layoffs.

But a new study by ad tech company Playground XYZ found that as people spend more time online during the lockdown, their attention paid to ads grew 6% in March, with some ad categories increasing as much as 23%.

People are paying more attention to ads in categories like finance and food

A recent study by Global Web Index found that 87% of US respondents are consuming more content during lockdown, with nearly 50% reading more news stories.

Playground XYZ CEO Rob Hall said his company, whose primary product is a programmatic ad buying platform that it sells to brands and media agencies, used smartphone cameras to track eye movement responses to 1,200 ads over the past six months.

It found people are not only seeing more ads despite brands' efforts to avoid appearing near virus-related news but spending more time looking at the ads themselves — especially in categories, like personal finance, food and drink, and ecommerce, that have grown more relevant during this time.

Playground XYZ

Consumer attention to ads for sports, education, and travel dropped by 20%, 13%, and 9% in March, respectively, as those industries have all but shut down. Health and fitness ads also took a hit.

Meanwhile, attention paid to style and fashion ads increased by 20%. Hall theorized that this was because consumers have more time on their hands.

Context also mattered, with ads that appear in stories about business, technology, and lifestyle topics garnering the most attention.

The coronavirus is reversing people's efforts to reduce mobile time

A 2018 study by Omnicom media-buying agency Hearts and Science found 67% of people were trying to use mobile devices less to avoid wasting personal time.

But new research from Omnicom data firm Annalect and mobile platform Kochava showed a big uptick in app downloads and time spent on browsers, social, gaming, and video since the pandemic struck.

Brands that stop advertising will miss out on a chance to make a lasting impression because people are spending more time online, said Renee Cassard, chief audience officer for Hearts and Science, which was not involved in the study. Making sure the messaging is right is especially important now, though, she added.

In another example of an opportunity for brands, she said Omnicom research shows that ad revenue for Amazon streaming platform Twitch has nearly quadrupled over the past month.

Cassard predicted some of these trends will continue post-pandemic. News consumption may die down, but new apps that prove popular — some of which are ad-supported — will stay around.

Still, the data might leave some advertisers unconvinced. Even if consumers are paying more attention to ads, 88% of publishers said brands have canceled recent campaigns, according to a new report from the Internet Advertising Bureau. 

Original author: Patrick Coffee

Google is working on physical and virtual debit cards as it looks to catch Apple's lead in the fintech space, a new report claims.The card will reportedly be co-branded with various bank partners and would link to an app that offers details of the users' transactions.Google already has a payment platform in Google Pay, but a card would make it easier for users to make purchases physically, using the app, or online.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Google is reportedly working on a smart debit card as it looks to make a splash in the fintech space – and catch Apple's lead.

TechCrunch reports that Google is working on physical and virtual debit cards which would link to an associated checking account.

The cards will be co-branded with different bank partners, depending on the users' checking account, with CITI and Stanford Federal Credit Union mentioned in the report.

As of right now, the company's Google Pay platform offers online and peer-to-peer transactions, as well as tap-to-pay using an associated bank card, but Google doesn't actually have a card of its own – something Apple started offering last year with the Apple credit card, which is backed by Goldman Sachs.

Similarly, Google's card would connect to an app and allow the user to purchase things either using the card, their phone, or online. Like the Apple app, Google's will give the user an easy way to see activity on their account.

Not everything is known about this card, but TechCrunch obtained images of what appears to be a chip card on the Visa network. The report says users would be able to add and remove funds from their linked account, presumably using the Google Pay app.

If any of this happens, Google will essentially be leaning on banks to provide the infrastructure while taking some of the friction out of the overall banking experience.

But this would also give Google the opportunity to charge interchange and other various fees, opening up new, potentially highly lucrative new revenue streams for the company. 

Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google was eyeing banking as its next major conquest. With regards to the latest report, Google gave TechCrunch the same response it gave the Journal last year: "We're exploring how we can partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer smart checking accounts through Google Pay, helping their customers benefit from useful insights and budgeting tools, while keeping their money in an FDIC or NCUA-insured account. Our lead partners today are Citi and Stanford Federal Credit Union, and we look forward to sharing more details in the coming months."

A spokesperson had not responded to Business Insider's request for comment at the time of publishing.

There's no guarantee the Google card will actually launch, but if it does, privacy will naturally be a big area of concern here. Google Pay already links users' payment information to their Google Account when they add cards. A Google card would presumably do the same, and could allow the company to improve ad targeting using people's transaction information.

That means Google might struggle more than Apple to sell the idea of a banking card to its users.

Original author: Hugh Langley

Melinda Gates said in an interview with BBC Radio on Thursday that she and her husband, Bill, had been storing food in their basements for years in anticipation of a pandemic or other disaster.

"A number of years ago, we had talked about, you know, what if there wasn't clean water? What if there wasn't enough food? Where might we go? What might we do as a family?" she said on the radio show. "So I think we should leave those preparations to ourselves. But absolutely we had prepared and had, you know, some food in the basement in case."

The only thing they did not prepare, however, was the vaccine or a treatment for the virus that would cause a pandemic, though she acknowledged her and her family's privilege when it comes to dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak.

"What we mostly talk about now in our home every night is how lucky we are," she continued. "We understand our privilege. And when we say our grace at night, what we're thankful for, around the table, is that we aren't struggling to put a meal on the table as so many families around the world are."

Business Insider's Debanjali Bose previously reported that Bill Gates has been warning about a pandemic for years, saying in a 2015 TED Talk that the world wasn't "ready for the next epidemic" and repeating the sentiment in a 2017 op-ed article for Business Insider, where he wrote that the next epidemic could be "a super contagious and deadly strain of the flu."

The Microsoft cofounder has been outspoken during the coronavirus pandemic, telling the Financial Times in early April that it would be the "biggest event" of most people's lifetimes. He has been suggesting actions countries could take to help keep track of the virus, including creating an international database to share information with one another.

On Wednesday, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced it would provide $150 million in funding to help deploy additional medical supplies and to help scientists discover treatments and a vaccine for the virus. The foundation has donated a total of $250 million to aid global coronavirus response efforts.

Original author: Dominic-Madori Davis

I recently spoke with Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and coauthor of "Option B," on video chat about grief and loss during the coronavirus pandemic.She talked about the 2015 death of her husband, Dave Goldberg, and revealed she recently lost a family member because of complications from the novel coronavirus. I talked about losing my brother, Matthew Ward, because of an accidental drug overdose in 2019.Sandberg said the pandemic is causing mass grief but it is also presenting an opportunity for collective resilience and courage.She and the psychologist Adam Grant recently released an excerpt from their book, "Option B," along with a new foreword about grief during the coronavirus pandemic to help people cope.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

For the past 11 months, I've been grieving the death of my younger brother, Matthew Ward, who died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 21. I've been living what Facebook COO and author Sheryl Sandberg calls "Option B."

It's the state where, after experiencing something earth-shattering, a person tries to find the next best option in life. It's where you learn to climb mountains, one step at a time.

Sandberg started living "Option B" in 2015 after her husband, the SurveyMonkey CEO David Goldberg, died at age 47 that same year. Two years later, she coauthored a book with the same name along with the Wharton psychologist Adam Grant. Since then, she's become a public advocate for addressing grief, building personal strength, and for bereavement leave.

On Thursday, I interviewed the Facebook COO on a Zoom call for a story on grief.

I decided to go with my gut and lead with why I was passionate about covering the topic — because of my own journey. When I told her what happened to my brother, she stopped me mid-sentence.

"So sorry. Like, so sorry," she said, putting up her hands. "'Cause the death, it's an avoidable — that — like so sorry."

There was a pause. She knew there were no other words. And I knew too.

After a moment, I began the interview, asking her about what the world is experiencing right now. We began the conversation with how not only we were personally grieving but the world is grieving because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"You didn't want your brother to die. I didn't want my husband to die. The entire world is living 'Option B' right now. Everyone," Sandberg said.

In the US alone, more than 28,000 people have died because of the coronavirus. Some 22 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past month. Millions of others have lost their sense of normality, with social distancing and self-isolation affecting households everywhere.

As I was speaking with Sandberg, I realized that the pandemic has given me, and everyone else on the planet, a unique opportunity. It's given us the chance to talk freely and openly about an extremely difficult, and often personal, subject most keep quiet — grief.

Sandberg revealed she lost a family member because of complications from the coronavirus.

"Now some people are suffering much more than others," she said. "We lost my fiancé's first cousin, so we've had direct death in our family. Some people have health things, some people are much more worried about the economic situation. But I honestly think there's not a single person who's not living some form of Option B right now."

The collective psyche is changed, she says. The pandemic presents an opportunity for collective resilience.

"I think this is going to change us and I hope and want it to change us for the better so that we do more. We give more to strangers, we give more to the people in our lives, and I think we are seeing that, and that is collective resilience," she said.

Recently, Sandberg said that the coronavirus is exacerbating inequality in the US and called on individuals, government, and business leaders to help address it. She and several high-profile business leaders, for example, raised more than $8 million to fund local food banks.

Now Sandberg, along with coauthor Grant, is helping out in a different way. She released an excerpt from the book "Option B," with a new foreword responding to the crisis, available online free. The excerpt includes several tips for coping with anxiety and loss.

"The question is when life throws the unexpected challenge our way, death for you and me, everything we're going through, now what do we do? And the answer is we try to build resilience," Sandberg said.

Here are five important things to remember if you're experiencing anxiety or grief right now, according to Sandberg.

Original author: Marguerite Ward

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"The Last Dance" will focus on Jordan's 1997-98 season with the Bulls. Jeff Haynes/Staff/Getty Images It doesn't matter what LeBron fans on Twitter or morning sports show hosts try to argue; Michael Jordan is still widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time.During his last season with the Chicago Bulls, 1997-98, a camera crew followed Jordan and the team, capturing never-before-seen footage.ESPN has now compiled that footage with new interviews to create "The Last Dance," a 10-part documentary series originally scheduled to premiere in June.With the NBA season on an indefinite pause, fans (and even LeBron James) lobbied for an earlier release date, and ESPN has now granted that wish.The first two episodes will now drop on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN via cable, satellite, or live TV streaming services, including Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV, and YouTube TV.

Michael Jordan is one of the most celebrated figures in popular culture and almost universally regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time. In a career filled with too many accolades to list, MJ dominated the '90s, leading the Chicago Bulls to six championships. The only years the team didn't win it all during this incredible run were when Jordan was either retired or trying his hand at minor-league baseball.

In 1997-98, Jordan's final season with the Bulls, an NBA Entertainment crew followed the team, capturing never-before-seen footage. ESPN has partnered with director Jason Hehir ("The Fab Five," "Andre the Giant") to use this footage to create a new docuseries called "The Last Dance."

In addition to the footage collected in the 1997-98 season, the documentary will include new interviews featuring various people involved with the team. The trailer features appearances by Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson, Dennis Rodman, and a modern-day Michael Jordan paired with a comically large cigar.

"The Last Dance" will unfold across 10 episodes over five weeks. Two episodes will air every Sunday starting April 19, and the final installments will drop on May 17.

Updated on 4/17/2020 by Joe Osborne: We've pushed this article to the top of our pages again to remind you that this documentary begins airing this Sunday, April 19, at 9 p.m. ET on all of the below mentioned channels and services. Meanwhile, read our guides on Sling TV as well as Hulu Live, both of which are airing the documentary.

Several of Jordan's teammates have been interviewed for "The Last Dance," including Dennis Rodman. Fred Jewell/AP

With fans (including LeBron James) pining for content in the wake of sports shutdowns, ESPN recently announced plans to release "The Last Dance" earlier than expected. Though the documentary series was originally set to debut in June, the first two episodes will now premiere on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET. A new batch of two episodes will then drop each following Sunday at that same time.

The series will be aired live on ESPN in the United States through various cable and satellite packages that carry the network. International viewers can watch the show on Netflix the day after each episode airs on ESPN.

The episodes will also be available to stream through the ESPN app in the US after they premiere. With that said, you'll still need an authenticated pay-TV subscription to access the show this way.

Meanwhile, if you want to watch live without a traditional cable subscription, you can stream "The Last Dance" using live TV streaming services with access to ESPN, including Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV, and Youtube TV.

Of those four options, the most affordable way to get live streaming access to "The Last Dance" is via a Sling TV Orange subscription. This plan features 32 channels, including ESPN, for $30 per month.

Original author: Danny Bakst

Original author: Sramana Mitra

Verizon agreed to acquire enterprise-focused video conferencing service BlueJeans for an estimated $400 million. BlueJeans provides a paid, encrypted video conferencing platform to over 15,000 clients, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Original author: Hirsh Chitkara

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Original author: Antonio Villas-Boas

Airbnb laid off its contract workers during a Zoom call with CEO Brian Chesky, as first reported by Protocol and confirmed to Business Insider by a worker in attendance.The company also postponed summer internships until 2021, Protocol reported.An Airbnb contractor told Business Insider that many people were caught off guard by the announcement, which came during Chesky's weekly Q&A.The layoffs come after Airbnb said it had slowed hiring and frozen all marketing spending as the company struggles to navigate the coronavirus pandemic.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Airbnb announced it was ending most of its temporary workers' contracts early, effectively laying them off, during a weekly Q&A over Zoom on Thursday with CEO Brian Chesky, as first reported by Protocol and confirmed to Business Insider by a worker who was in attendance.

"We are ending Agency Temp contracts early," Airbnb vice president of employee experience Beth Axelrod wrote in an email, according to Protocol, adding: "The expectation is that there will only be a small number of exceptions based on critical business needs. We don't have information on those exceptions yet, but they will be communicated over the next week."

The company also postponed summer internships and undergraduate hiring until 2021, Protocol reported.

Workers in attendance told Business Insider and Protocol that the announcement caught people by surprise, saying many in the meeting, including managers, appeared to not have been made aware of the layoffs beforehand.

The layoffs follow Airbnb's decision in late March to tell teams to halt or significantly slow hiring and freeze its marketing spending as the company began assessing the damage caused by coronavirus-related cancellations.

In the past two weeks, Airbnb has raised $2 billion in debt and equity in two separate fundraising deals as it looks to build add some financial cushion to help it survive in a travel industry that has been decimated in recent weeks. Airbnb was also reportedly losing money even before the pandemic, threatening to delay the company's plans to go public this year.

Airbnb did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker

Original author: Malarie Gokey and Antonio Villas-Boas

Original author: Sramana Mitra

Make4Covid is a new Colorado-based volunteer organization of makers working on making stuff related to the Covid crisis. They were started 26 days ago, have 2023 community volunteers, are working with 105 organizations, and have delivered 14,335 pieces of PPE as of this morning.

I’ve been in the Slack channel from inception and it’s just amazing to see what they’ve done. It’s an awesome example of the intersection of volunteers, 3D printing, makers, and a bunch of people motivated to help their fellow Coloradans in a crisis.

I’ve tried to do my part to connect them where I could, so hopefully I’ve been a little bit helpful. Amy and I – through our Anchor Point Foundation – just made a meaningful contribution.

Please consider joining us and making a donation to Make4Covid.

Original author: Brad Feld

Original author: Sramana Mitra

Original author: Maureen Kelly