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How to unlock an iPhone from your current carrier and switch it to a new one

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  • To unlock your iPhone from its carrier, you'll likely need to contact your carrier directly to cancel your contract.
  • Most carriers will require you to pay off any debt you have to them before they'll unlock your iPhone.
  • You'll need a paperclip or a similar object to replace the SIM card in your iPhone, which will allow you to link it to a new carrier.
  • You can also unlock your iPhone without linking it to a new carrier, but you'll lose some functionality.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Let's say you're about to ditch your current cell phone carrier for another. Before you make the switch, there are a few things to consider — like unlocking your iPhone.

When you buy a new iPhone, if you don't pay the entire price up front, it'll be "locked" to your carrier. This means that, until you pay it off, your phone can only connect to that carrier's network and no others.

And if you switch to a new carrier without unlocking it first, you might find yourself unable to send texts or make phone calls.

So if your iPhone is locked, but you need to switch carriers, here's what you'll need to do.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)

How to request an unlock from your carrier

Before anything, make sure your iPhone is fully paid for. Most carriers can refuse to unlock your phone if you're still on a payment plan with outstanding payments, according to the FCC.

Once you're all paid up, head to Apple's support page to find out whether "unlocking" is a service your carrier offers. Most major carriers like AT&T, Boost Mobile, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, and Xfinity do.

Once you're ready, call your carrier to request an unlock. Your request might take a few days to process, but you should be sent a confirmation email or letter once it's done.

If you're switching from AT&T to another carrier, you can use AT&T's convenient device unlocking portal to avoid calling customer service. This could take a few days to process. You'll be sent a confirmation once it's completed.

Once you're unlocked, feel free to cancel your old carrier contract.

How to unlock an iPhone with another SIM card

Once you have a SIM card from your new carrier, you can replace the card currently in your iPhone. Before you do this, backup your information to iCloud or your computer through iTunes and turn the device off.

1. Gently insert a paperclip or similar object into the hole of the SIM card slot on the side of your phone. A chipholder will pop out — gently remove it from the phone.

2. Remove the SIM card currently in the chipholder. Once removed, place your new SIM card into the chipholder and slide it back into place.

3. Turn your iPhone back on.

How to unlock an iPhone without another SIM card

In some cases, you might want to unlock your phone without tying it to a new carrier. This is easy to do, but might leave your iPhone without some functionality.

If this alright, once you unlock your iPhone, here's what you should do:

1. Backup your information to iCloud or iTunes.

2. Erase the iPhone by restoring the device to its original factory settings.

3. Restore the device from your backup.

If you get an error message when you try to restore the device:

1. Restore the device to its original factory settings.

2. Double-check with your carrier that the unlock was successful on their end.

3. Try again to restore the phone from your most recent backup.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

SEE ALSO: The best iPhone accessories from cases to lightning cables

Join the conversation about this story »

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2 ways to lock a Windows computer from your keyboard and quickly secure your data

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  • You can lock Windows from your keyboard by using two different key commands.
  • One way to lock a Windows computer from your keyboard is by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del and then selecting the "Lock" option.
  • If you only want to use the keyboard, you can lock Windows with the Windows Key + L command.
  • Once Windows is locked, you'll have to use your account password to open it again.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

You can't accuse Windows of not giving you enough ways to lock your computer. 

In addition to locking it from the Start menu, letting it lock automatically after a period of inactivity, and even using Bluetooth to lock when it senses you've left, there are two ways to lock Windows with quick keyboard shortcuts. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Windows 10 (From $139.99 at Best Buy)

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)

How to lock Windows from your keyboard 

Both keyboard shortcuts accomplish the same thing, so you can use whichever one is more convenient or easier for you to remember. 

Here's how to lock your Windows PC from the keyboard.

Press Ctrl + Alt + Del

You might know the Ctrl + Alt + Del shortcut as an old-fashioned way to interrupt Windows and reboot the computer. 

Its purpose has changed over the years, however. These days, this three-key shortcut has a variety of functions — including letting you lock Windows.

Press the Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys at the same time. A screen of options should appear. When it does, click "Lock."

keyboard 1

Press the Windows Key + L

There's an even faster way to lock the screen — do it in a single keystroke. 

Press the Windows and L keys at the same time. It should lock instantly. 

keyboard 2

 

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

SEE ALSO: The best all-in-one PCs you can buy

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The 20 billion-dollar startups to watch that are revolutionizing healthcare in 2020

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  • 2020 is shaping up to be a bumpy year for startups as they navigate the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Even so, through the first half of the year, healthcare startups managed to raise hundreds of millions, with some hitting unicorn status.
  • There are 20 healthcare startups that have reached unicorn status — or the $1 billion and over valuation mark — according to valuations determined by PitchBook, CB Insights, and Business Insider's reporting.
  • Click here for more BI Prime stories.

2020 is gearing up to be a pivotal year for healthcare and biotech startups.

In 2019, a handful of health startups went public with valuations above $1 billion.

Then, the year started off with one public offering, when One Medical made its stock-market debut at the end of January, surging to a $2.7 billion valuation on its first day of trading.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare startups have found themselves having to navigate a new challenge.

Some have tackled the crisis head-on, and some — often simultaneously — have found themselves laying off portions of their workforce.

In the first quarter of 2020, healthcare startups raised $14.6 billion, up from the $13.5 billion the companies raised in the same period of 2019.

Never miss out on healthcare news. Subscribe to Dispensed, our weekly newsletter on pharma, biotech, and healthcare.

This article was updated on July 9 to add VillageMD and to include new funding for Oscar Health. It was previously updated to remove Alto Pharmacy.

Rani Therapeutics - $1 billion

The biotech startup Rani Therapeutics is taking on a problem that has eluded companies for decades — finding a way to turn injectable drugs into pills for people living with chronic conditions. The approach has the potential to upend billion-dollar markets for drugs such as insulin and treatments, like Humira, for autoimmune conditions.  

The San Jose, California, company raised $53 million in February from Alphabet's venture-investment arm GV. To date, Rani has raised $142 million.



Hims - $1.1 billion

Be it depression, hair loss, or erectile dysfunction, Hims wants men to "take care of themselves" without fear of stigma via its suite of telemedicine and personal care offerings.

Besides online primary care visits and therapy, it sells hair, skin, and sex products directly to consumers. Its sister site, Hers, offers similar services for women. Hims raised $100 million in its Series C funding round at the end of last year, bringing its total cash to $197 million, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Its investors include Atomic, Maverick Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Founders Fund, 8VC, and Redpoint Ventures. 

Read more: Hot startups like Hims and Roman are marketing Viagra to young men online, but their approach raises 2 big questions



Clover Health - $1.2 billion

Clover Health sells Medicare Advantage health-insurance plans. When people in the US turn 65, they can choose to be part of traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage, which is operated through private insurers like Clover and often provides additional healthcare benefits. The hope for San Francisco-based Clover and other technology-based health insurers is to use data to improve patients' health.

Clover lost $67.4 million in 2019, according to state insurance filings reviewed by Business Insider. That compares to a $40.9 million loss in 2018. 

Clover is growing its membership, adding roughly 10,000 new members in 2019, and enrolling an additional 12,000 going into 2020.

2019 was a big year for Clover. In March 2019, the company said it was laying off 25% of its workforce, or about 140 employees, as part of a restructuring. That came on the heels of Clover raising $500 million in January 2019, bringing the total funds the company has raised to $925 million.

Its most recent valuation was $1.2 billion, according to PitchBook data from before the $500 million round.

Read more: We just got a look at the latest financials for health startups like Bright and Oscar. They reveal the challenges facing the insurers as they keep growing their footprints.



Rakuten Medical - $1.2 billion

Headquartered in San Diego, Rakuten Medical develops precision-targeted cancer therapies designed to treat solid tumors. 

The biotech is led by the Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, who is also founder and CEO of the large Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten. Mikitani said he was inspired to fund the cancer research after his father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2012.

Rakuten Medical has raised about $471 million, according to PitchBook. Both Mikitani and Rakuten have invested in Rakuten Medical.



Lyell - $1.2 billion

The San Francisco biotech company is focused on treating cancer with cell therapies. Lyell's goal is to develop cell-based immunotherapies for cancer, with a focus on CAR-Ts and solid tumors.

In March, the company raised a total $493 million in funding from undisclosed investors. The company has raised a total of $851 million, according to CB Insights, from investors including Foresite Capital Management, Arch Venture Partners, and Altitude Life Science Ventures.

 



Butterfly Network - $1.3 billion

Butterfly Network, a company that developed an iPhone-based ultrasound device, wants to make the technology more accessible to doctors and healthcare workers so they can make more precise diagnoses on the move. 

The device, called Butterfly iQ, plugs into the iPhone and isn't much bigger than the phone itself. It's been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in imaging the abdomen, bladder, and heart. 

In September 2018, Butterfly raised $250 million from investors such as Fidelity, Fosun Pharma, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In total, the company's raised $370 million. 



HeartFlow - $1.6 billion

HeartFlow is trying to make the process of finding blockages in the heart a lot less invasive. Using imaging from a CT scan, HeartFlow builds a 3D model that pinpoints the blockages associated with coronary-artery disease, a heart condition that affects millions of Americans and is the leading cause of death in the US

HeartFlow is based in Redwood City, California, and reached unicorn status in 2018 after raising $240 million. In total, the company has raised $532 million



Zocdoc - $1.8 billion

Zocdoc helps patients book doctors' appointments and check in for them — everything from primary care to dental to optometry appointments.

Users can search based on procedures, conditions, and even a particular doctor they might want to book an appointment with.

In 2019, the company changed the way it pays its doctors in some states, moving from a subscription model to one that charges a per-booking fee. Some doctors haven't been happy about the switch.

Zocdoc, which is based in New York, most recently raised $130 million in a Series D round in August 2015, bringing its total raised to $223 million. The company's last reported valuation is from 2015, according to PitchBook.

As part of the pandemic, Zocdoc introduced video visits for the providers on its platform to use with patients. 



Devoted Health - $1.8 billion

Devoted Health wants to reinvent how we care for aging Americans.

The company started selling Medicare Advantage plans in parts of Florida for 2019. In its second year, its enrollment jumped, in line with the company's expectations

The company's plans might look a bit different from traditional insurance in that Devoted plans to do more than pay for visits to doctors and hospitals. It's also hiring nurses and other employees directed at keeping seniors healthier and out of the hospital.

Devoted was founded in 2017 by brothers Ed and Todd Park. Before Devoted, Todd Park cofounded the health IT company Athenahealth and served as the chief technology officer of the US during the Obama administration. Ed Park, who serves as Devoted's CEO, was formerly the chief technology officer and later chief operating officer at Athenahealth.

In October 2018, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based company raised $300 million in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing its total funding to $369 million.

Read more: We got a look at the slide deck that buzzy startup Devoted Health used to hit a $1.8 billion valuation before it signed up any customers



Bright Health - $2.2 billion

Bright Health provides health plans for people under the Affordable Care Act and to seniors in Medicare Advantage.

It was founded in 2016 and has raised more than $1 billion after closing a $635 million round in December. A representative for the company declined to provide its updated valuation, though according to Pitchbook, the valuation is $2.2 billion.

Minneapolis-based Bright Health posted a net loss of $41.8 million for 2019, a deeper net loss than the $17.5 million loss the company had in 2018. The company made $208.5 million in revenue and recorded $176 million in medical claims, spending about 84% of the premiums it took in on medical expenses.

In total, Bright had nearly 59,000 members by the end of 2019, the majority of which were on plans bought in the ACA's individual markets.

Bright in January announced plans to acquire Brand New Day, a health plan that gave it a big foothold in the Medicare Advantage market. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the acquisition officially closed on May 1. 

The company said in July 2019 that it would operate in parts of 12 states in 2020, roughly double its geographic footprint for 2019. The Brand New Day acquisition brings that count to 13.  

Read more: $2.2 billion Bright Health just struck a deal to buy a health plan and gain a big foothold in the lucrative Medicare Advantage market



23andMe - $2.5 billion

In 2018, 23andMe, a company best known for its genetics tests designed to tell you information as varied as the amount of Neanderthal DNA you have and your health risks, gained a higher valuation after striking a $300 million deal with drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.

The company, founded in 2006, has millions of customers and a number of partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies. With GSK, 23andMe has a 4-year-long development deal to use the data 23andMe has collected to discover and develop new medications. Using 23andMe's data, GSK is also working on an experimental drug to treat Parkinson's disease in patients with a particular mutation. 

But the consumer genetics market has been facing a big slowdown this year, leading the company to lay off 100 employees. Its rival, Ancestry, also laid off roughly 100 employees. In the wake of the pandemic, 23andMe has been studying genetic associations to find links between genetics and the severity of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. 

To date, 23andMe has raised $792 million. 

Read more: The DNA testing industry is stuck in a rut. Here's how 23andMe and Ancestry are plotting their next moves.



GoodRx - $2.8 billion

GoodRx gathers drug prices at more than 70,000 pharmacies across the US and compares them on its site, according to the company. It's generated more than $18 billion in savings, saving the average customer about $355 per year, according to GoodRx. 

But what started as a one-stop shop for drug price comparisons is moving into telehealth. Last year, GoodRx acquired a telehealth startup for an undisclosed amount and now offers online care via HeyDoctor by GoodRx. Most visits are about $20 and don't require insurance. 

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the site also came up with a way to compare the costs of online doctor visits as more people seek healthcare from the safety of their homes. 

Worth $2.8 billion, the Santa Monica-based startup's investors include Silver Lake, Francisco Partners, and Spectrum Partners. 

Read more: $2.8 billion pharmacy startup GoodRx just got into the business of prescribing medications, and it shows how a long-hyped technology is taking off in healthcare



Oscar Health - $3.2 billion

New York-based health insurer Oscar Health sells insurance in the individual exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act and to small businesses. Going into 2020, Oscar had enrolled 420,000 people, a 63% increase from the start of 2019.

It entered a new market in 2020, offering private Medicare Advantage plans to seniors.

Read more: Buzzy health startup Oscar is making a big bet on a crucial change to how you get your healthcare. The CEO shared how he thinks that will happen.

Oscar has raised nearly $1.5 billion from investors enticed by its promise of a new tech-driven approach to health insurance. The company most recently raised $225 million in June from investors including Alphabet, General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, Baillie Gifford, and Coatue.

As of March 2018 — prior to two more recent rounds of funding —  PitchBook valued the company at $3.2 billion. 

Read more: We just got a look at the latest financials for health startups like Bright and Oscar. They reveal the challenges facing the insurers as they keep growing their footprints.



VillageMD- $3.3 billion

Chicago-based VillageMD was founded in 2013 with the idea of giving primary care doctors more resources to help them manage the care of their patients. 

Rather than get paid based on the number of visits doctors have with patients, VillageMD works with insurers so that it gets paid based on how well it cares for patients, adding in monitoring services, transportation, and other ways to keep patients healthier.

In July, VillageMD said it will open 500 to 700 primary-care clinics in partnership with Walgreens. As part of the deal, Walgreens made an initial $250 million equity investment in VillageMD and plans to invest $1 billion in total over the next three years in equity and convertible debt. That'll give Walgreens a 30% stake in the company by the end of the investment and values VillageMD at at least $3.3 billion. 

Prior to Walgreens' investment, VillageMD had raised $216 million from investors including Kinnevik and Oak HC/FT. Kinnevik invested an additional $25 million in July as part of the Walgreens investment, bringing the total raised by VillageMD to $491 million.

Read more: Walgreens just made a $1 billion bet on bringing doctor's offices into its pharmacies, and it shows how the pharmacy giant is taking on CVS and Walmart as they beef up their health ambitions



Grail - $3.87 billion

Since it got its start in 2016, Grail has raised more than $1.75 billion from the likes of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, along with big names from the pharmaceutical, tech, and healthcare industries, including Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Arch Venture Partners, Amazon, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, and Merck.

The idea behind its cancer-screening test is to identify the tiny bits of cancer DNA that are hanging out in our blood but are undetectable. If companies like Grail are successful, they would be the first to pull off a cancer-detecting blood test that works proactively.

The concept is similar to liquid biopsy tests, which use blood samples to sequence genetic information in that blood to figure out how tumors are responding to a certain cancer therapy. In 2017, Grail acquired Cirina, a Hong Kong company that is also looking at early cancer detection.

On May 6, Grail said it raised an additional $390 million in funding. In total, the company's raised $1.9 billion. The company has started presenting data, including some on early-stage lung-cancer detection, and has started releasing some of its results from its early-stage multi-cancer-detection tests



Ginkgo - $4 billion

Ginkgo Bioworks is a startup that designs microbes to produce substances like fragrances and medications. The Boston-based company sends the programmed bugs to partner companies that put them to use.

In September, Ginkgo raised an additional $290 million. In total, the company has raised $719 million and a $350 million fund to invest in spinout companies that use its technology



Intarcia Therapeutics — $4.1 billion

Intarcia Therapeutics, a Gates Foundation-backed biotech, is developing implantable devices intended to treat conditions like Type 2 diabetes and prevent HIV.

In September 2018, the FDA put the Boston-based company's plans for its diabetes implant on hold, citing manufacturing concerns. The company resubmitted the implant for approval in September.

In March, the company raised $73 million of convertible debt funding from undisclosed investors. To date, the company's raised $2 billion. 



Tempus — $5 billion

Chicago-based Tempus got its start in 2015, and then rocketed into unicorn territory.

The startup, which was founded by Groupon founder Eric Lefkofsky, hopes to help doctors use data to find better cancer treatments for patients, using both clinical data — information about which medications patients have taken and how they responded to them — and data it sequences in its lab based on the tumors and hereditary genetics of cancer patients.

Tempus raised $200 million in Series F venture funding from Novo Holdings, Revolution Group, and New Enterprise Associates in May 2019 and raised an additional $100 million in March 2020. So far, the company has raised a total of $620 million. 

 



Roivant - $7 billion

Roivant Sciences is a company known for developing drugs that other pharmaceutical companies have abandoned.

The company was founded by CEO Vivek Ramaswamy, who's 34. Through its subsidiary companies, it identifies experimental drugs that other companies may have stopped developing for one reason or another that still have potential to get approved and go on the market.

So far, it has launched 17 subsidiary "-vant" companies, including a number that have gone public. Those include the neurodegenerative-disease-drug developer Axovant Sciences, the women's health company Myovant Sciences, and the urology company Urovant Sciences.

In December, the company entered a deal with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. Before that, the company had raised $200 million from investors a little more than a year after raising $1.1 billion in a monster round led by SoftBank's Vision Fund. The $200 million round valued the company at $7 billion. 

 



Samumed - $12.4 billion

Samumed is the highest-valued startup on this list.

The San Diego-based company has attracted a total of $764 million and a heady valuation thanks to a pipeline of what could be revolutionary treatments to regenerate hair, skin, bones, and joints.

The company's science hinges on something called progenitor stem cells. Samumed hopes to manipulate the pathway that makes these progenitor stem cells spring into action so that they don't cause conditions like hair loss or osteoarthritis. 

The company had previously raised funding from backers including high-net worth people and sovereign funds rather than venture capital. Samumed's chief business officer, Erich Horsley, said in May 2018 that the company could go public in the next three to four years.

Read more about Samumed's progress with these treatments.



How to gift an Audible audiobook to friends or family via email, or by printing out a code

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  • You can easily gift an Audible book by searching for a title and selecting the "Give as a gift" option.
  • You can have the gifted Audible book sent via email, or print out a code so you can hand-deliver the gift yourself. 
  • Once you've gifted the audiobook, Audible will send you a receipt confirming your purchase. 
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

For book lovers, there's nothing like being gifted a new and long-awaited title. But with digital content on the rise, audiobooks are another great way to deliver the gift of reading.

Audible, the site that has hundreds of thousands of audiobooks available to purchase and share, makes it easy to gift an old favorite or an upcoming release. 

Whether you're looking for the perfect holiday item or a quick and easy last-minute gift, Audible's "gifting" feature is easy and seamless. 

Here's how to do it, using any browser on your Mac or PC.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $469.99 at Walmart)

How to gift an Audible book

1. Sign into your Audible account on a Mac or PC and search for the book you want to gift.

2. On the title's landing page, select "Give as a gift."

gift on audible

3. Select how you wish to send the gifted title. 

How to gift an Audible audiobook 3

4. Enter the recipient's email and name, before typing in your name. 

5. Select the date you want your recipient to receive the gifted book. 

How to gift an audible book 4

6. Consider adding a note with your gift and then click "Continue."  

7. Confirm the details of your gift purchase. Once you've done that, select "Buy."

How to gift an audible book 5

8. You will now receive an email confirmation of your gift order. If you opted for the paper route, you'll also receive instructions for printing the gift card.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

SEE ALSO: The best Kindles and ereaders

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VOICE ASSISTANTS IN HEALTHCARE: An inside look at 3 emerging voice use cases healthcare providers can deploy to cut costs, build loyalty, and drive revenue

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5d540e66cd97843704229bac 960 710Voice is making waves across industries, but the transformative power of the technology is now at a tipping point in healthcare. The opportunity for voice in healthcare is pegged to mount as the global health virtual assistant market is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2025. 

US healthcare providers' interest in voice tech is being catalyzed by recent technological breakthroughs growing the tech's potential to transform legacy operations.

Voice tech boasts five distinct advantages that heighten its disruption potential in healthcare and the tech is being optimized for the healthcare sphere, which is increasing the visibility of voice in health and opening the door for voice assistants to perform more sensitive and complex healthcare actions. There are also several pain points within healthcare that up the pressure on providers to tap into the voice opportunity. 

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence outlines the voice opportunity in healthcare and explores the drivers propelling voice adoption in the healthcare realm. We then examine three of the highest-value voice use cases in healthcare — clinical documentation, remote care, and clinical support — and provide examples of early moving health systems and health tech companies implementing voice in each application. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report: 

  • Health systems that deploy voice tech to facilitate clinical documentation can reduce physicians' administrative burden, increase patient volume and billable revenue, and eliminate transcription costs.
  • By leveraging voice to increase touchpoints with patients outside the clinic, healthcare organizations can open the opportunity to shrink costs associated with poor medication adherence and slash value-based care (VBC) penalties stemming from preventable readmissions.
  • Healthcare providers can reform diagnostics and better position themselves to deliver preventative medicine by deploying voice technology that can pinpoint diseases based on patients' speech characteristics.

In full, the report:

  • Explores why and how voice is disrupting healthcare. 
  • Details the three key applications where US health systems can apply voice technology. 
  • Offers evidence on how voice assistants provide value in each of the selected voice use cases. 

Want to learn more about the fast-moving world of digital health? Here's how to get access:

  1. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now
  2. Sign up for Digital Health Pro , Business Insider Intelligence's expert product suite keeping you up-to-date on the people, technologies, trends, and companies shaping the future of healthcare, delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >>Get Started
  3. Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now
  4. Current subscribers can read the reporthere.

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This VC backed self-driving car startup Zoox into a big buyout by Amazon. Here's why he says that deal signals a new wave of automation. (AMZN, SHOP)

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  • The industrial supply chain is about to see a new wave of automation powered by intelligent robots and other devices, Shahin Farshchi, a partner with Lux Capital, told Business Insider.
  • Companies that operate factories and warehouses or transport of goods will be widely adopting new technologies in the coming years to reduce labor costs and speed up operations, he said.
  • Amazon's purchase of Zoox — one of Lux's portfolio companies — a part of this broader trend, Farshchi said.
  • There's going to be particular demand for automated systems that companies can easily incorporate into their existing factories and warehouses, he said.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Shahin Farshchi thinks the industrial supply chain is about to see a rise of the robots.

The coming years will see a new wave of automation in factories and warehouses and at logistics companies, powered by intelligent machines, including a new generation of industrial robots and autonomous vehicles, Farshchi, a partner at Lux Capital, told Business Insider in a recent interview. Such intelligent automation is moving from being concepts under development to action items on corporate business plans, he said.

"Rather than it being a possibility, it's imminent for a lot of them," Farshchi said. "So incorporating automation has gone beyond something they can do or should do to something that they will do, and now it's just a matter of finding the right partners."

Looking back, Amazon's purchase of warehouse robot maker Kiva Systems eight years ago was just the initial indication of the oncoming wave, he said. Shopify's acquisition last year of warehouse automation company 6 River Systems and some of the recent large fundraising rounds by automation startups such as Covariant — one of Lux's portfolio companies — are evidence that the wave is starting to gain power, he said.

To this point, only a few companies have invested heavily in advanced automation. But not too long ago, the same was true of cloud computing, software sold as a subscription-based service, and mobile applications, Farshchi said.

"Just like how we saw cloud and [software as a service] and mobile go from kind of niche to mainstream, automation is going to go from niche to mainstream," he said.

Companies are developing technologies to make robots smarter

Many of the new companies in the industry are developing robots to speed up warehouse operations or the packing and shipping of goods. Covariant, for example, is working on artificial intelligence software that's designed to help industrial robots discern particular items in a bin or on a conveyor belt to sort them or put them in boxes. 6 River Systems has developed a variety of devices, including an autonomous cart that can help workers collect goods in a warehouse and transport them to other areas for packing.

Lux has already been investing in the trend. In addition to Covariant, Farshchi's firm has backed Veo Robotics, which is developing computer vision and sensing technology for industrial robots that would allow people to work safely side-by-side with them. It's also invested in Aeva, which is working on a sensor for autonomous vehicles that would replace several separate sensors, including Lidar, radars, and cameras.

And the VC firm was an investor in Zoox, the self-driving car startup that Amazon has agreed to acquire. Observers speculate the ecommerce giant will eventually use Zoox's technology in its logistics operations to help deliver goods to consumers.

Farshchi declined to talk in specifics about Zoox or Amazon's agreement to acquire it, but said he sees that deal as part of this larger trend.

"These are representative of the broader automation movement and it becoming an inevitability," he said.

There are still plenty of opportunities ahead, Farshchi said. There's going to be demand for robots and other automated systems by industries that today require lots of labor or to replace jobs that have lots of turnover because few people want them, he said. Companies are also going to want technologies that they can integrate easily into their existing warehouses and factories, he said.

"I think the technology itself and the way it's adapted and integrated is something that represents the larger opportunity for the next 10 years," he said.

Got a tip about a startup or the venture industry? Contact Troy Wolverton via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @troywolv, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

SEE ALSO: Edit in Viking It's 'inevitable' that a self-driving car will kill someone. Here's why a VC thinks we should be investing in them anyway.

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Google is gearing up for a summer of heated antitrust battles: Here's a guide to the various investigations and regulatory threats Google is facing (GOOG, GOOGL)

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  • Google is preparing for a long antitrust summer as multiple investigations into its business come to a head. 
  • CEO Sundar Pichai will testify in front of Congress later this month alongside the CEOs of Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.
  • But Google is being probed by other investigations into its advertising and search practices, in the US and in Europe, and could be hit with lawsuits in the coming months.
  • The array of investigations and regulatory actions can be confusing. So we've rounded up the various investigations facing Google, so you have a better understanding of what each one means, and what investigators are looking at.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's set to be a long, hot antitrust summer for big tech, and no company is under the regulatory microscope more than Google.

The company is no stranger to these sorts of investigations. In the last decade, the European Union has launched three separate antitrust investigations into the company over violating competition rules. The US Federal Trade Commission also previously investigated allegations of search bias, which was resolved in 2013 after Google agreed to change some of its practices.

Now, the company is facing three potential cases in the US, focused on whether its search and advertising business have caused harm to competitors and consumers. And despite a pandemic upending almost everything, regulators are determined to forge ahead.

So far there have been no formal lawsuits but it's amping up to be a big fight. There are several different threads going on here, so we've laid out the various investigations to get you up to speed.


Latest news about Google investigations:


1. House Judiciary Committee investigation into the Big Four

The first time we'll see Google CEO Sundar Pichai testify this year will be part of a wider investigation by the House Judiciary Committee into the four big tech giants: Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook.

The investigation, which is being led by Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, is poking into whether the huge market power of these giants is hurting competition and consumers.

It's now been confirmed that all four CEOs – Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, and Mar Zuckerberg – will appear before lawmakers in a hearing on July 27, and it's ramping up to be quite a show. This will be the first time that all four of these tech CEOs have appeared before Congress together.

What we don't know is the format it will take, and this could be key to how effective the investigation is. Due to the pandemic it's likely that the execs will appear remotely, but will they be asked individual questions pertaining to their specific companies, or will it be an open floor format?

The latter could play to the tech CEOs' advantage by sharing the limelight across the four players and not putting the focus on any one individual company.

2. The Department of Justice investigation

In June 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department had launched an antitrust probe into Google. This is separate to a wider investigation by the DOJ into online platforms, which is still ongoing.

Google's advertising business is said to be taking center stage, but the probe may go further.  Back in March, Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal wrote to Attorney General William Barr urging the Justice Department to not limit its probe to Google's advertising business. Google's search practices, they argued, "warrants close scrutiny."

In an interview with CNN in June, DuckDuckGo's founder said that the Justice Department was inquiring about search on Android.

The Justice Department could file a case against Google very soon, according to a report in May from the Washington Post which claimed that both the Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general (more on them below) were preparing litigation.

3. State Attorneys General investigation

Last September, the attorneys general of 50 states and territories launched their own joint investigation into Google, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The probe, which is running in parallel to another multi-state investigation into Facebook, set out to examine Google's advertising business. Paxton and co want to know: is Google's behavior harmful for the online advertising industry?

"They dominate the buyer side, the seller side, the auction side and the video side with YouTube," said Paxton in a press conference last year.

But in November, CNBC, citing familiar people with the matter, reported that the probe was expanding into Google's search and Android businesses.

The probe is currently running alongside the Justice Department investigation, but we could see some crossover. In fact, the two have already been conferring. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that the state attorneys general had met with the Justice Department to discuss their findings, and whether the two investigations could bring a joint lawsuit against Google.

But much is still unknown, including whether all of the states agree on how to bring a lawsuit against Google, and whether the two could ultimately team up to form a stronger case.

And finally, there's Fitbit

While the above three investigations are the big ones Google is facing right now, it's facing regulatory scrutiny elsewhere too. Its attempt to purchase smartwatch maker Fitbit is being carefully examined right now, and according to a report from the NY Post, AG William Barr – who's also overseeing the Justice Department investigation – is directly involved with reviewing the Fitbit case.

Meanwhile, the European Union is now demanding Google make a binding pledge to not use Fitbit data in advertising products, according to a new Reuters report. This confirms what experts previously told Business Insider: Google will need to offer up concessions if it wants to pass the deal, due to the huge amount of user data Fitbit already owns.

SEE ALSO: Meet the 15 Google execs who report to CEO Sundar Pichai and are leading the internet company's most critical businesses

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A French startup raised $65 million in the middle of the coronavirus crisis for its cloud-based phone system. Here's the pitch deck it used.

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Aircall founders Jonathan Anguelov, Pierre-Baptiste Bechu, Xavier Durand, and Olivier Pailhès

  • Aircall raised a $65 million Series C funding round in May, right in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • The fundraising effort was going well until governments around the world started shutting down their economies, which caused prospective backers to rethink their investments.
  • But the company's cloud-based phone system, which can be integrated into Salesforce and dozens of other business services, attracted 1,000 new customers during the pandemic, and that success helped lure investors back.
  • The company used the pitch deck below to raise its new funding.
  • Click here for more BI Prime stories.

The coronavirus crisis has made the past few months challenging for many startups. But it presented a particular problem for Aircall, which has its major offices in Paris and New York.

Aircall, the maker of a cloud-based phone service, was in the middle of trying to raise a Series C funding round when the global economy and stock markets went into free fall as countries around the world curtailed the movement of their citizens to try to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, CEO Olivier Pailhès told Business Insider.

Before the shutdowns, Aircall was seeing a lot of interest from prospective investors. After the shutdowns began, those prospective backers started backing off, some wanting to reconsider the investment and others wanting to commit no more than half the money they'd promised before, he said. The investors' cold feet led to a lot of stressful conversations among Pailhès and his cofounders.

He said they were planning for a $60 million to 470 million round. But then they asked, "Are we going to do that?"

But then things started to turn around. The company seemed to be benefiting from the work-from-home trend, Pailhès said. It had its best month ever in March, and the first quarter was its best ever. In two months, it attracted 1,000 new customers, boosting its total by 25%.

"It became pretty clear for investors that we would actually be one of the winners," he said.

In the end, Aircall had more funding offers than it had space for and raised $65 million. It had to accept a valuation that was a little less than it expected when it started fundraising, but still up about three times since its last round, Pailhès said. He declined to provide the company's valuation.

The whole process "was pretty much a roller coaster," he said.

Now that the ride is over, Pailhès and his team are getting back to business. The company is investing in its product, a kind of virtual phone system.

Aircall's system integrates with many services

Aircall's service allows corporate customers to make and receive enhanced calls that integrate with their business software on computers or mobile phones. It can be configured to automatically route calls to particular employees and used for conference calls. For managers, the system offers analytical tools that can be used to measure the duration and effectiveness of calls. And the service is designed to be connected and integrated into other business software, so sales representatives using Salesforce, for example, can call their contacts and managers with one click using Aircall.

The company sees RingCentral as its chief rival. But Pailhès thinks Aircall can compete by offering a premium product. Part of the way he plans to do that is by allowing customers to integrate Aircall into their other business software.

Already, Aircall's phone system can be connected with about 60 services, including Slack, Shopify, and Zendesk. The company is planning to use its new funding to help boost that number to 600, Pailhès said. When connecting with a client or a customer by phone, Aircall users should be able to quickly see relevant information about them, whether in email, on the web, or elsewhere, he said.

"We feel really the phone makes sense when related to information you have somewhere else," Pailhès said.

Additionally, the company its building out its collection of sales partnerships. Aircall is hoping to boost its presence in the corporate world by having partners promote its service, he said.

"We're going to invest a lot there," he said.

Aircall, which Pailhès founded with three colleagues in 2014 and launched in 2015, has about 300 employees, with about one-third in New York, 190 in Paris, and the rest scattered elsewhere. Pailhès expects the company to have 350 workers by the end of the year and 600 by the end of next year. About 200 of those new employees will be engineers, but Aircall also plans to hire employees for new local offices in Asia and the US and a new tech office in Europe, he said.

The company is focusing on the small and medium-size business market and already gaining a strong following among marketplaces and in the financial-services and travel industries, Pailhès said. Such customers are frequently using it in their sales and customer-support operations, he said.

Aircall's recent strong customer growth led to the latest investment, which DTCP led.

"It became pretty clear for investors that we would actually be one of the winners," he said.

Here is the pitch deck Aircall used to raise its latest funding round:

























Got a tip about startups or the tech industry? Contact Troy Wolverton via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @troywolv, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.




A new study suggests audiences would pay $14 to watch a new superhero movie at home. Here's how other genres compare.

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  • If theaters remain closed for the foreseeable future, movie studios will face an unprecedented choice: resort to premium video-on-demand services for blockbuster titles or wait for theaters to reopen.
  • A new study by TV tracking app TV Time, which surveyed 6,891 users, suggests that audiences would be willing to pay more for a superhero movie on PVOD platforms than other genres, with the average price among respondents being nearly $15.
  • But most digital releases during the coronavirus pandemic have been $20 and it would be difficult for studios to match the profits these blockbusters make at the global box office.
  • A more likely scenario is that studios would evaluate releases on a movie-by-movie basis. It's unlikely that "Black Widow" would be released on digital services before theaters, but Disney has experimented with other movies, for instance.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Theaters across the US have been closed since mid-March and blockbuster movies set for July like Warner Bros.' "Tenet" and Disney's "Mulan" have been pushed to August. With coronavirus cases surging in some states, it's likely that they will be delayed again.

Given the circumstances, movie studios face an unprecedented choice: resort to digital rentals and purchases via premium video-on-demand services (PVOD) or wait for theaters to reopen. Jeff Bock, the Exhibitor Relations senior media analyst, isn't confident about the latter.

"With this current COVID surge, it's obvious to me that most movie theaters won't be opening any time soon," Bock said. "Probably at the earliest fall, but if Broadway is any indication, maybe 2021."

Studios have already experimented with PVOD as an alternative, but mainly with smaller titles like family movies ("Trolls World Tour" and "Scoob!") and comedies or indie fare ("The King of Staten Island"). But if theaters remain closed for the foreseeable future, the pressure would be on to consider PVOD as a more viable option for bigger-budget titles like superhero movies.

A new study provided to Business Insider suggests that audiences would be willing to pay more for those titles than others from the comfort of their own homes.

TV tracking app TV Time surveyed 6,891 respondents who are active users of the app in the US from April 29 to April 30. The results were balanced to account for demographic differences between the US population and TV Time users. Respondents were asked what would be a reasonable amount to pay, between $0 and $50, for a PVOD release in several genres.

The superhero genre, typically the highest grossing at the box office, came out on top with an average amount of $14.17.

Action/adventure and drama followed at $13.49 and $12.38, respectively. Horror ($11.12) and art house movies ($9.45) were the genres respondents said they would pay the least amount of money for.

Below are the average prices respondents said they would pay for each genre:

  • Superhero — $14.17
  • Action/adventure — $13.49
  • Drama — $12.38
  • Comedy/Romance — $11.86
  • Animation — $11.78
  • Live-action family/kids — $11.28
  • Horror — $11.12
  • Art house — $9.45

Studios are still committed to movie theaters

While respondents were willing to pay nearly $15 for a superhero movie, digital releases are typically $20, which may be a steep price for many at-home consumers. 20% of respondents said they had bought a movie digitally after coronavirus safety guidelines were put in place at the time of the survey in late April.

51% of respondents cited "too expensive" as a reason they had not purchased a digital movie.

It would be difficult for studios to match the profits they make from superhero blockbusters at the global box office with $20 digital releases, let alone $15.

A more likely scenario is that studios would evaluate releases on a movie-by-movie basis. Disney moved "Artemis Fowl," originally set to hit theaters, to Disney Plus and is doing the same with the upcoming "The One and Only Ivan." But it's unlikely that a movie like Marvel and Disney's "Black Widow," which was pushed from May to November, would be released on PVOD services given Marvel's ability to attract audiences to theaters. 

A person familiar with Sony's thinking told Business Insider that the studio believes in the traditional theatrical window. Other studios have also recently expressed solidarity with theaters, even Universal, which has been the major studio to be the most aggressive in experimenting with PVOD.

After "Trolls World Tour" debuted on digital platforms in April, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said that movies would be released on both digital and to theaters once they reopen. AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron said that Universal's movies would not be shown at AMC venues in the future, prompting Universal to reiterate its commitment to the theatrical experience.

But Shell's comment could offer a preview of what's to come for the relationship between studios and theaters. Not releasing blockbusters to theaters would further anger exhibitors and would be a risk, as blockbuster releases bring in huge profits. But theaters also rely on these blockbusters to stay afloat. So it's hard to believe Universal and AMC wouldn't reach a compromise, as Universal will release sure-thing blockbusters next year like "Fast and Furious 9" and "Jurassic World: Dominion." Whatever course studios choose for PVOD will likely be temporary.

"PVOD has been and will remain part of the conversation so long as theaters aren't up and running, but it remains a worst-case scenario for the vast majority of high-profile releases," said Shawn Robbins, the Box Office Pro chief analyst. "Tentpoles, and the studios that depend on them, simply cannot thrive financially without the theatrical window."

SEE ALSO: Movie studios face an unprecedented choice as summer drags on: resort to high-priced digital rentals or wait for theaters to reopen

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Twitter billionaire Jack Dorsey just announced he will be funding a universal basic income experiment that could affect up to 7 million people

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  • On Thursday, Jack Dorsey, the billionaire CEO of Twitter, announced he is working with 14 American mayors to fund universal basic income (UBI) trials in their cities.
  • The pilot programs will be run city by city and have not yet launched.
  • Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang helped bring the idea of universal basic income into the mainstream and is funding his own UBI pilot program.
  • Proponents say guaranteed incomes could help close America's growing wealth gap, while others say they could compound America's financial crisis by encouraging people to stop working.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Billionaire Jack Dorsey, the cofounder of Twitter, is spending millions to experiment with universal basic income.

Dorsey's experiment is part of a larger initiative called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. On Thursday, the group announced the program could impact as many as 7 million Americans across 14 different cities, including Los Angeles; Atlanta; Newark, New Jersey; and Jackson, Mississippi. The involved mayors say they plan to launch guaranteed income pilot programs in their cities at an unspecified future date and lobby federal lawyers to consider a national one, too.

The coalition behind the experiment says giving people a guaranteed income could lift people out of poverty and cushion the economic and career blows of the coronavirus crisis.

Dorsey, who has built up a net worth of $7.5 billion, will sink $3 million from his nonprofit into the program, according to the announcement. The UBI program comes shortly after Dorsey's widely publicized pledge to donate $1 billion to coronavirus relief efforts.

The group did not specify who will be eligible for payments and how much they will receive each month under their plan. In a statement, it said that it envisions the basic income as a flexible supplement to existing social programs. At least two cities — Jackson, Mississippi; and Stockton, California — represented in the mayors' coalition already have working guaranteed income pilot programs, while Chicago, Newark, and Atlanta have task forces exploring programs of their own, according to the group's website.

Proponents and past research claim that a guaranteed income could be the best way to level the wealth divide between the richest and poorest Americans, a chasm that has grown even wider during the coronavirus pandemic. Critics of basic incomes say the economic effects of such proposals haven't been thoroughly researched and could stop recipients from working, Business Insider previously reported.

Still, Dorsey isn't the only wealthy American experimenting with universal basic income. Entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced in May that he will give $500 to 20 New Yorkers every month for the next five years through his nonprofit in an effort to test the effects of the policy.

Yang made his universal basic income proposal — a scheme, called the Freedom Dividend, that would pay every American adult $1,000 monthly — a central part of his presidential campaign. Once considered an unlikely policy proposal championed only by Silicon Valley titans like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, guaranteed income has since gained traction with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

UBI proposals can be traced back as far as the 16th century, but have been floated throughout American history by a wide range of leaders including Thomas Payne and Martin Luther King, Jr. The one-time $1,200 stimulus checks Americans received earlier this year as a part of the CARES Act were essentially an interim universal basic income, Business Insider previously reported.

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An Uber-backed influence campaign against bike and scooter 'rider surveillance' lost the support of major privacy groups once they found out the company was involved (UBER)

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  • Several major digital privacy groups pulled their support for an Uber-backed influence campaign after learning of the company's involvement, WIRED first reported Thursday.
  • The campaign, Communities Against Rider Surveillance, is a coalition of 25 organizations that Uber helped form to steer the debate around cities' use of scooter and e-bike trip data.
  • Fight for the Future deputy director Evan Greer told Business Insider she shared concerns about trip data and privacy but that the group backed out of CARS because Uber's involvement was not "clearly disclosed."
  • Uber sued Los Angeles earlier this year over its use of trip data, an issue that has drawn pushback from CARS and a bevy other privacy advocates who worry how cities and law enforcement might abuse it.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Uber's quiet involvement with a group trying to shape public debate around cities' use of scooter and e-bike trip data has scared off several of its big-name supporters, WIRED first reported Thursday.

The group, Communities Against Rider Surveillance, is backed by 25 organizations including Uber and was formed with the goal of "making our streets safer and more manageable while protecting rider privacy," according to its website.

But despite sharing some of the same worries about data privacy, advocacy groups Fight for the Future and Algorithmic Justice League withdrew from CARS after learning that Uber is one of its main backers, according to WIRED, while racial equality group MediaJustice told Business Insider it similarly "immediately pulled out."

"It was frustrating to have to pull out of this coalition," Fight for the Future deputy director Evan Greer told Business Insider.

"We share their concerns about the ways that transportation data, even when anonymized, could be abused by government agencies, law enforcement, and others," Greer said, "But Uber's involvement and backing of the effort was not clearly disclosed to us. We think companies should engage in advocacy transparently."

Uber refused to comment on the sources of CARS' funding, directing Business Insider to the coalition, which could not immediately be reached for comment on this story.

Other members of CARS contacted by Business Insider raised similar worries about Uber's track record as a company, but said they would continue to support the coalition's work around privacy.

"I have concerns about Uber, of course (rotten pay for drivers, horrible corporate environment, etc, etc)," said Patient Privacy Rights President Dr. Deborah Peel, but she added that "the rest of the coalition is organizations that speak for the public's best interest."

Tracy Rosenberg of Oakland Privacy said she took issue with Uber's "corporate performance in many aspects" but that she was aware of its involvement in CARS. "On the limited issue of whether raw mobility trip data should be transferred to cities directly or to third parties, we believe unequivocally that it should not be."

An Uber spokesperson told Business Insider that the company is glad to be a founding member of CARS and to see more organizations speaking out on the issue, saying Uber believes government demands for trip-level data violate riders' privacy.

CARS' advocacy is focused specifically on Mobility Data Specification, a data-sharing standard developed by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation that is used by cities to track scooter and e-bike locations. As urban streets have become increasingly crowded with ride-share companies' vehicles, cities like Los Angeles have passed regulations on their use, some of which have included requirements that companies like Uber — which until recently owned scooter and e-bike startup Jump— share anonymous, near-real-time data on individual trips.

That approach has prompted concerns from the ride-hail companies, citing rider privacy and, implicitly, the potential it will expose their trade secrets. In March, Uber sued LADOT over its collection of trip-level data.

Meanwhile, privacy advocates ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation filed their own lawsuit against the city in June, saying it was an overreach of government surveillance and could lead to misuse of the data by law enforcement agencies.

In their heated battle with ride-hail companies over which data they should be required to provide, cities' distrust of the companies has been fueled in part by Uber's own checkered history around transparency and data privacy as well as its persistent opposition to regulation. In 2017, The New York Times revealed Uber was intentionally deceiving authorities by serving up a fake version of its app to local officials. Later that year, WIRED reported that Uber tried to cover up a data breach involving 57 million users by paying the hackers a $100,000 ransom.

SEE ALSO: Law enforcement agencies are using a legal loophole to buy up personal data exposed by hackers

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How to reset your Apple ID password in 3 different ways if you've forgotten it or lost your device

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  • You can reset your Apple ID password at any time if you've forgotten it or lost your device.
  • You can reset your Apple ID password on someone else's device through the "Find My" or "Find My iPhone" app.
  • You can also reset your Apple ID password on someone else's device through the Apple Support app, but they'll need iOS 12 or higher to download it. 
  • To reset your Apple ID password through a browser, you'll need access to at least one of your Apple devices and your Apple ID email.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Forgetting a password can feel like the end of the world, especially when it's the password to an account like your Apple ID. Your Apple ID gives you access to your iCloud, devices, and more, and without it, you're locked out of an essential part of your personal and even professional life. 

For those who have access to at least one of their Apple devices, the process for resetting your Apple ID is pretty straightforward on a browser. If you don't have your device, you'll have to use workarounds like the Find My iPhone app.

You can also download the Apple Support app onto someone else's device and try to reset your password that way. Any information you enter during the process will not be stored on the device. 

Here are a few ways you can reset your Apple ID password. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

How to reset your Apple ID password with the Find My app on your own or someone else's device

1. Download the "Find My" app (previously known as Find My iPhone) if it's not already there, then open it on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, or iPod Touch you're using.

2. On the sign-in screen erase the Apple ID field if it isn't empty. 

How to reset your Apple ID password 1

3. If you don't see a sign on screen, choose "Sign Out," then clear the Apple ID field. 

4. Tap "Forgot Apple ID or Password" link. 

5. Enter the device's passcode. 

How to reset your Apple ID password 2

6. Enter your new password and enter it again to verify it. 

How to reset your Apple ID password 3

7. Select "Next" in the upper right-hand corner to confirm the change. 

8. Select "Next" and follow the prompts to receive confirmation of the password change.

How to reset your Apple ID password with the Apple Support App using someone else's iPhone or iPad

1. Download the Apple Support app.

2. After opening the app, tap "Products" at the top of the screen.

3. Scroll down until you see "Apple ID," and tap it. 

How to reset your Apple ID password 4

4. Select "Forgot Apple ID Password."

How to reset your Apple ID password 5

5. Choose "Get Started."

How to reset your Apple ID password 6

6. Tap the "A different Apple ID" link. 

7. Enter the Apple ID you want to reset the password for. 

8. Select "Next" and follow the prompts to receive confirmation of the password change.

How to reset your Apple ID password on your web browser using your phone number and one of your devices

1. Go to your Apple ID page

2. Click the "Forgot Apple ID or password?" link. 

How to change Apple ID password 12

3. Enter your Apple ID. 

How to reset your Apple ID password 7

4. Enter the phone number associated with your Apple ID account, then press "Continue." 

How to reset your Apple ID password 8

5. Apple will send a desktop or mobile notification to all your registered devices, prompting you to reset your password through one. 

6. Follow the prompts on your device to change your Apple ID password for a successful reset.

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How to find and watch your Amazon Prime Video purchases on any device

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  • You can see your Amazon Prime Video purchases in the "My Stuff" section of the Prime Video website or app after you've bought or rented a video.
  • Select "Purchases & Rentals" within My Stuff to see your videos.
  • Some smart TVs put "Purchases & Rentals" directly on the home screen, so you don't need to go to "My Stuff" first. 
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Once you rent or buy a movie or TV show on Amazon Prime Video, it should be immediately available for you to watch. 

Purchased shows and movies are yours forever, though you only have 30 days to start watching rented content; After that, the rental expires and the video disappears from your queue. 

But no matter what kind of device you are using, the process for finding and watching these purchases is basically the same. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Amazon Prime (From $99.99 a year at Amazon)

Samsung 50-inch Smart TV (From $399.99 at Best Buy)

How to see your Prime Video purchases on the mobile app

1. Start the Prime Video app on your mobile device.

2. At the bottom right of the screen, tap "My Stuff."

How to see Prime Video purchases 1

3. At the top of the screen, tap "Purchases."

4. You should see a list of all purchased and rented TV shows and movies. To start watching, just tap the one you want. 

How to see Prime Video purchases 2

How to see your Prime Video purchases in a web browser 

1. Open the Prime Video website in a browser. 

2. At the top of the screen, in the row of links that starts with Prime Video, click "My Stuff."

3. Click "Purchases & Rentals."

4. You should see a list of all purchased and rented TV shows and movies. To start watching, just click the one you want. 

How_to_see_Prime_Video_purchases 3

On certain devices, such as some streaming media players or smart TVs, there may not be a "My Stuff" menu. Instead, you'll just see "Purchases & Rentals" on the Prime Video app's home screen. Choose that to see your list of purchased videos.

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How to delete a slide in your PowerPoint presentation or delete an entire section of slides at once

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It's pretty common to have to delete a slide in PowerPoint. Maybe your presentation is going on a bit too long and you need to cut content. Or maybe you were keeping a slide for notes that you don't want to appear in your presentation.

Regardless of the reason, there's good news: PowerPoint makes it very easy to delete slides, no matter what version of it you have. 

In fact, the solution is so intuitive, you may have missed it altogether while looking for a delete button or a trash bin somewhere in the application.

If you need to delete a PowerPoint slide, here's how you do it, using any version of PowerPoint on your Mac or PC.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)

How to delete a slide in PowerPoint

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation and right-click (or hold Control as you click) any slide you want to delete in the left sidebar.

2. From the drop-down list that appears, select "Delete" or "Delete Slide."

How to delete a slide in PowerPoint   1

Even better, PowerPoint will actually allow you to delete multiple slides at once — in case you need to delete a whole section or trim a few extras here and there.

To delete a section of slides that are right next to each other, just hold shift and select the first and last slides in the section. This will select those slides, as well as every slide between them. Once they're selected, just delete them the same way you did above.

To delete multiple slides that aren't next to each other, hold down the Ctrl or Command key and click on each slide you want to delete. Once selected, right-click any of them and select the "Delete" option.

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How to download episodes on Quibi and watch the mobile short-form videos offline

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Quibi app

  • You can download content on Quibi for viewing offline, which is convenient if you are somewhere without access to the internet.
  • To download a video, tap the three dots in the corner of the video preview and choose to download it.
  • You can find saved videos in the Downloads folder at the bottom right of Quibi's home screen. 
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Quibi — a new streaming video subscription service — offers a lot of short-form content intended to be watched on your phone while on the go. 

However, it's also possible to stream Quibi to your TV using Chromecast and AirPlay. If you know you're going to be somewhere that you don't have access to the internet, you can download Quibi videos for offline viewing. 

When it comes to downloading on Quibi, there are a couple of caveats. First, not all videos are available for download. If you tap the three dots and don't see a download option, that content can't be downloaded.

Second, not all videos will remain permanently on your phone after downloading. Some videos will expire and disappear from the Downloads folder, so don't wait too long to watch anything you've downloaded. 

If you're on an ad-supported Quibi subscription, you may need to watch a short ad before the download begins. Otherwise, the video will download right away.

When you're ready to download on Quibi, here's how to do it. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)

Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $699.99 at Walmart)

How to download episodes on Quibi

1. In the Quibi app, find a video you want to watch (but don't tap it to start playing).

2. Tap the three dots in the corner of the video. 

3. When a pop-up menu appears, tap "Download Episode."

How to download episodes on Quibi 1

4. Close any video that is playing and go to Quibi's home screen. 

5. Tap "Downloads" in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to see a list of now downloaded videos. 

6. Tap the title you want to watch. 

How to download episodes on Quibi 2

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How to set up a donation sticker on an Instagram story to aid your favorite cause or nonprofit organization

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  • You can set up a donation sticker on Instagram stories to help your favorite nonprofits raise money.
  • In addition to donation stickers in Instagram stories, supporters can also fundraise for nonprofit organizations during a livestream.
  • For a nonprofit organization to be eligible to receive donations on Instagram, it must be first approved by the platform.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Instagram isn't just about memes or vacation photos — it can also be used as a tool to spread social good. 

To show support for the causes you believe in, the social platform allows you to help your favorite nonprofits raise money using the donations sticker in Instagram stories. Instagram also allows you to raise money during a live stream.

Of course, the donation feature is only available to eligible nonprofits. The requirements for a nonprofit to be able to raise money on Instagram include:

  • It must be enrolled and approved to use Facebook Charitable Giving Tools.
  • It must be a valid Instagram business account.
  • It must link its Instagram business account with its verified Facebook page. 
  • Once this is all done, the nonprofit must allow people to add donation stickers on Instagram stories.

If you're a part of a nonprofit and looking for information on how to get verified for donations, visit Instagram's support page for donations

Supporters can rest assured that 100% of donations go directly to their nonprofits of choice. Here's everything you need to know about how to set up a donation on Instagram. 

How to set up a donation on Instagram using Instagram stories

1. Open the Instagram app.

2. Tap the camera icon in the upper left-hand corner to open story mode.

donate1

3. Take a photo or video by pressing the white capture button located at bottom of the screen. You can also tap the small square in the lower left-hand corner to upload a photo or video you've already saved. 

4. Once your background is set, tap the square smiley face icon in the top menu bar or swipe up from the bottom of the screen.

donate2

5. Scroll through the featured stickers, and select "Donation." 

donate3

6. A list of suggested charities will pop up. You can scroll through the list or use the search bar at the top to find a specific organization. 

donate4

7. Once you've selected an organization, you can customize the text or change the color of the donation box by tapping the circular color palette at the top of your story screen.

8. Tap "Done" in the upper-right hand corner.

9. Once back on the story draft, place the sticker wherever you'd like on your story.

10. Add the photo or video to your Instagram story by selecting the "Your Story" or "Close Friends" icon at the bottom of the screen. 

donate5

11. To see how much money you've raised, swipe up on the story. Instagram does not take a percentage of the money raised. The full funds will be sent to the organization you chose. 

How to set up a donation on Instagram using Instagram Live

If you're interested in setting up a donation sticker during a live stream, the process is slightly different.

1. Open the Instagram app.

2. Tap the camera icon in the upper left-hand corner to open story mode.

3. In Instagram Stories, toggle through the options at the bottom by swiping and find "Live."

4. On the left-hand side, tap "Fundraiser."

5. A list of suggested charities will pop up. You can scroll through the list or use the search bar at the top to find a specific organization. 

6. Begin your live broadcast as usual by tapping the white camera button.

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Big DTC brands including Casper, Glossier, and Bombas continue to pump money into Facebook and Instagram despite the ad boycott

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  • Many direct-to-consumer upstarts have steered clear of joining the boycott called for by civil-rights groups and others to protest hate speech on Facebook amid nationwide protests over racial injustice.
  • As of July 2, prominent DTC brands including Bark & Co., Casper, Daily Harvest, Freshly, Glossier, Harry's, and Stitch Fix were all actively running ads across Facebook and Instagram in the US.
  • The economic downturn has made it hard for DTC companies to abandon Facebook because it's one of their core business drivers.
  • But a group of DTC industry insiders is demanding that Facebook enforce its existing policies against hate speech and incendiary language, stop misinformation on its platform, and hold politicians and elected officials to the same standards as other users.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hundreds of big-name advertisers from Unilever to Verizon are walking out of Facebook as a part of the Stop Hate for Profit boycott. But barring a handful of companies, many direct-to-consumer upstarts have steered clear of joining the boycott called for by civil-rights groups and others to protest hate speech on Facebook amid nationwide protests over racial injustice.

As of July 2, prominent DTC brands including Bark & Co., Bombas, Casper, Daily Harvest, Freshly, Glossier, Harry's, Ro, Stitch Fix, and SmileDirectClub were all actively running ads across Facebook and Instagram in the US, according to Facebook's Ad Library.

Bark & Co, Daily Harvest, and Stitch Fix were among the top 25 DTC spenders on both platforms, collectively shelling out more than $5.5 million in June, according to the advertising-analytics company Pathmatics.

DTC brands and millions of other small businesses heavily rely on Facebook's advertising platform to sell their goods and services. Small and medium-size businesses account for 76% of all spending on Facebook, according to Deutsche Bank, and aren't in a position to boycott a highly effective channel of marketing, especially during the economic downturn, industry experts said.

"For the bigger legacy brands, there's not so much of a cost to them coming off Facebook," said Christie Nordhielm, an associate professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. "For the smaller DTC brands, it's a question of money versus morality, and morality can be a luxury in business sometimes."

Business Insider reached out to 15 DTC brands — Bark & Co., Bombas, Casper, Daily Harvest, Freshly, Fridababy, Glossier, Harry's, Iris Nova, Mailchimp, Peloton, Ro, Stitch Fix, SmileDirectClub, and Untuckit — and 14 either declined to or didn't respond to a request for a comment. 

Mailchimp, a marketing-automation platform and email-marketing service, said it would participate in the boycott. Birchbox previously announced it was joining the boycott. 

Facebook has built a sophisticated ad platform for performance marketing

Facebook is an efficient channel for many DTC businesses, which rely on it for their marketing and sales since many don't have distribution in physical stores. Cutting out the platform means taking a hit to the bottom line and wouldn't set well with investors pumping money into these startups, Nik Sharma, a DTC strategist and investor, said.

"Facebook requires a very low buy-in, and it also has one of the best attribution systems for an ad platform — it's like crack for marketers," he said. "It just doesn't equate elsewhere because Facebook does a good job of not only putting your products in front of people, but also finds new people to push them to who are most likely to purchase."

While other brands may be able to channel their ad budgets to other platforms such as Google, Pinterest, and Snap, DTC companies don't have that option, Devin Whitaker, the director of performance marketing at the ad agency Good Moose, said.

While several brands have tried to wean themselves off Facebook and other performance-marketing channels in recent years, an overwhelming majority of DTC brands' web traffic is still generated from paid efforts on Facebook. Smaller brands that join the boycott could risk losing up to 80% of their monthly revenue, Whitaker said.

The coronavirus and economic downturn make it even harder for DTC brands to boycott Facebook

The coronavirus and resulting economic downturn has further complicated matters for DTC companies, which now find that demand is suddenly drying up as shoppers hunker down and restrict buying. In such an environment, it's even harder for them to abandon one of their core business drivers, experts said.

"It's a much taller ask in the current environment and is literally like a hostage situation," said Matt Rivitz, the founder of the activist organization Sleeping Giants, which is supporting the Stop Hate for Profit boycott. "You may want to take a stand, but you have to stay in business first."

June was a particularly brutal month for DTC advertisers, as purchasing was not top of mind for consumers amid the social and political climate in the country after George Floyd's killing and economic activity has only just started returning, Sharma said.

Plus, there is no evidence that consumers are on board with marketers boycotting Facebook, so there's no compelling reason for DTC brands to allocate their dollars elsewhere, said Mike Duda, managing partner at Bullish, a creative agency and DTC investing firm. 

"Right now, we are in a world where the big brands are looking to cut ad spend anyway, so it's opportunistic finger wagging," he said. "It's a business issue, not a consumer issue."

DTC brands are trying to push for change 

Some DTC brands are trying to lessen their dependence on Facebook and make it change its policies. Some companies have started to use more traditional mediums like TV advertising to find alternatives to Facebook's rising customer-acquisition costs and diversify their advertising. 

More recently, a group of professionals working in the DTC industry have launched an initiative to draft an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. They belong to DTC companies such as Flex, Winc, and Splendid Spoon and are asking Facebook to enforce its existing policies against hate speech and incendiary language, stop misinformation on its platform, particularly with respect to elections, and hold politicians and elected officials to the same standards as all users.

"This is a different approach than the boycott taking place, mostly because the advertisers with high spend on the channel can't cut spending without risking their business and the livelihoods of their entire team," Meytal Misrahi, a senior growth manager at Flex, said. "We have a responsibility to stronghold Facebook with a different leverage other than our brand names: our advertising budgets."

Facebook has made some concessions in recent days, with its executives doing the rounds to pacify advertisers, and Zuckerberg and other top execs planning to meet with the organizers of the boycott in the coming days. But it remains to be seen if the efforts will have a significant effect on its policies and bottom line.

Zuckerberg privately told Facebook employees last week he expected boycotting advertisers to "be back on the platform soon enough" and that he wouldn't change policies "because of a threat to a small percent of our revenue, or to any percent of our revenue," according to The Information.

SEE ALSO: In leaked memo to advertisers, Facebook's top ad exec promises an external audit of its safety tools and practices and tries to talk fleeing advertisers off the ledge

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How to add Grammarly to your Microsoft Outlook app and get advanced spelling and grammar corrections for your emails

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Similar to spelling and grammar checker built into word processors, Grammarly is a free writing app that offers real-time feedback and suggestions on your writing. 

In addition to web browsers, you can easily add Grammarly to Microsoft Outlook. To do that, you simply need to install the Grammarly add-in for Microsoft Office. This will allow you to use Grammarly while writing in Word documents or Outlook emails.

Here's how to add Grammarly to your Outlook account, using any Windows computer.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)

How to add Grammarly to Microsoft Outlook

1. Open the Grammarly for Microsoft Word and Outlook web page.

How to add Grammarly to Outlook 1

2. Install Grammarly. The app will download to your PC. 

3. During the installation process, choose if you want to install it for both Word and Outlook, and then click "Install." 

How to add Grammarly to Outlook 2

4. After a moment, the Grammarly add-in will be installed and ready for use. 

5. Open Outlook and click the Grammarly button that's now available in the ribbon at the top on the screen.

How to add Grammarly to Outlook 3

6. Click the button and create an account or log in with your existing Grammarly account to start using Grammarly. After installing Grammarly, you can launch it from the ribbon. 

How to use Grammarly with Outlook

After Grammarly has been installed in Outlook, you should see the new Grammarly pane on the right side of the Outlook window when you write email messages. If you don't see the Grammarly pane, click "Open Grammarly" in the Home tab of the ribbon at the top of the window. (You can also close the Grammarly pane by clicking "Close Grammarly" in the ribbon.)

How to add Grammarly to Outlook 4

There is also a Grammarly tab in Outlook's ribbon. You can explore the options in the ribbon, but most of the features are only available if you upgrade to Grammarly Premium (which costs $11.66 per month).

How to add Grammarly to Outlook 5

As you work, you can see the total number of suggestions at the very bottom of the Grammarly pane. There are two kinds of suggestions: "basic issues," which are available using the free edition of Grammarly, and "premium issues," which require upgrading to a paid Grammarly subscription.

Basic issues are mainly limited to grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If you upgrade to the Premium subscription you get additional feedback on readability, vocabulary, and writing style. For details on how to upgrade, click "Premium issues" at the bottom of the pane. 

Grammarly also displays the suggested edits in the Grammarly pane. It arranges these notes so the suggested changes line up horizontally with the error in the email message, so you can see them more or less side-by-side.

To review a suggestion, you can click on an underlined issue in the email message or click the suggestion in the Grammarly pane — these two parts of the window stay in sync and clicking either one has the same effect — either expands the suggestion in the Grammarly pane to show you more information and give you choices:

  • Click a suggestion (highlighted in green) to make the change.
  • Click the trash can icon on the right to dismiss the suggestion and keep your original text.
  • If it's a spelling suggestion, you can click the Add to Dictionary icon on the right to add the word to your custom Grammarly dictionary, so you won't be bothered with this suggestion again. 

How to add Grammarly to Outlook 6

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How to draw in Microsoft PowerPoint to create custom designs on slides through the desktop app and online

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  • You may want to draw in PowerPoint to mark and edit slideshows, or create your own designs, especially if you're using a touchscreen.
  • It's easy to draw in Microsoft PowerPoint with the various shape and line tools like the pencil and highlighter available on the app and web versions.
  • You can access drawing tools in PowerPoint under the "Draw" menu in the "Insert" tab, or use the basic line functions available in the app's "Shapes" menu.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Learning how to draw in PowerPoint is easy with the program's library of art tools at your disposal.

The Microsoft app gives you access to pens, pencils, and highlighters in the "Draw" tab. You can also add new tools at any time, so your favorite colors are always available in your dock.

Drawing in PowerPoint is great for circling items or highlighting text. It's especially helpful for editing, so you can highlight important parts of a presentation you may have been sent. After marking the slideshow — like you would a physical document — you can then send it to recipients. 

While possible in all versions, drawing intricate designs may be easiest if you're using PowerPoint on a touchscreen computer or tablet, such as an iPad or Surface Pro.

In addition to the drawing tab, you can also use the essential line functions in the "Shapes" menu, found in the "Insert" tab. Unfortunately, these options are not available in the web version. 

PowerPoint Draw 1

If you're looking to draw in PowerPoint, here's how to do it. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Microsoft Office (From $149.99 at Microsoft)

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)

How to draw in PowerPoint

1. Open PowerPoint and load a new presentation or a previously saved project. 

2. Navigate to the "Draw" tab and click "Draw" on the far left.

3. You'll find several preloaded options, even if it's your first time using the drawing tools, including the pen, pencil, and highlighter options. Click on any tool to select it. 

4. Click the small arrow that appears in the lower right of your tool image to open a dropdown menu with options. Use this to adjust the size, color, and effects, or choose to delete the drawing.

PowerPoint Draw 2

5. You can add another preset tool, so you'll always have it in the dock by clicking the "Add Pen" option to the right of the preset options bar. 

PowerPoint Draw 3

6. To erase any drawings or edits, navigate to the left side of the drawing dock, and select the eraser. 

7. To add something like a curve or scribble, or to freestyle draw using tools from the "Lines" section, navigate to the "Insert" tab. 

8. Click the "Shapes" button and select your tool. 

PowerPoint Draw 4

9. Online, the drawing menus are more limited. For example, when using pens, you'll choose from the colors provided instead of a color wheel or special effects.

PowerPoint Draw 5

10. If you opt to use the shape functions instead, the scribble and freeform lines are unavailable in the web version.

PowerPoint Draw 6

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How to add or edit a footer in your Microsoft PowerPoint slides for citations or notes

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Man adding footnotes to presentation on office computer

  • You can edit a footer in a PowerPoint presentation to include citations, notes, or disclaimers using a similar method to adding Microsoft Word footnotes.
  • To edit the footer in your PowerPoint slides, you'll need to access the Header & Footer menu from the Insert tab. 
  • With the "Header & Footer" tool, you can make your footer appear on just one slide, every slide in your presentation, or even every slide except the title slide.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

The ability to add footers in PowerPoint is useful for any number of reasons. You can use it to insert citations and references, notes about what you're saying, disclaimers, a company motto, or even a little joke if you want to make it a fun kind of slideshow.

Adding headers and footers to your PowerPoint slides is easy, even if they're not on the template. You can apply footers to a single slide or all your slides, and even exclude a footer from your title slide. 

Just remember that any changes you make on an individual slide will only appear on the slide you make them on. If you want to change what the footers say on every slide, you will have to open the dialog box again.

Here's how to add and edit a footer to your PowerPoint slide. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

Microsoft Office (From $149.99 at Best Buy)

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $179.99 at Walmart)

How to add and edit a footer in your PowerPoint slide

1. In the main PowerPoint toolbar, click on the Insert tab.

2. In the Text category of the ribbon, select Header & Footer.

How to edit footer in PowerPoint 1

3. In the dialog box, check the box next to Header & Footer.

4. Enter the text that you'd like to appear in the footer in the text box underneath.

5. Once you're finished, click Apply to apply the footer only to the slide you're currently working on. You can also click Apply All if you want it to appear on all your slides.

How to edit footer in PowerPoint 2

6. To edit the size or shape of your footer box, click on the element and drag and release the box to resize it.

7. You can change the font, color, or the text itself the same way you would with any other text element. 

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