• One Percent, a group of professional Fortnite players, bought a multimillion dollar mansion.
• They posted a tour on YouTube, showing off bedrooms, gaming setups, and the pool.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Moving into a house together has become a rite of passage for online creators, from YouTube to Vine, to most recently, TikTok. 

Six YouTube gamers, formerly from the Luminosity Gaming esports group, created One Percent, a new organization. The new channel has nearly 800,000 subscribers, and between them they have millions. After bragging that they bought the house with their earnings from YouTube and "Fortnite," they took viewers on a tour of their new house, focusing on gaming areas and the pool. 

The mansion is full of contrasts, like a kitchen that would make a Nancy Meyers fan swoon while the gamers have mini fridges and snack drawers in their rooms, or a baby grand piano possibly played by Frank Sinatra and rooms adorned with Funko Pops. 

Take a look inside.

SEE ALSO: This 15-sided, 86-square-foot tiny home is designed to be the perfect backyard office for $28,000 — see inside

One of the group members, who goes by Formula, begins the video by sharing that they were able to buy the "multimillion-dollar mansion" with their Fortnite and YouTube earnings, without any investors.

They also use the video to promote their merchandise, before moving inside the house.

Right at the entrance, the mansion has a 160-bottle wine display, although Formula says none of them drink wine.

The living room has a chandelier and baby grand piano left behind by the previous owner.

Formula claims the piano was once played by Frank Sinatra.

He showed off his bedroom on the first floor, which he said was decorated by his girlfriend.

In addition to the bedroom, he has a dedicated gaming room.

The room has a dual monitor gaming setup...

A new light-up PC...

...and a snack bar, which he called "the coolest thing I've ever done in my entire life.

In the corner, he has a display case for his Fortnite Funko Pop collection.

The kitchen looks newly upgraded, with two refrigerators and four freezers.

It also has a large island, coffee bar, and induction stove.

For most members, the backyard seems to be the highlight of the house.

It has a lounge area with several couches in the shade.

Behind the lounge, there's an infinity hot tub.

The large pool has sprinklers, beach chairs, and even a basketball hoop.

Finally, Nick showed the dining area where he said the group eats dinner at sunset.

Back inside, the movie theater is filled with comfortable looking lounge chairs.

The big screen and reclining chairs make it really look like a movie theater.

The house also has a gaming area, with air hockey and foosball.

They also have some classic arcade games, like pinball.

In the hallway, members display trophies from YouTube on subscriber milestones.

One room in the house is full of gym equipment, which they said will be turned into something else later, and kept a secret.

The rest of the bedrooms are on the second floor, which can be reached by elevator.

Razz's room is decorated with posters and a mini-fridge.

He also showed off his three monitor gaming setup.

Nick also showed his room, without a bed frame.

Like the others, he also has his gaming station in his room, with an upgraded chair and microphone.

Nick called this wall one of his "most prized possessions." Also, note the Baby Yoda doll on the right.

Each bedroom has its own bathroom.

Kiwiz's room was decorated with posters and wall art.

He also gave fans a look at where he games.

Some of the bedrooms on the second floor have balconies, which overlook the pool and golf course that sits behind the house.

Kiwiz also showed his custom YouTube Gaming jacket sent to him by YouTube.

Randumb said he has the master bedroom, which he shares with his dog, Ash.

The master bath has two vanities, a separate tub and shower, toilet, and bidet.

Finally, he showed the recording studio, which will be used for filming One Percent content.

• Two Mexican architects teamed up to create the Minimal Leisure Dwelling, a prefab shipping container home.
• The home starts at $50,000 and can be completed in 99 days.
• Sustainability plays into every aspect of the design for minimum environmental impact, the company claims.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Two Mexican architects designed a modern, sustainable tiny home, and it barely shows its shipping container roots.

Rodrigo Alegre and Carlos Acosta, founder of the Mexico City studio StudioRoca, spent the last few years focusing more and more on environmental impact, and eventually developed the idea for Vivienda Minima de Descanso (VMD), or Minimal Leisure Dwelling.

VMD is a prefab one or two-bedroom home made out of repurposed shipping containers, with customization options throughout. The one-bedroom designs are about 322 square feet, and two-bedroom designs are about 645 square feet.

The basic VMD starts at $49,000 and is constructed in Mexico, then dropped by a crane into whatever location is chosen by the buyer. With the philosophy of minimizing environmental impact, VMD can be used totally off-grid, with solar panels and a rainwater tank. Specialized materials minimize energy needs throughout to keep the home as low impact as possible.

See inside here. 

SEE ALSO: This 15-sided, 86-square-foot tiny home is designed to be the perfect backyard office for $28,000 — see inside

VMD units are made out of repurposed shipping containers.

The exterior facade is made out of viroc, a composite material.

The architects said that sustainability was a goal throughout the design, and using shipping containers reduce resources used and waste produced.

Viroc is fire and water resistant, with acoustic and thermal insulation.

The shipping container structure is sturdy, so it can go anywhere that a trailer and crane can drop it.

Inside, the units are extremely customizable.

VMDs can be one or two bedrooms...

Or even larger, with nearly endless options of combining several containers.

Inside, furnishings were designed and curated by StudioRoca, based in Mexico City.

Every aspect, from the basic structure to finishings, was chosen based on ecological impact, along with style.

The drywall has thermal and acoustic insulation properties that make heating and cooling cheaper and less energy intensive.

Floors, walls, countertops, and bathroom finishes can all be customized in the buying process.

Solar panels and a rainwater tank can be added on for off-grid living.

The bathroom floor is made up of 33% recycled materials.

A special instant water heater "dramatically reduces energy usage"...

...and an incinerating toilet can minimize energy further, while also being a good option for off grid use.

Built-in shelving and storage throughout helps residents make use of the small space.

The kitchen is modern-looking, with white no hardware cabinets and black appliances.

It has a small eat-in area that leads into the main living space.

A glass door lets in light.

The melamine flooring in the house actually has a negative carbon footprint.

Part of the appeal of VMD is that residents can just "lock-up-and-go."

Architects said that the prefab home doesn't have all the maintenance that a house would, make it a good option for a guest house, vacation home, or primary residence.

The architects recommend a check of the structure every two years to make sure there is no corrosion.

They estimate that the structure will be suitable housing for at least 50 years.

From ordering to delivery, the entire process takes 99 days.

The base price is $49,000, not including shipping and customizations.

The base price does include electrical and plumbing systems, finishes, bathroom furniture, lighting, and the deck.

The architects shared this photo of one of their customized units with Business Insider.

For buyers concerned about security, cameras, motion sensors, and alarms can all be controlled through a cell phone.

Finally, because VMD doesn't require a foundation, it could be moved to another location.

• While many tech startups have reeled from the coronavirus crisis, some of them are still attractive to investors.
• A Silicon Valley company called EquityBee, which lets startup employees connect with investors who can help them exercise their stock options, said that 10 hot startups stand out based on data from its platform.
• EquityBee calls the financiers on its platform "hidden investors" who bet on startups they believe will do well when they are sold or when they go public. Investors and employees remain anonymous on the platform.
• "We've seen a very strong increase for fintech companies, for cloud-based companies and for developer tools," EquityBee cofounder and CEO Oren Barzilai told Business Insider. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

While many tech startups have taken huge hits from the coronavirus crisis, some continue to attract interest from investors.

Startups such as cloud platforms Vercel and Better Cloud have managed to raise venture capital during the pandemic while data analytics company Palantir filed to go public (and cloud insurance firm Lemonade even made its market debut). 

Silicon Valley company EquityBee, which connects startup employees with investors who can help them exercise their stock options, has seen a boost in investor interest on its platform, too. EquityBee calls the financiers on its platform "hidden investors," that buy vested equity options from employees, essentially betting on startups that they believe will do well when they are sold or when they go public. Both investors and employees remain anonymous on the platform.

The company said it has roughly 3,000 investors who are able to make the minimum investment of $10,000 to participate in the platform. One of the largest investments by an individual was a few hundred thousand dollars into one startup, according to EquityBee.

The coronavirus crisis has sparked a flurry of activity on the platform. 

"We've seen a very strong increase for fintech companies, for cloud-based companies, and for developer tools," EquityBee cofounder and CEO Oren Barzilai told Business Insider. 

EquityBee has also seen "a very significant drop" in investor interest in travel-tech startups, such as TripActions.  There is one exception, though, Barzilai said: "Investors are still very interested in Airbnb."

Barzilai said EquityBee had seen a spike in interest early on — about three months ago — from employees who were worried about losing their jobs and who began exploring ways to exercise their options when the coronavirus crisis began to escalate.

But it has become clearer over the last few months which startups are valuable in the eyes of EquityBee investors.

Here are the top 10 startups that are hot to the "hidden investors" on the Equity Bee platform:

SEE ALSO: Meet the 7 Cisco power players helping CEO Chuck Robbins steer the company through the coronavirus crisis and thrive in the cloud era

Airbnb

Funding: $5.4 billion

Top Investors: Silver Lake Partners, Capital Group, TCV

What it does: Airbnb, which pioneered the online home rental market, has been widely expected to file for an IPO soon.

But the San Francisco startup took a big hit from the coronavirus crisis which led to a sudden drop in both business and leisure travel. The company was forced to lay off 25% of its staff.

But CEO Brian Chesky has remained upbeat about the company's prospects, telling Business Insider in a recent interview: "There is an innate human desire to travel, to explore, and that is never going to go away. Travel may be on pause, but it's going to come back."

eToro

Funding: $222.7 million

Top Investors: Spark Capital, BRM Capital, China Minsheng Financial Holdings

What it does: The pandemic has not slowed down eToro's growth, which could explain strong investor interest in the online trading platform. The UK-based startup reported 13 million global registered users in May. The company also said stock trading has tripled on its platform since the beginning of 2020.

Houzz

Funding: $613.6 million

Top Investors: Sequoia Capital, ICONIQ Capital, GGV Capital

What it does: Houzz is a popular online home improvement and design platform that helps connect homeowners with designers, contractors, architects and other professionals.

The Silicon Valley startup was forced to cut jobs and salaries as the coronavirus escalated, but it has announced some good news in the past few months too: It expanded its network to more than 2.5 million professionals and introduced virtual meeting and visualization tools for its clients.

Palantir Technologies

Funding: $2.6 billion

Top Investors: Sompo Holdings, Kortschak Investments, Founders Fund

What it does: Palantir, the controversial big data analytics company, has confidentially filed paperwork for an IPO, one of the most widely-anticipated public trading debuts in years.

Palantir, which is valued at about $20 billion, was founded in 2003 by a group of PayPal alumni, including investor Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, who is currently its CEO. The company's technology collects and analyzes huge amounts of data in order to detect patterns.

But Palantir has been criticized for the role its technology has played in law enforcement, including raids on undocumented immigrants conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Monday.com

Funding: $234.9 million

Top Investors: Sapphire Ventures, Insight Partners, Genesis Partners

What it does: Monday.com is one of the fast growing collaboration and production platforms, which have become more important in the world of remote work.

Jai Das, a partner at Monday.com investor Sapphire Ventures, named the company among the startups poised to come out stronger from the coronavirus crisis.

"You can't really just have hallway conversations anymore," he told Business Insider in an interview in May. That makes online collaboration platforms like Monday.con even more valuable for businesses adapting to the new normal.

SpaceX

Funding: $3.5 billion

Top Investors: Founds Fund, NASA,

What it does: It's not surprising that EquityBee's "hidden investors" would be drawn to the most famous space exploration company. SpaceX was in the news recently when it launched its first two  human passengers into a space.

It was a major milestone for the 18-year-old company whose CEO Elon Musk has told his employees to aim for bigger things, including eventually taking passengers to Mars.

SimilarWeb

Funding: $112.2 million

Top Investors: Viola Growth, Prosus & Naspers

What it does:  SimilarWeb is New York-based web analytics company that helps businesses track and analyze digital trends related to their product and their market. 

The company offers a form of digital marketing intelligence that has become even more valuable at a time when markets are getting disrupted. For example, recently SimilarWeb shared data with Business Insider that showed a sharp uptick in traffic for online grocery and food delivery firms, and a drop-off for sites offering luxury goods.

JFrog

Funding: $226.5 million

Top Investors: Insight Partners, VMware

What it does: Silicon Valley startup JFrog helps developers manage their software more efficiently. It is considered a pioneer in the world of DevOps, which refers to a critical arena in software development and operations.

JFrog's customers include tech giants like Google, Amazon, Netflix and Facebook. 

"When you do something so fundamental that powers all of [the major applications], it's very hard to explain why this company is so important," CEO Shlomi Ben Haim told Business Insider in a recent interview. "We are the guys behind the scenes."

Databricks

Funding: $897 million

Top Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates

What it does: Founded in 2013, Databricks has become one of the hottest data analytics startups today. The San Francisco-based startup raised $400 million in a Series F round late last year at a $6.2 billion valuation.  It also recently hired Silicon Valley veteran David Conte as CFO, sparking speculation that the company was gearing up for an IPO.

Databricks' solid finances has made it easier for the startup to navigate the coronavirus crisis,  CEO Ali Ghodsi said.

"We find ourselves in the extremely fortunate situation of having well over half a billion dollars on our balance sheet," he told Business Insiderin an April interview.

Stripe

Funding: $897 million

Top Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, GV, Sequoia 

What it does: Stripe is a fast-growing digital payments platform based in San Francisco. It just raised $600 million from investors in April, pushing its valuation up to nearly $36 billion.

CEO Patrick Collilson has touted the company's financial strength, highlighted by over $2 billion on its balance sheet. Stripe has also signed major customers, including Mattel and NBC.

• Secondary passports are in high demand as the coronavirus pandemic causes travel restrictions around the world.
• In the Caribbean, some nations are offering steep discounts to bring in extra revenue amid a cash crunch. 
• Passport buying has shifted from simple vacations to riding out the virus, experts say. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Caribbean island countries have long offered passports to wealthy foreigners in exchange for a — sometimes steep — monetary investment, but facing a cash crunch and a surge in interest, there are deals to be had.

Through December 1, the island nation Saint Kitts and Nevis is selling a four-person family package for $150,000 — down from $190,000, in exchange for a minimum real-estate purchase of $200,000 that must be held for at least seven years.

The Caribbean country's passport ranks roughly in line with Mexico's, according to the world Passport Index. And, perhaps more intriguing for Americans currently barred from Europe, the passport's good for visa-less travel to the European Union and the UK, among others.

"In these days of Covid, when tourism is not happening, we have to find ways to create revenue to sustain our economy," Les Khan, CEO of Saint Kitts and Nevis Citizenship Investment Unit, told Bloomberg News.

Other island nations in the region — including Saint Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, and Dominica — all offer similar programs, some at a new discount, as they hope to cash in on the increased interest ,too. According to Henley & Partners, a London-based passport broker and "identity management" firm, there's been a 42% uptick in citizenship applications. What's more, the US currently has a 1.5 million-passport backlog in its processing queue because of the pandemic. 

Anyone hoping for easier travel to the United States, however, can expect to pay a lot more. Malta, whose passport power ranks just under Italy, Canada, and Norway in terms of travel, will sell you citizenship that includes EU and US travel — though there are more strings attached. The Mediterranean island nation has long been a hotspot for the world's ultra wealthy.

Still, the more expensive option may be a better choice as people shift passport strategies from vacationing to riding out a global pandemic that some countries have been far more successful in mitigating than others.

"'Investment migration' has shifted from being about living the life you want in terms of holidays and business travel to a more holistic vision that includes healthcare and safety," Dr. Christian Kalin,an executive at Henley & Partners, told Robb Report.

This year's discounts might not last forever.

"In the past there has been a tendency toward lowering prices, but the current cuts seem to be temporary and Covid-19 related," Beatrice Gatti, a legal manager at CS Partners, which helps ultra-wealthy clients find second-citizenship, told Bloomberg.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak

• Signalwire, which makes APIs and open source software for online communication, is releasing a new video conferencing platform that's meant to replicate an office environment in a virtual setting. 
• Cantina runs in a browser and gives users the option to end-to-end encrypt meetings. It also has standing meeting rooms people can pop into to recreate the feeling of being in an office. 
• Signalwire cofounders Anthony Minessale and Sean Heiney originally built it as an internal tool and released it publicly because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories. 

Anthony Minessale and Sean Heiney have been working together to create better video communication tools for the last decade. After meeting through Minessale's open-source communication project FreeSWITCH, they cofounded a video API startup, SignalWire, which is now launching a new video conferencing platform that they say works better than competitors like Zoom.

The app, called Cantina, is meant to replicate an office environment in a virtual setting and has the ability to host calls that are end-to-end encrypted, a technology feature that few video communications tools currently have. 

It started as a tool for internal use: Signalwire built it because, as a fully remote company, it wasn't satisfied with other options on the market. When team-members would use it for sales calls, they would always get questions from customers about where to get the tool. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Minessale and Heiney realized that the now-remote world needed a video communication system that could better mimic real-life, and decided to launch it publicly. 

"We basically just mandated that we would get a prototype done as fast as possible to demonstrate all the functionality that SignalWire has to offer," Minessale told Business Insider. 

With Cantina, users can host video calls and webinars for thousands of people, similar to Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, it has a unique overall philosophy for its users: More than solving the technical problems of communication tools, Cantina aims to solve some of the social problems that occur when everyone is working remotely, Heiney said. 

Companies can set up static virtual rooms that employees can drop in and out of to replicate the feeling of a shared office space, and it's all run out of a "command center" that all employees can see. The app runs in a web browser on desktop or mobile, no downloads needed.

"There's certain things that are lost in that office environment and we've done things to mitigate some of that, like the informal water cooler chatter is valuable sometimes," Heiney said. "We've worked through a lot of that over the last couple of years with some real features and functions around that, that make this a real remote work environment replacement." 

What led Minessale and Heiney to Cantina  

The process started in 2005 when Minessale created an open source project called FreeSWITCH which was a platform for online communications. Many well known companies, including Netflix, Amazon, and Vonage, used its open source code to build various communications systems like customer service or internal chat tools, Signalwire COO Heiney said. 

"It's literally been at the heart of the communications revolution of the digital era," he said. "Billions of dollars of value has been built upon it." 

Eventually, Minessale realized that he could build a formal business around the technology he had created. Companies that were using the code often came to him to ask for new features, or because they had run into issues when trying to scale it to meet the needs of a massive organization. That's when Minessale and Heiney created Signalwire, to sell application programming interfaces — APIs — for voice, video, and text communication, alongside FreeSWITCH's open source platform. 

Signalwire raised $11.5 million in Series A funding in 2019, and its backers include Storm Ventures, Samsung NEXT and Sequoia Capital and executives like Eric Yuan from Zoom and Jerry Yang from Yahoo. 

How Signalwire will sell Cantina

Signalwire has 250 customers trying out the new video conferencing service, and will soon start selling it outright. It just hired a new VP of business development and global channels — former Barracude exec Ezra Hookano — to help with its sales strategy of selling through IT reseller partners.

The company is still deciding pricing for Cantina but Heiney said it will give customers a 30 day free trial, and then charge based on the total number of users, versus on a per user basis. 

Beyond replicating aspects of in-office interaction, Cantina has a security-first mindset and flexibility that will differentiate it from competitors, he said. 

"We were always designed with data privacy in mind from inception," Heiney said. "So we're not subject to the same kind of problems historically faced with some of the other vendors."

Signalwire runs its APIs and software in almost every available public cloud, and can adapt quickly to the specific needs of companies. For example, a customer in Bahrain requires all its data to stay within the country at all times, so for that customer Signalwire runs only in data centers in Bahrain. 

Cantina also gives users the open to end-to-end encrypt their calls. However, if they want a call recorded or transcribed then it can't be encrypted, Minessale said, because there's a third party involved. Calls between individuals can be end-to-end encrypted though.

This is similar to the model Zoom settled on for its encryption plans. Zoom was originally criticized for marketing itself as fully encrypted when it wasn't, and then faced an additional backlash for its initial plans to only give encryption to paid users.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pzaveri@businessinsider.com or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America

Hello everyone! Welcome to this weekly roundup of Business Insider stories from executive editor Matt Turner. Please subscribe to Business Insider here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Sunday.

Hello!

One-click checkout startup Fast raised $20 million from investors including Index Ventures and fintech Stripe in May. On Tuesday Fast's cofounder and CEO Domm Holland, and Jan Hammer, general partner at Index Ventures, will chat with Shannen Balogh about how to build a pitch deck, and what it takes to win over investors. Sign up for the digital event here:

SIGN UP NOW: On Tuesday we're talking to Fast CEO Domm Holland about how he crafted the perfect pitch to raise $20 million from top investors

Separately:

• You can now get the top healthcare stories delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here. 
• Starting this week, you can get the top stories in advertising and media delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here. 

Read on for more on Jeffrey Epstein's little black book, Gen Z day traders, an energy CEO who may face charges for pulling a gun, and the top stories you might have missed.

Jeffrey Epstein's little black book

There are more than 1,500 people listed in Jeffrey Epstein's infamous little black book, Angela Wang reported this week. Now you can search them all. From her story:

Among them are royalty and nobility, celebrities and academics, art collectors and hedge funders, politicians and heads of state: a motley compendium of global high society.

Business Insider has transcribed and tabulated the black book in its entirety, making the entries in the late sex offender's notorious Rolodex fully searchable for the first time.

You can search Business Insider's database right here:

There are 1,510 people in Jeffrey Epstein's little black book. Now you can search them all for the first time.

Angela also compiled a dataset of every known flight made by Jeffrey Epstein's private jets. Per her story, the sex offender owned a Gulfstream IV, a Gulfstream GV-SP, and a Boeing 727 nicknamed the "Lolita Express." 

We compiled every known flight made by Jeffrey Epstein's fleet of private planes. Search them all for the first time.

Gen Z day traders

Joe Mecane, the head of execution services at Citadel Securities, said this week that retail investors have accounted for as much as 25% of the stock market's activity in recent months, Ben Winck reported.

Robinhood added more than 3 million new accounts in the first quarter alone, meanwhile, and as Ben reported, posts on investing forums have topped Reddit's "popular" page. From Ben's story:

As the stock market attempted to claw back from multiyear lows spurred by the coronavirus outbreak, retail investors flooded the market with speculative bets and improbable picks.

They bought struggling airline and cruise stocks in droves. They rushed into shares of tiny biotechs offering faint hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine. They even piled into shares of Hertz, a bankrupt company whose stock is viewed as worthless in the long run.

He talked to two Gen Z day traders to find out what makes them tick. You can read his story here:

Wall Street is being shaken to its core by a legion of Gen Z day traders. From a casual hobbyist to a 20-year-old running a 14,000-person platform, meet the new generation of retail investors.

Elsewhere in investing news:

• The most accurate tech analyst on Wall Street says these 6 stocks have potential for huge gains as they transform the sector
• Bank of America identifies 3 indicators that could make or break the stock market this summer – and warns they're all deteriorating fast
• UBS has compiled an investing playbook for all the possible election outcomes. Here are the 6 trades it recommends to profit from a Trump triumph — and 10 for a Biden blue wave.

Energy CEO may face charges

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tested a machine that brews beer at the push of a button

With speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G, and latency up to 120 times lower, 5G is poised to revolutionize the tech industry.

Telecoms in 18 countries will roll out 5G networks by the end of 2019, which means the race to secure global 5G leadership is officially underway. Winning would allow the opportunity to shape the future of the telecommunications industry, and could come with more than a decade of competitive advantages.

As the biggest mobile market in the world, China is at the front of the pack of global 5G development. China is projected to have 460 million 5G connections by 2025, which would make it the largest 5G market worldwide. After largely missing the opportunity of the 3G and 4G eras, 5G leadership is a top priority for China.

In the 5G Snapshot: China report, Business Insider Intelligence breaks down the key components and advantages of China's 5G mission, and provides summaries of the country's 3 largest wireless operators.

This exclusive report can be yours for FREE today.

Join the conversation about this story »

• This is a preview of The Internet of Things 2020 research report from Business Insider Intelligence.
• Purchase this report.
• Business Insider Intelligence offers even more technology coverage with Connectivity & Tech Pro. Subscribe today to receive industry-changing connectivity news and analysis to your inbox.

IoT systems and solutions are iterating rapidly, and providers are coming to meet more and more of companies' and consumers' needs.

Emerging tools and technologies like smart speakers, machine learning, and 5G are enabling huge gains to efficiency and more control at home and in the workplace.

The continued growth of the IoT industry is going to be a transformative force across all organizations. By integrating all of our modern day devices with internet connectivity, the IoT market is on pace to grow to over $2.4 trillion annually by 2027.

To give companies insight into who's using IoT solutions, who isn't, and key trends in the development and deployment of IoT projects, Business Insider Intelligence conducted its fourth annual Global IoT Executive Survey.

The annual survey, combined with past iterations of the study, offers a longitudinal look at adoption of the IoT generally, anticipated trends and their realization, and the evolution of decision-making processes alongside other points of interest in the wider space. Our survey includes over 400 responses from key executives around the world, including C-suite and director-level respondents.

Through this exclusive study and broad-based research into the field, Business Insider Intelligence details the components that make up the IoT ecosystem. We size the IoT market and use exclusive data to identify key trends in the connected devices sector. And we profile the enterprise, governmental, and consumer IoT segments individually, drilling down into the drivers and characteristics that are shaping each market.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• We project that there will be more than 41 billion IoT devices by 2027, up from about 8 billion in 2019.
• 5G networks will figure into many companies' IoT projects before the year is out, with 39% of respondents to our survey saying they plan to support 5G in IoT products and services before 2021.
• AI and machine learning are critical systems that are continually evolving to provide IoT users with the tools they need to parse mountains of data and quickly discern usable insights, while edge computing solutions are growing more central to IoT discussions and increasingly sophisticated as companies seek to reduce data transmission costs and lower latency.
• The report highlights the opinions and experiences of IoT decision-makers on topics that include: drivers of adoption, major challenges and barriers, investment plans, and the types of solutions they're employing thus far.

In full, the report:

• Provides a primer on the basics of the IoT ecosystem.
• Offers forecasts for the IoT moving forward, and highlights areas of interest in the coming years.
• Looks at who is and is not adopting the IoT, and why.
• Highlights drivers and challenges facing companies that are implementing IoT solutions.

Companies mentioned in this report include: Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Attest, Audi, AWS, Baidu, Blink, Carbon Black, China, Mobile, China UnionPay, Cisco, Cimcon, Deutsche Telekom, eero, enSilo, Ericsson, Etisalat, Foninet, Goldman Sachs, Google, Google Cloud, Honeywell, Honeywell Connected Enterprise, Huawei, Internet of Things Consortium, Intersection, Jacuzzi, Michelin, Microsoft, NEC, Nest, NXP Semiconductors, Oracle, Orange, Particle, Qualcomm, Ring, Salesforce, Sidewalk Labs, Sigfox, Singtel, SoftBank, Software AG, Sprint, STMicroelectronics, T-Systems, Telefonica, Telstra, Tenable, Tencent, Tolaga Research, Verizon, VMWare, Z-Wave, ZigBee.

Interested in getting the full report? Here's how to get access:

1. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now
2. Sign up for Connectivity & Tech Pro , Business Insider Intelligence's expert product suite keeping you up-to-date on the people, technologies, trends, and companies shaping the future of connectivity, delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >>Get Started
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4. Current subscribers can read the report here.

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• Two of the most critically lauded luxury laptop brands, Apple's MacBook Pro and Microsoft's Surface Laptop lines, are enjoying sizable discounts over at Best Buy. 
• Multiple configurations of the 16-inch MacBook Pro and Surface Laptop 3 are up to $300 off for a limited time, seemingly coinciding with Best Buy's back to school sale yet available for everyone.
• We've also found a few other sweet laptop deals that are listed below for this week.
• See also: The best laptops, the best Chromebooks, and the best gaming laptops.
• Visit Insider Reviews' deals page for more sales.

At this point in modern life, it's not hyperbole to say that absolutely everyone needs a laptop. Of course, we include laptops of all shapes, sizes and budgets in that claim. Even if it's a $100 Chromebook, the world that it opens you up to is practically priceless. It's no wonder then that people are always searching around for laptop deals.

However, it takes a trained eye to find the best laptops deals out there, especially because individual laptop models are sold in several configurations of varying power and capability. We've been collectively looking at laptop deals as professionals for a few decades now, so we know a real savings when we see one.

At the time of writing, Best Buy is selling multiple laptops and accessories at relatively steep discounts, but the most notable are its 16-inch MacBook Pro deals and its discounts on several Surface Laptop 3 models and configurations. Across the board, all of these models and configurations are $300 off.

Now, in the case of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, this $300 discount is actually rather standard among third-party retailers, but Best Buy is currently the only major retailer we've found to be honoring that deal, with many others sold out of their stocks.

However, there are several other, more affordable laptops on sale as well, namely an 11.6-inch HP Chromebook for just $169.99 and a 15.6-inch Samsung Chromebook for only $329.99. Both are ideal for school work for students of all ages.

Check out all of the latest Best Buy laptop deals right here.

Here are some more sweet laptop deals happening right now:

• Several refurbished Acer laptops are on sale below their suggested price at Newegg
• More than 50 laptops are on sale at Walmart across a wide range of prices

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: July 15 is Tax Day — here's what it's like to do your own taxes for the very first time

• TikTok is a short-form video app that's become one of the most popular social platforms among Generation Z.
• TikTok has more than 2 billion all-time downloads, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower, and is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese internet company.
• Here's the story of how TikTok got its start and grew into a wildly popular platform, and why US lawmakers are now threatening to ban it.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
• Follow INSIDER on TikTok.

One of the most popular apps among teenagers at the moment is a short-form video platform called TikTok.

In just a few years of its existence, TikTok has become a staple of internet culture and social interaction for Generation Z. The app has surpassed 2 billion all-time downloads, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower, thanks to its flurry of short-form videos where users participate in viral challenges, lip sync and dance to music, show off comedic skits, and share their hot takes on society at large.

But TikTok's rise into the mainstream — especially in the US — has also led to increased scrutiny. TikTok is owned by the colossal Chinese company ByteDance, a connection that's raised concerns about how much access and influence the Chinese government has to user data and content moderation. To appease concerns, ByteDance recently appointed a new CEO for TikTok, Kevin Mayer, an American ex-Disney streaming executive who is now based out of TikTok's Los Angeles offices.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration hinted last week it was considering banning TikTok in the US. Rising calls to take action against the app in one of its biggest markets could mean trouble for TikTok's future and the millions of users loyal to its content.

Here's how TikTok rose to become a social network loved by teens and scrutinized by US authorities:

SEE ALSO: Palantir, a secretive tech company started by members of the 'PayPal mafia' with close ties to the Trump administration, could be one of the biggest tech IPOs ever. Take a closer look at how it makes money

To trace the history of this incredibly popular short-form video sharing app, it's important to note that TikTok didn't start as TikTok, but as two distinct apps that eventually merged: Musical.ly and Douyin.

Musical.ly was a short-form app where users could create and share 15-second lip sync music videos. It was founded in 2014 by Alex Zhu and Louis Yang.

Source: Business Insider

Musical.ly was originally intended for short-form educational videos, but Zhu said that idea was "doomed to be a failure."

Source: Business Insider

The app hit the No. 1 spot in the App Store in the summer of 2015, and never left the charts. From Musical.ly, a new generation of stars was created, including Jacob Sartorius.

Source: Business Insider

When the popular video app Vine closed in October 2016, many of the fresh class of young influencers who found fame by posting videos turned to Musical.ly to continue their work.

Source: New York Times

Meanwhile, in September 2016, short-form video app Douyin launched in China. Short-form video creation was nothing new for China's market, but Douyin's popularity skyrocketed. Within a year, Douyin had 100 million users and 1 billion video views each day.

Source: WalktheChat

In September 2017, Douyin expanded outside of China to select international markets under a new name — TikTok. The platform quickly rose to the top of the charts in Thailand, Japan, and other Asian markets.

Source: KrAsia

As TikTok started to gain traction globally, Musical.ly was taking over the United States.

Source: Business Insider

In November 2017, Douyin's parent company, ByteDance, purchased Musical.ly in a deal valued at $1 billion. ByteDance first operated the two short-form video apps as two separate platforms: Musical.ly in the US, and TikTok in other foreign markets.

Source: Business Insider

Less than a year later, in August 2018, ByteDance announced it would shut down Musical.ly and merge it into TikTok. All Musical.ly profiles were automatically moved over to the TikTok platform.

"Combining musical.ly and TikTok is a natural fit given the shared mission of both experiences — to create a community where everyone can be a creator," Musical.ly cofounder Zhu said at the time.

Source: Variety

Since the merger, TikTok's popularity in the US has skyrocketed. TikTok has now has more than 400 employees in the US alone, led by US general manager Vanessa Pappas.

Source: TikTok

ByteDance, which now owns TikTok, is a colossal Chinese tech company headquartered in Beijing that runs several popular social networking apps. Think of ByteDance as China's Facebook: Both companies own families of popular social networking apps used by billions of people a day.

ByteDance is run by CEO Zhang Yiming, who founded the company in 2012. Zhang's name is relatively unknown outside of China, but the 37-year-old CEO comes from a background in software engineering and is worth an estimated $16.2 billion, according to Forbes.

Source: Bloomberg, Forbes

ByteDance's first product was a news aggregator app called Toutiao. Zhang wanted to create a news platform whose results were powered by artificial intelligence, separate from China's search engine Baidu.

Source: Bloomberg

Since 2012, ByteDance has expanded as an umbrella company for several popular Chinese social apps. In 2019, ByteDance released a WeChat-competing chat app called FlipChat, and a video-messaging app called Duoshan.

Source: TechCrunch

ByteDance is now worth $75 billion, making it the most valuable private company in the world. It's received investments from some of the biggest VC firms globally, including SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, and General Atlantic.

Source: PitchBook

TikTok is quickly gaining ground in a social scene largely dominated by powerhouses like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Worldwide, it's become home to viral challenges and spawned internet memes, and has become particularly popular among Generation Z.

Because of TikTok's music-centric set-up, TikTok has become a launchpad outside of the traditional industry for budding artists who have seen their songs go viral for uses in dances and challenges on the app. That includes Lil Nas X, whose song "Old Town Road" was used for countless videos and memes on TikTok ahead of its ascent to the top of the Billboard charts.

Source: Complex

TikTok has also become the newest platform to turn regular users into viral sensations and successful influencers. The No. 1 star on all of TikTok is currently Charli D'Amelio, a 16-year-old who ascended to the top less than a year after first joining the platform.

Source: Business Insider

Do you work at TikTok? Got a tip about it? Contact this reporter via Signal at +1 (201) 312-4526 using a non-work phone, email at pleskin@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @paigeleskin. (PR pitches by email only please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

TikTok's popularity has skyrocketed not only in the US, but around the world, in countries like India and the UK. Following a popularity boost during the coronavirus pandemic, TikTok surpassed 2 billion downloads worldwide in April across both iOS and Android devices, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

Source: Business Insider

But the rising popularity of TikTok has also come with some controversy, due to its ties to China via ByteDance. TikTok has found itself in the crosshairs of US lawmakers, who have raised national security and privacy concerns over ByteDance's ties to the Chinese government.

The US government started investigating the app in November 2019 after pressure from lawmakers. Officials have raised concern about how TikTok handles and stores user data, leading to some government entities to ban the app from their employees' government-issued phones.

Source: Business Insider

The app's young user base has also gotten it in trouble with children's privacy officials. TikTok paid out a $5.7 million fine to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 over allegations it illegally collected personal information from children under age 13 without parental consent, in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Per the FTC settlement, TikTok promised to delete existing data it had on young users and change its practices to adhere to COPPA. However, earlier this year, privacy and child advocates accused TikTok of breaking the terms of the FTC settlement by failing to delete videos and other content obtained illegally, and failing to alter policies.

As a result, the FTC and US Justice Department are now looking into allegations it failed to live up to its 2019 agreement.

Source: Business Insider, FTC

TikTok has also faced allegations it censors content on the platform. The Guardian found TikTok had previously removed political content that would anger the Chinese government, brought on by the suspicious absence of videos of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.

TikTok has denied it censors content on requests from any "foreign government," and has said that none of its moderators are based in China.

Source: The Guardian

Media outlets have also uncovered TikTok policies that had censored 'culturally problematic' content — including videos featuring vaping, so-called suggestive dancing, and social issues. TikTok was also found to have limited the reach of and censored videos from disabled, queer, and fat creators. It's still unclear what policies TikTok uses to moderate its content today.

TikTok has said that it no longer adheres to these policies when monitoring content.

Source: Washington Post, Netzpolitik

Amid increasing scrutiny from the US, TikTok has tried to distance itself from its Chinese roots. On June 1, ByteDance appointed Kevin Mayer, an ex-Disney executive, to global CEO, based in Los Angeles.

Zhu, the Musical.ly cofounder and former head of TikTok, now serves as ByteDance's VP of product and strategy.

Source: Business Insider

It didn't take long for Mayer to face his first challenge as TikTok's new CEO: India said in June it was banning TikTok and other Chinese apps amid violent clashes with China over a disputed shared border. Mayer had to quickly address concerns from thousands of employees in India, a market making up 30% of all TikTok downloads.

Source: Business Insider

In early July, concerns around TikTok's presence in the US were reignited following comments from President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about potentially banning the app. Although Pompeo cited national security fears as a reason, Trump said he was looking to punish China over the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Business Insider

Despite concerns over TikTok, it's unclear whether the app collects any more user data or poses a bigger security threat than any other major tech company that's based in the US, like Facebook or Google.

Source: Business Insider

Although the US government hasn't since expanded on any plans to ban TikTok, Trump's comments have led American users to panic and US entities to consider action of their own against the app. US lawmakers have backed calls to ban TikTok, and the Republican and Democratic parties have both warned staff members not to use the app.

Amazon's quick decision on Friday to order employees to delete TikTok from their phones stoked fears that other US companies would follow suit, but Amazon walked back its policy later in the day. At least one big US company has banned TikTok: Wells Fargo.

Source: Business Insider

• The Xbox One X is still the most powerful video game console on the market, and Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox One games will be playable on its upcoming Xbox Series X as well.
• Low cost subscription services, like Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass, also bring tons of value and affordable games to the Xbox One.
• Below, we've compiled the best deals on Xbox consoles, games, accessories, and subscriptions.
• Right now, "Assassin's Creed Odyssey" is on sale for just $15, which is $44.99 off its regular price.

Microsoft debuted its first Xbox console less than 20 years ago, but the brand has blossomed into one of the titans of the video game industry. It's current flagship console, the Xbox One, has shipped more than 50 million units worldwide and dedicated fans are eagerly awaiting the launch of the next Xbox console, the Xbox Series X, later this fall.

For now, the Xbox One X is the most powerful video game console on the market, out performing the PlayStation 4 Pro and Nintendo Switch. The Xbox One S is a strong console as well, boasting 4K resolution playback, HDR support, and a host of media center features that make it an ideal centerpiece for your home entertainment setup.

Microsoft has worked to create a robust ecosystem for Xbox fans, which will include letting them play Xbox One games on the upcoming Series X. Services, like Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, also bring extra value to the console, offering thousands of games to players for a low price.

We've collected the best deals on Xbox One consoles, games, subscriptions, and accessories below. These should come in handy whether you're an Xbox veteran looking forward to the Series X, or looking to pick up your very first video game console.

Here are the best Xbox One deals for July 2020:

• "Assassin's Creed Odyssey [Digital]," $15.00 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $44.99]
• "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order," $34.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $25]
• Pre-owned Xbox One Wireless Controller, $44.99 ($59.99 new) at GameStop [You save $15 buying pre-owned]
• Three Month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, $30.49 (originally $44.99) at CDKeys.com [You save $14.50]

Prices and links are current as of 7/13/2020. Added new Xbox One video game deals. Removed deals that are no longer active. Updated by Kevin Webb.

Best Xbox One console deals

Due to high demand, stock for all Xbox One consoles remains low at many retailers, especially for the Xbox One X. With that in mind, the below products might not currently be available for shipment. We'll update this section with more retailer options and discounts as stores add more inventory. 

• Pre-Owned Xbox One X, $359.99 ($399.99 new) at GameStop [You save $40 buying pre-owned]
• Refurbished Xbox One S, $269.99 ($299.99 new) at GameStop [You save $30 buying refurbished]
• Refurbished Xbox One (500GB original model), $199.99 at GameStop
• Xbox One S Bundle with "Roblox," $299.99 at Best Buy
• Xbox One S, $299.00 from Microsoft
• Xbox One X Bundle with free copy of "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," $399.00 from Microsoft 

Best deals on Xbox One games

There are thousands of games available for Xbox One, so we've chosen to focus on just a few of the console's most popular titles. Digital games are available through the Microsoft Store, which offers sales on a regular basis.

• • "Assassin's Creed Odyssey [Digital]," $15.00 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $44.99]
  • "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order," $34.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $25]
  • "Far Cry 5 [Digital]," $9 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $50.99]
  • "Red Dead Redemption 2," $39.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $20]
  • "Borderlands 3," $14.99 (originally $39.99) at Best Buy [You save $25]

Best Xbox One controller deals

The Xbox One controller has become the standard for PC gaming thanks to its compatibility with Windows and countless indie games. Newer versions of the Xbox One controller make it easy to connect to your computer or phone with Bluetooth too. While most controllers use rechargeable batteries, the Xbox One controller still relies on AA batteries.

Microsoft also makes a premium Xbox One gamepad, the $180 Xbox Elite controller. The Elite series offers some notable improvements, like a rechargeable battery with 40 hours of playtime, four rear paddle bu tons for extra control, customizable thumbsticks, and a rubber grip.

There are no discounts currently available on brand-new Xbox controllers, but you can save $15 if you buy a pre-owned controller from GameStop.

• Xbox One Wireless Controller, $59.99 at Target
• Pre-Owned Xbox One Wireless Controller, $44.99 ($59.99 new) at GameStop [You save $15 buying pre-owned]

Best Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass deals

Xbox Live Gold is a subscription service that's required for online play with nearly all Xbox One games. The subscription also offers free games each month that remain available as long as the Xbox Live Gold subscription is active.

If you're already an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, buying a discounted membership will add time to the length of your current subscription.

Meanwhile, Xbox Game Pass is a subscription gaming service that lets you download hundreds of games to your Xbox One or Windows PC. The service costs $5 a month on PC or $10 a month on Xbox One. New Game Pass subscribers will only pay $1 for their first month thanks to an ongoing promotion.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes an Xbox Live Gold subscription and will give you access to Game Pass on both PC and Xbox for a regular price of $15 per month. 

• Three Month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, $30.49 (originally $44.99) from CDKeys.com [You save $14.50]

• Google still has one of the most sought after internship programs in tech. Last year, the company received more than 125,000 applications.
• Kyle Ewing, Google's head of talent, spoke to Business Insider to offer some tips for anyone applying for an internship at the company.
• These are the 4 key attributes they look for, from problem solving to cognitive ability.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Google's internship program has been running since 1999 and is still one of the most sought after in tech. Each year, the company brings aboard tens of thousands of new recruits – and rejects thousands of hopefuls.

Last year, the company said it received more than 125,000 applications for the program. Landing a spot isn't easy, and often involves several rounds of interviews and challenges.

Due to the pandemic, Google's summer and fall internship programs have moved to an online format for 2020, but the company hopes to return to in-person internships in 2021.

This week, Business Insider spoke to Kyle Ewing, Google's head of talent, to get some tips on landing an internship at Google. 

Ewing oversees internships, apprenticeships, residency programs, and entry-level hiring at Google. She's been with the company for 14 years, and each year works with Google's internship recruiters to decide who gets a spot on the program.

"There are four core attributes that we typically assess, even at the beginning resume stages," she told Business Insider. Here's what they are.

It's not where you've worked, but the skills you've learned

"We want to see what kind of experience have you had with Google-related knowledge," said Ewing.

That means looking at the type of coursework the student has done, or the other types of internships they've had, she said.

"I think it's really important to call out that we're looking for is not what companies you've worked for, but really what skills have you developed and what roles have you had," said Ewing.

"For a technical internship it's going to be important that you understand data structures and algorithms. How can you demonstrate that on a resume? You've taken the course, you've applied it in this project, you've applied it in this internship. That's all the role-related knowledge stuff."

What kind of problem solver are you?

The next thing Google looks at is general cognitive ability, which Ewing says is usually easier to assess in an interview.

"This looks at what kind of problem solver are you? Are you asking the right questions? Are you breaking down certain parts of the problem?" said Ewing.

For some of Google's intern tracks, applicants must solve challenges as part of their interview process.

"It's not how smart are you, it's how you tackle problems," said Ewing. "And what perspective will you be able to bring to the group?"

Are you a leader?

Google isn't expecting every intern to be ready to lead a product division, but leadership is still a quality they're looking for. "Even for students we're looking for even emergent leadership," said Ewing.

"Have you had a leadership position in school? Have you taken a lead on a project? Are you very proactive in how you've shown up?

Googliness…. but it might not mean what you think it means

You've probably heard the word "Googliness" thrown around when it comes to the company's recruitment strategies – but what does it actually mean? 

"It's probably the most talked about, and maybe the least understood," said Ewing. "The way I see Googliness is: what can you add to Google's culture?"

Ewing says that one question recruiters have on their mind when hiring an applicant is: what perspective can you bring? 

"There's a lot of famous quotes we've thrown around, like do you challenge the status quo, and do you work well in a team? And how well do you deal with ambiguity? I think those are really important characteristics to be able to demonstrate, but those are the kind of things you can kind of tell on someone's resume. Where have they chosen to spend their free time and their academic time?"

Ewing says the Googliness question really digs into whether the applicant's ambitions make sense for Google. "Are you sure you want to solve really big problems? Are you so passionate about technology that you want to work on products that serve millions and millions of people around the world?"

She also added that the definition of Googliness has somewhat evolved over time.

"From a Googliness perspective we're looking at it through the lens of culture add – what will you add to Google, not will you fit in with what already exists."

SEE ALSO: A team of advocacy groups is urging antitrust regulators around the world to take a hard look at the Google-Fitbit merger, saying the deal 'is not in the interest of citizens'

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Last week, Larry Ellison launched a version of Oracle's cloud that can run in a customer's own data centers. 
• This new product will present a competitive threat to a similar product from Amazon Web Services called Outposts. AWS is one of Oracle's chief rivals in the cloud market.  
• It could help Oracle capture a very lucrative segment of the cloud market before AWS, Microsoft or Google can.
• The product is good and costs less than competitors, analysts say.
• Even a former skeptic who used to joke about how far behind Oracle's cloud was has come around and now believes Oracle's cloud can be a real choice for enterprises.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Broadcasting from his living room like a regular work-from-home employee, Oracle's billionaire founder Larry Ellison last week launched a major new cloud product called Oracle Dedicated Region Cloud@Customer. 

Cloud@Customer is what's known as a private cloud, meaning its is a combination of software and hardware that enterprises rent per month or year that lives in the company's own data center. This is as opposed to a typical public cloud – like the market-leading Amazon Web Services — which consists of shared computers and software that lives in the cloud provider's data center.

Even market analysts who were once skeptical of Oracle's chances in the cloud market say this product could be a good opportunity for the database giant to win customers in the biggest, most lucrative as-yet-untapped cloud market: those massive so-called "workloads" that huge companies can't, or don't want to, move into the cloud.

"This is a significant and important announcement," says Lydia Leong, a distinguished vice president and analyst with Gartner covering the cloud computing market.

Leong has for years joked that Oracle's cloud has been too skimpy on necessary features to take seriously, especially when compared to market leaders Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. But as of 2020, she thinks Oracle has caught up on the most important features.

"I've joked that OCI was too 'minimum to be viable.' But now they are above minimally viable," she says. "It's still is more minimal than AWS or Azure, but it has a significant majority of really essential stuff that enterprises need."

Oracle's fees for the tech begin at $500,000 a month or $6 million/year, a price point which includes the hardware, Oracle's latest autonomous database, and other software. That is a comparative bargain, Leong said. Depending on the configuration, AWS Outposts can run that much or more for a just the hardware.

"Oracle's goal here is to cut off AWS Outposts with better performance, newer technology, and a lower cost," said Ray Wang, principal analyst and founder of market research firm Constellation Research.

Not the first, but an important milestone

This isn't the first and only private data center product on the market, not even from Oracle. But what makes the Dedicated Regions version different is that it's a nearly exact replica of what Oracle is running in its own cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Generation 2 (OCI).

It will compete head-to-head with Amazon Web Services and its popular Outposts product— which at the time was a game-changer for AWS, marking its first true private cloud product. But Outposts offers a much more slimmed-down version of AWS, in the same way that Microsoft's Azure Stack private cloud hardware doesn't offer the full range of features of the full-fledged Azure platform. Google has its software-based Anthos private cloud software, as well. 

The issue that these products are designed to address is the boatload of data and apps that the companies haven't yet moved to the cloud because they are constrained by any number of things, from government regulations on where data can be stored to technical issues.

So the private cloud that can capture these customers' biggest, most lucrative workloads can then capture more of the rest of their cloud needs.

That means a product like this one from Oracle can become a good on-ramp, which is coming from behind in cloud, yet already counts many of these companies as customers of its more traditional enterprise software.

"Some of the biggest workloads are sitting in these private cloud models. Oracle sees this as a way to cut-off Google and AWS while they can with newer tech," says Wang. 

Is Oracle catching up?

While AWS loves to point out the hundreds of services it offers in its cloud — far more than Oracle — Leong says that most enterprises really only use maybe 20 of them.

Oracle has been slow by most standards to build out its cloud services, but Leong says that the company has done a good job with the features that it has added, and made sure that they're well-suited to the needs of large enterprises.  All told, Oracle Cloud is starting to become a better all-purpose platform, suited to hosting any cloud app, not just Oracle's own apps, she believes.

That means it is finally becoming a more viable alternative to AWS, which is frequently the target of criticism from Ellison over the last several years of Oracle product announcements.

"When thinking about OCI, you almost have to ignore what Larry Ellison is shouting about on stage," she jokes. "Larry has always yelled that he wanted it to be a general-purpose provider. It's now getting to the point where it can compete with more general-purpose workloads."

But Wang points out that Oracle is still the underdog in this market. AWS and Microsoft are still far and away the leaders in the category — despite the fact that Oracle and Microsoft last year inked a big cloud partnership. 

While Microsoft is now neck-in-neck with AWS in almost every measurable way, and Oracle's former long-time star engineer Thomas Kurian is CEO of competitor Google Cloud, and wracking up some big customers, time will tell if Oracle can still become a significant cloud competitor or if it will remain a niche player.

But this new product may be a good way to keep its existing customers in the fold, at least, until OCI develops even further. 

"This is the next generation of cloud capabilities.  A lot of data centers need modernization and this is the ability to help customers modernize their data center and take away the management pains as well," Wang says.  

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why electric planes haven't taken off yet

• Both the original Nintendo Switch and the Switch Lite have been hard to find online as they continue to explode in popularity, but we've been keeping an eye on the best deals for Switch consoles, games, and accessories.
• We'll update this list regularly with the top Nintendo Switch deals as new discounts are announced.
• Right now, "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! & Eevee!" and "Astral Chain" are on sale for $44.99, which is $15 off their regular price.

The Nintendo Switch has been the best-selling video game console on the planet since its release in March 2017, and it's become one of the hottest products of 2020 as people look for ways to entertain themselves during the coronavirus pandemic.

Nintendo Switch sales doubled in March 2020 compared to March 2019, and even surpassed the number of consoles sold during the Switch's first month in March 2017, according to data from the NPD Group. 

Nintendo's $300 hybrid console offers many of the most popular games on the market in a portable package, with the option to connect the Switch to a larger television or home entertainment system. The $200 Switch Lite is smaller and can't connect to your TV, but it's still a popular pick for parents who want an affordable alternative to the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, and gamers who want a second console.

Switch exclusive titles include iconic Nintendo franchises like "Super Mario," "Pokémon" and "The Legend of Zelda." The latest Nintendo exclusive, "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," was the best-selling game of March 2020 and is already the top selling game in the series.

Below, we've collected the best deals on Nintendo Switch consoles, exclusive games, and accessories. These discounts should all come in handy whether you're looking to buy a Switch for the first time, building your library of games, or trying to find the cheapest price on a Switch peripheral.

Here are the best Nintendo Switch deals for July 2020:

• "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! & Eevee!" $44.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $15]
• "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle," $19.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $40]
• 256GB MicroSD Memory Card, $52.99 (originally $94.99) at Best Buy [You save $42]
• Insten Wireless Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, $32.99 (originally $50.99) at Target [You save $18]

Prices and links are current as of 7/13/2020. Added new deals for Nintendo Switch games. Removed deals that are no longer active. Updated by Kevin Webb.

Best deals on Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite consoles

The Nintendo Switch can be connected to a TV for high-definition gameplay, or taken on-the-go as a portable console. Furthermore, the Switch's controls can be separated from the console and used as two separate controllers called Joy-Cons. Unfortunately, stock for the standard Switch remains low at many retailers. With that in mind, some of the below products might not currently be available for shipment. We'll update this section with more Switch purchase options and deals as stores start adding more inventory.

Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch Lite is a handheld-only version of the console that lacks the original Switch's removable controllers and ability to connect to a larger television. The Switch Lite appeals to gamers who may already own a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One and want to play games with a similar level of quality while they're traveling. Parents may also be more willing to invest in a handheld console at a lower price point when introducing their children to gaming.

The Nintendo Switch Lite comes in four colors (coral, turquoise, grey and yellow). There haven't been many deals that drop the Switch Lite's price below its standard retail price of $199.99, but a refurbished model is sold for a $5 discount when it's in stock at Best Buy.

• Nintendo Switch 32GB Grey/Neon Console, $299.99 at Best Buy
• Geek Squad Refurbished Nintendo Switch Lite (Turquoise), $194.99 ($199.99 new) at Best Buy [You save $5 buying refurbished]
• Nintendo Switch Lite (Turquoise), $199.99 at Best Buy
• Nintendo Switch Lite (Gray), $199.99 at Best Buy
• Nintendo Switch Lite (Turquoise), $199.99 at GameStop
• Nintendo Switch Lite (Gray), $199.99 at GameStop

Best deals on Nintendo Switch games

Though the Nintendo Switch has only been around for three years, there are already more than 2,300 games available for the console. Deals on Nintendo franchises, like "Super Mario," "Pokémon" and "The Legend of Zelda," are relatively rare, but "Super Mario Odyssey" is actually on sale for about $10 off its regular price right now through Best Buy.

You can also find plenty of other fun Switch games on sale at popular retailers or from the Nintendo eShop, the console's home for digital releases.

• "Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! & Eevee!" $44.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $15]
• "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle," $19.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $40]
• "Astral Chain," $44.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $15]
• "Super Mario Odyssey," $49.99 (originally $59.99) at Best Buy [You save $10]

Best deals on Nintendo Switch controllers

Though the Switch's Joy-Cons give players access to two controllers at all times, some gamers prefer the Nintendo Switch Pro controller, which more closely resembles a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One controller.

Nintendo also sells spare Joy-Cons with multiple color options for Switch owners who want to add some additional flair and an extra set of motion controllers for multiplayer games. However, Joy-Cons have been out of stock at most major retailers amid the coronavirus pandemic, with online stores charging prices well above their normal price of $79.99.

Though there are no current discounts available on brand-new Nintendo first-party controllers, Best Buy is selling refurbished Pro Controllers for $62.99. Joy-Cons are also in stock right now for their regular price at GameStop. 

• Geek Squad Refurbished Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, $62.99 ($69.99 new) at Best Buy [You save $7 buying refurbished]
• PowerA Wireless GameCube Style Controller (Purple), $35 (originally $49.99) at Amazon [You save $14.99]
• Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons (Neon Red/Blue), $79.99 at GameStop
• Insten Wireless Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, $32.99 (originally $50.99) at Target [You save $18]

Best deals on on Nintendo Switch accessories

As a portable console with replaceable controllers, the Switch has no shortage of accessories. The most important addition you can make is a MicroSD card, which can expand the Switch's initial 32GB of storage to more than 250GB for about the same price as a new game.

If you plan on taking your Switch on the go, it's probably a good idea to pick up a basic case with space for extra game cartridges too. The Switch is fairly durable so you don't need to spend a ton protecting it.

• 256GB MicroSD Memory Card, $52.99 (originally $94.99) at Best Buy [You save $42]
• Nintendo Switch Game Traveler Deluxe System Travel Case, $26.97 (originally $39.99) at GameStop [You save $13.02]
• HORI Nintendo Switch Multiport USB Playstand, $28.41 (originally $39.99) at Amazon [You save $11.58]

• A new report from the analytics company Conviva looked at the state of Instagram Stories in 2020.
• Having eight or more frames in an Instagram Story and turning on replies help increase reach rates across accounts, Conviva found.
• The most effective stories were shared by accounts with between 10,000 and 50,000 followers, according to the report.
• Stories contain fewer frames on average in 2020 than they did in 2019, but reach and engagement have increased.
• Business Insider broke down four key takeaways from the report for influencers, media companies, and marketers.
• Subscribe to Business Insider's influencer newsletter: Influencer Dashboard.

What makes a good Instagram Story for influencers, media companies, and marketers?

For starters, make sure you have eight or more frames and have your replies turned on, according to Conviva's 2020 Instagram Stories Benchmark Report. 

Conviva, a social and streaming media analytics company, released its third annual report on Instagram Stories in late June. The report looked at 920 top Instagram accounts, over 28,700 stories, and over 165,000 individual frames. 

"More than half of Instagram's one billion plus users are consuming Instagram Stories daily and they are one of the most powerful engagement tools in use by brands today," said Nick Cicero, Conviva's VP of strategy.

In 2020, Instagram has introduced new features to its stories like e-commerce stickers for gift cards, orders, fundraising, and donations. And stories have only gotten more important as many people have sheltered in place during the pandemic.

"There's been an exponentially higher amount of Story views and likes," Instagram influencer Erica Chan Coffman told Business Insider back in April. 

Conviva's report found that the most effective users of Instagram Stories were accounts with 10,000 to 50,000 followers, which would fall into the category of micro influencer. Micro influencers were previously identified as the buzziest category of influencer for 2020 in a report from the influencer-marketing agency Linqia.

Conviva also looked at how Instagram Story consumption behavior had changed from 2019 to 2020.

Here are the four key takeaways from Conviva's 2020 report on Instagram Stories:

People are sharing fewer stories in 2020, but reach and engagement are higher than in 2019.

Conviva found that the amount of Instagram Stories "decreased slightly" in 2020 compared to 2019, when looking at stories per week and frames per story. 

"Across all accounts, frames per story was down by 2.4 frames per story on average," the report said. 

But despite fewer stories are being shared, the amount of people consuming Instagram Stories went up, with reach and engagement both increasing.

Stories with 8 frames or more have better reach.

Eight frames or more is the sweet spot for story reach, according to the Conviva.

Generally, the more frames, the higher the reach — which peaked at 20 frames per story with about a 3.5% reach rate.

The average completion rate across accounts remained steadily above 70% throughout the first 20 frames of a story in 2020. 

"Despite this, only 26% of stories analyzed for this report were 8 frames or greater," Conviva said in the report.

Right now, having replies on helps increase engagement.

The replies feature, which allows users to comment or react to stories, has positively impacted reach rate across accounts, Conviva found.

With replies on, accounts saw a reach rate of 9% compared to accounts with replies turned off, which got around 6%. 

66% of accounts have their replies turned on, Conviva said.

"This is a full reversal from 2019 when 66% of accounts had replies turned off," the report said.

Users with 10,000 to 50,000 followers have the highest reach percentage.

Instagram Story reach rates decrease (as a percentage of follower count) as accounts gain more than 50,000 followers, the report said.

Conviva found that accounts with 10,000 to 50,000 followers were the most effective in terms of the percentage of the account's followers that a story generally reached.

Conviva reported a breakdown for each range: 

• 0-10,000: 12.9%
• 10,000-50,000: 13.3%
• 50,000-100,000: 9.6%
• 100,000-250,000: 7.0%
• 250,000-500,000: 6.5%
• 500,000-2 million: 4.9%
• Over 2 million: 3.7%

The higher reach rates for accounts with 10,000 to 50,000 followers is good news for micro influencer accounts — a term for influencers within the range of 5,000 to 100,000 followers.

In 2020, brands were heading toward working more closely and frequently with micro influencers versus macro (100,000 to 500,000) or mega (over 500,000) influencers.

For more information on how social-media behaviors have been changing in 2020, read these Business Insider Prime posts: 

• A new survey of 1,021 Instagram influencers shows how the social-media platform has changed in recent weeks and what areas they're leaning into: Influencers are leaning into Instagram Stories and "Live" stories according to the influencer-marketing platform Klear.
• A new 22-page report breaks down how livestream video has surged in the last month on YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms. Here are the 4 key takeaways: As consumers spend time at home in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, many are tuning into livestreams on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook. 
• A top social-video data firm made a 22-page report on how the coronavirus has changed viewer habits on YouTube and other platforms. Here are the 5 takeaways: Tubular Labs, a leading social-video analytics firm, looked at what types of content digital creators are uploading and users are being drawn to as countries around the world enforce social isolation.

• Facebook's relationship with advertisers is on shaky ground with more than 1,000 advertisers boycotting the company over its treatment of hate speech in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing.
• While its executives are putting fires out, a special group comprising top ad executives from both agency holding companies and brands wields more influence than others.
• Business Insider has identified the 19 members of Facebook's global client council, an invitation-only group that includes Anheuser-Busch InBev's global marketing chief Pedro Earp, and Unilever's EVP of global media Luis Di Como.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook's relationship with advertisers is on shaky ground with more than 1,000 advertisers boycotting the company over its treatment of hate speech in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing.

The furor has prompted Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his deputies to address its global client council— a 19-person, invitation-only group of top ad executives from agency holding companies and brands that meets once a quarter to discuss new product features and address wider complaints. 

As Facebook faces one of the biggest threats to its business yet with advertisers questioning their spending on the platform, the council has great power to push industry concerns.

Since it began as a 12-person group in 2011 helmed by Facebook's VP of global marketing solutions, Carolyn Everson, the client council has spawned smaller groups and regional forums with dozens of members each. But the global client council continues to wield more influence than any other group at Facebook.

The members change every few years. Prominent current members include Anheuser-Busch InBev's global marketing chief Pedro Earp, and Unilever's EVP of global media Luis Di Como, who has led the company in joining an ad boycott against Facebook. 

Business Insider has identified the 19 members of Facebook's global client council, who were confirmed by Facebook. The members are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Tom Buday, Head of Marketing and Consumer Communications, Nestle

The Nestle vet has 25 years of experience, including nearly five years as Nestle's Europe marketing director, bringing to the table Nestle's perspective as a European company, as well as valuable insight into foreign consumers.

Gerry D'Angelo, VP of Global Media, P&G

As the world's biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble has a lot of clout. D'Angelo is the one managing the CPG giant's ad spend and business across companies like Facebook and Google. The company has not participated in the boycott publicly. 

Luis Di Como, EVP, Global Media, Unilever

Unilever is another big spender on Facebook, so much so that Facebook's stock tumbled as much as 7% following Unilever's announcement to boycott it through July. Di Como has led much of these efforts, including joining an industry collective to combat harmful content online.

Pedro Earp, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Anheuser-Busch InBev

The beer giant has been doubling down on its e-commerce business, which makes its relationship with Facebook even more critical. The global conglomerate has been noticeably absent from the advertiser boycott against Facebook.

Jacki Kelley, CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network Americas

A 25-year advertising and media vet, Kelley was appointed as the Americas CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network in January 2020, and represents the interests of brands ranging from Mattel to Kroger.

Steve King, COO, Publicis Groupe

After serving as the CEO of Publicis Media for over four years, King transitioned into being the COO of the entire ad holding company in 2019, helping manage clients ranging from Campbell's to L'Oreal.

Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO & Founder, Horizon Media

As the founder of Horizon Media — the largest privately-held media agency in the world — Koenigsberg oversees more than $8.7 billion in ad spend on behalf of clients including Capital One and Burger King and Popeye's parent company Restaurant Brands International. 

Daryl Lee, Global CEO, IPG Mediabrands

As the global CEO of IPG Mediabrands, Lee is versed in combining data with creativity in marketing. His clients include Coca-Cola, The Hershey Company, The Lego Group, Levi Strauss & Co., and Johnson & Johnson. 

Helen Lin, Chief Digital Officer, Publicis Media

Lin helps Publicis Media clients like L'Oreal and Coty with all things digital including digital planning, strategy, insights and analytics, data and technology, and performance marketing.

Joshua Lowcock, Chief Digital Officer, UM; and Global Brand Safety Officer, IPG Mediabrands

Lowcock is an expert in privacy and minimizing risk, brand safety, and media responsibility, making him a prime member of the council. He focuses on making sure clients like American Express and Coca-Cola don't run ads in inappropriate contexts and puts brand safety protocols into effect for them.

Ed Macri, Chief Product and Marketing Officer, Wayfair

Macri leads product management, sales, marketing, and media at the online home retailer and is responsible for growing sales across all platforms for the company, including Facebook.

Lindsay Pattison, Chief Client Officer, WPP

As ad holding company WPP's chief client officer, Pattison is the one in-charge of its top global client relationships and oversees some of its largest accounts, including P&G and Walgreen's.

Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, P&G

Pritchard has clamped down on wasteful ad spend and demanded more accountability from tech companies on behalf of the industry, but he has not led P&G into the Facebook ad boycott.

He recently said that while P&G was reviewing all platforms for objectionable content, it would not publicly name any it might pull ads from. 

Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Mastercard

Rajamannar spearheads Mastercard's advertising efforts and is involved in several advertising trade bodies including the World Federation of Advertisers and Ad Council.

Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup

As McCann's creative chairman, Reilly is a member of the global client council and the agency-focused creative council, led by Facebook VP of global business marketing and chief creative officer Mark D'Arcy.

Andrew Robertson, Global CEO, BBDO

Robertson leads the Omnicom-owned ad-agency network BBDO Worldwide and represents big brands like Footlocker and Pepsi. 

Jennifer Saenz, President, PepsiCo Global Foods

As the leader of PepsiCo's global foods, Saenz oversees 22 brands including Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, and Tropicana. She is responsible for growth, branding and innovation for all these brands as well PepsiCo's global marketing.

Daryl Simm, Global CEO & Chairman,  Omnicom Media Group

Simm has been on the council for a few years, and oversees a consortium of media agencies at Omnicom Media Group such as PhD and Hearts & Science with clients including Diageo and the NFL.

Deborah Wahl, Global Chief Marketing Officer, GM

The former McDonald's US marketing chief started out as the chief marketing officer at Cadillac before being appointed as the global CMO of all General Motors brands. She is the only auto marketer on the council.

• A classic Porsche 911 Carrera 2 was stolen in Spain on Sunday, but a Tesla Model 3 parked nearby caught the entire incident on video. 
• The video was taken thanks to Tesla's Sentry Mode, which monitors for threats outside the vehicle and starts recording if it senses suspicious activity. 
• The Porsche was recovered the next day after someone recognized it from social media. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Tesla's Sentry Mode — which keeps a car's exterior cameras on standby while its owner is away — is meant to record break-ins, collisions, and any other potential threats to one's Model X, S, 3, or Y. But the feature can help thwart thefts of nearby non-EVs as well.

In the Spanish town of Benicassim on Sunday, two people attempted to steal a 964-series Porsche 911 Carrera 2. But unbeknownst to them, the sports car was parked beside a Sentry Mode-enabled Tesla Model 3 that caught everything on tape.

Automotive outlet Motorpasion first reported on the incident, followed by Autoblog, and Business Insider was able to confirm the details of the story via a police report provided by Jose Saez-Merino, a relative of the Porsche's owner.

In a video of the theft circulated on social media by Saez-Merino, who owns the Model 3 that caught the scene, two people donning partial face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen rolling the Porsche out of its parking spot and away into the night. 

Saez-Merino shared the video with local authorities and described the 911 at length on social media in an attempt to recover the car.

Less than a day after Saez-Merino shared the video on Twitter, the 911 was found in a suburban area near Valencia, Saez-Merino told Business Insider. A delivery-van driver spotted the blue 911, recognized it from a Facebook post of a friend of the owner's, and called it in to the police. Saez-Merino suspects that those who stole the car dumped it deliberately to see if the car had a GPS tracker. 

Saez-Merino isn't sure how much of a role the Tesla's recording played in recovering the Porsche, but told Business Insider that it may help police catch the people who stole the car later down the line. The investigation into suspects is still ongoing, Saez-Merino said. 

SEE ALSO: A Ford Focus driver wound up with a nearly $1,000 ticket after being clocked at 437 mph by a faulty speed camera

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• Apple is encouraging retail employees to work from home again as it's re-closing some Apple Stores because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Bloomberg.
• Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of retail and people, made the push in a recent video to retail staff, the report said.
• Apple is also sending COVID-19 testing kits to retail and corporate employees so that they can be tested from home, according to the report.
• The company reportedly said that it does not anticipate a full return to the office for corporate locations in the Americas before the end of the year.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple is making another push for retail employees to work from home after it began re-closing certain stores in the United States in areas where COVID-19 cases have spiked, according to Bloomberg.

Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of retail and people, encouraged store staff to work remotely in a new video message, saying that employees "may need to be working remotely for some period of time," according to the report.

Apple recently re-closed stores in states such as Oklahoma, California, Georgia, Idaho, Texas, and Florida among others because of increases in reported coronavirus cases in those areas.  

"Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas," Apple said in a previous statement regarding store closures. "We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible." 

O'Brien also emphasized the importance of reducing wait times as more people shop online because of the pandemic, according to the report.

"This is not the experience that we want to have for our customers," she reportedly said. "So we really want to make sure that we are moving to where our customers are, to help them during this very challenging time. As you know people are really dependent upon their devices, especially right now."

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

Apple began asking retail employees to work from home in March, Bloomberg reported. It also offered retail employees reimbursements for work-from-home gear and access to new digital wellness tools, as Business Insider reported in April.

Now, Apple is also said to be offering both retail and corporate employees the ability to take coronavirus tests from home, according to Bloomberg.

The company also said it doesn't anticipate a full return to the office before the end of the year for corporate locations in the Americas, according to Bloomberg. That decision comes after Apple reportedly began bringing some workers who cannot do their job from home back to the office in June, Bloomberg also reported.  

Other companies like Twitter and Slack have extended their work-from-home policies.

SEE ALSO: Apple warns that closing your MacBook while the camera is covered can damage its screen

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• Register nowfor "Autonomy on Call: The Future of Digital Health," a free virtual panel discussion scheduled for Thursday, July 23 at 2 p.m. ET.
• Two healthcare leaders and a senior technologist will discuss the ways COVID-19 has accelerated reliance on digital health and autonomous healthcare tools — and the emerging trends they predict will become permanent.
• The next wave of healthcare autonomy will be motivated by patient outcomes and move beyond provider efficiencies, according to John Roese, chief technology officer for Dell Technologies, sponsor of the event.

Reliance on telemedicine and virtual consultations has increased as many people limit face-to-face interactions because of COVID-19. Even so, digital healthcare is only at the beginning of an innovation cycle, says John Roese, chief technology officer for Dell Technologies.

Where that innovation cycle will lead is the topic of "Autonomy On Call: The Future of Digital Health," a virtual panel event scheduled for Thursday, July 23 at 2 p.m. ET.

Roese will be joined by medical professionals to discuss the best uses for autonomous healthcare tools, and how those tools are being programmed with both patient experience and administrative efficiencies in mind. The panel will also discuss roles that are best left to human caregivers.

Register here to add the event to your calendar and receive reminder emails leading up to July 23.

Roese will be joined by Dr. Clay Johnston, dean, Dell Medical School and vice president for medical affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, and Dr. Anthony Rudine, director of neonatology research at St. David's Medical Center in Austin. Technology journalist JP Mangalindan will moderate.

For more stories about the ways emerging technologies are shaping the ways we work and live, go here.

This post was created by Insider Studios with Dell Technologies.

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• Apple customers who experienced iPhone throttling issues prior to 2018 may now be eligible for a settlement from Apple. 
• The issues, dubbed "batterygate," were revealed in December 2017 when Apple was found to be limiting the battery performance on older iPhones to avoid the devices randomly shutting off. 
• Now, customers with an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, or SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017 who experienced decreased performance may be eligible for a $25 payout. 
• IPhone 7 or 7 Plus users may also be eligible for the settlement if the device was running iOS 11.2 or later and they experienced diminished performance before December 21, 2017.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you experienced the iPhone throttling issues dubbed "batterygate" back in 2017, the time has come to claim your settlement money from Apple. 

Earlier this year, Apple agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of secretly slowing down older iPhones to encourage customers to buy a new device. (Apple denied any wrongdoing, opting for a settlement to avoid expensive litigation fees.)

Now, Apple is providing cash payouts of up to $25 to eligible customers who submit a claim — the total payout will be between $310 million and $500 million, according a website that was set up for members of the class to submit their claims.

MacRumors was the first to spot the the site.

You may be eligible for a settlement if you were a US customer with an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, or SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, and experienced decreased performance. If you had an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, you may also be eligible for the settlement if your device was running iOS 11.2 or later and you experienced diminished performance before December 21, 2017.

Customers have until October 6, 2020, to submit a claim.

Apple's batterygate fiasco was among the biggest scandals in company history. In December 2017, Apple admitted it had been throttling some devices after customers discovered that replacing the battery in an older iPhone boosted its speed, which appeared to be confirmed by top iPhone benchmark developer Geekbench. 

While conspiracy theorists had long wondered if battery throttling was intentional on Apple's part in an effort to spur sales of new iPhones, Apple said that wasn't the case— instead, it purposefully limited the amount of power the phone's processor could draw in certain circumstances, like cold weather, to avoid the phone randomly shutting down. 

In January 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the controversy, saying that the company had told customers about the battery feature, but acknowledged that the company could have been more transparent. 

Once the issue came to light, Apple was reportedly investigated by France's consumer watchdog group and the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission, and irate customers filed more than 60 lawsuits against Apple, which were eventually consolidated into a single class action suit.  

Apple began setting aside money in early 2019 to pay for legal fees and fines it incurred as a result of the scandal, including a $27 million fine from French regulators and a $5 million fine from an Italian watchdog group. 

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