Market Pulse

AMAZON PLANS VIRUTAL CARE

Amazon is launching a virtual care service that uses secure messaging to connect patients with doctors for help with nearly two dozen conditions. The retail giant said Tuesday it will launch “Amazon Clinic” in 32 states to provide medication refills and care for conditions like allergies, erectile disfunction, hair loss, migraines and urinary tract infections. The list does not include the flu, COVID-19, ear infections or other urgent care conditions for which patients often seek help through telemedicine. Amazon plans to add other conditions over time. The service won’t accept insurance.

SCRABBLE DICTIONARY ADDS HUNDREDS OF WORDS

About 500 new words and variations are being added to Scrabble’s official dictionary: stan, sitch, convo, zedonk, dox and fauxhawk among them. Out this month, the additions to “The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary” join more than 100,000 words of two to eight letters. The book was last updated in 2018 through a longstanding partnership between Hasbro and Merriam-Webster. The new words include some trademarks gone generic (dumpster), some shorthand (guac), and a delicious display of more verb variations: torrented, torrenting, adulted, adulting, atted, atting (as in don’t at me, bro).

AIRBNB SEEKS HOME RENTALS

Convinced that the boom in leisure travel is permanent, Airbnb aims to expand its listings by convincing more people to turn their homes into short-term rentals. The company said Wednesday that it will increase the amount of liability coverage for hosts, up to $3 million, in a play for owners of nicer houses in high-cost places such as California. It will also pair newbies with a “superhost” to guide them through the process of becoming a short-term landlord, from sign-up to welcoming their first guest.