San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
If you missed it ...
In a week when Samsung got ready to fold — in a good way — this also happened:
Twitter co-founder Ev Williams will step down as a member of its board of directors at the end of this month, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “It’s been an incredible 13 years, and I’m proud of what Twitter has accomplished during my time with the company,” he said in the statement.
The Federal Reserve gave its semiannual report to Congress, saying that it intends to remain “patient” in determining when to make future changes in its benchmark interest rate. That was in sharp contrast to its last report in July, when it signaled that it was on track to keep raising rates at a gradual pace over the next two years. The new report cites a range of risks to the economy that have developed over the past six months, as well as continued muted inflation as reasons to slow further hikes.
Consumer Reports blasted the reliability of Tesla’s new Model 3 sedan and dropped it from a list of recommended vehicles. It dropped the Model S from its recommended list last year. Despite all this, the Model 3 ranks high in Consumer Reports’ customer satisfaction survey. The “ugly produce’” trend may be reaching the end of its shelf life. Walmart and Whole
Foods in recent years tried selling some blemished fruits and vegetables at a discount, but they and others have quietly ended their tests. “Customers didn’t accept it as much as we had hoped,” said Mona Golub of Price Chopper, a grocery chain in the Northeast that also discontinued its offering of ugly produce. Walmart no longer offers the damaged “I’m Perfect” apples it introduced in Florida in 2016. Dropbox and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. both reported earnings that topped estimates. San Francisco’s Dropbox had adjusted earnings of 10 cents a share; Wall Street was expecting 8 cents. Palo Alto’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise had adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share, while analysts had been looking for 34 cents.
Now some airlines may be watching you. Newer seat-back entertainment systems on some airplanes operated by American and Singapore airlines have cameras, even though they have no plans to use them. However, companies that make the entertainment systems are installing cameras to offer future options such as seat-to-seat video conferencing, according to an American Airlines spokesman.
Daily Briefing is compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. For more items and links, subscribe to the Tech Chronicle newsletter at www.sfchronicle.com/ newsletters. Twitter: @techchronicle