Airbnb acquires HotelTonight

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Airbnb makes its biggest acquisition yet as it moves to increase hotel listings on its site. The company has agreed to buy HotelTonight, a provider of last-minute, boutique options for a night’s stay. It does so ahead of an eventual initial public offering. Airbnb hasn’t disclosed the financial terms of the deal, but according to a person “familiar with the matter” said its price is close to HotelTonight’s last private valuation, which is at US$463 million. Airbnb’s last big purchase was Luxury Retreats, which it bought for $300 million.

The move has Airbnb encroaching further into the hotel industry and puts them into the position of being what Bloomberg calls the Amazon for travel or a “one-stop-shop for holiday-goers.” HotelTonight’s app and site will continue to operate independently of Airbnb. But the company might integrate its listings on its site in the future. And once the acquisition is complete, HotelTonight’s founder will report to Airbnb’s President of Homes, Greg Greeley.

Instagram’s reportedly testing video co-watching feature

Instagram might be adopting a Facebook feature soon, further demonstrating how the company’s plans to standardize features across its apps. What’s coming to Instagram looks like Watch Party feature that lets groups watch videos together. Tipster and reverse-engineering specialist Jane Manchun Wong found a co-watch code for Instagram. Wong previously spotted the Messenger Watch Together code. The code she discovered this time mentions you can “cowatch content” that comes from a “Playlist” similar to the video queue Facebook Watch Party admins can line up. The users can also check out “Suggested” videos from Instagram. But it isn’t clear yet what exactly you could watch simultaneously. This feature could give IGTV the boost it needs. It also isn’t clear whether there will be a picture-in-picture feature so friends can see your reactions as you watch the same thing together. Instagram has refused to comment on this discovery.

Source: TechCrunch

Netflix star and organizing consultant Marie Kondo is looking to get $40M in venture capital funding

Marie Kondo might be a familiar name to you now because of her Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. But before that, it started out as books and a personal brand for the Japanese personality. Now, her company is in talks to raise up to $40 million in venture capital funding to scale her business KonMari, which is behind all her ventures. This isn’t the first time KonMari had venture investment. It had closed a small funding round led by top-tier VC fund Sequoia Capital last year. Kondo is looking to fundraise again for plans involving building an e-commerce platform.

Source: TechCrunch

Arguing the merits of an update to iPhone SE

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

I recently re-activated my iPhone SE as I missed the device's small form factor and exquiste build quality. after updating to the latest version of iOS and installing my favourite apps and services, I marvelled at how good this two year old device still rocks.

A lot of it is iOS 12, which runs smoothly on older hardware. The iPhone SE's small 4-inch display and lower resolution is less demanding on the hardware and I found performance and battery life to be outstanding.

The iPhone SE is basically a souped-up iPhone 5 with iPhone 6S specs and an improved 12-megapixel camera. The iPhone SE, like the iPhone 5S before it, is impeccably balanced and precisely engineered. It really stands above other iPhone designs. Solid stainless steel and glass enclosure, a headphone jack and no unsightly camera bump.

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