Facebook has already begun digging into the TV space with Facebook Watch, so what might the social media company’s next move in video be?
Jesse Redniss, Chief Innovation Officer of Turner’s TBS and TNT networks, predicts the company might buy Roku.
“Facebook has been trying to be getting into the video space for quite sometime now,” he told Cheddar in a recent interview. “When you look at Facebook’s track record of growth, the acquisition of Insta, WhatsApp, Oculus. In some ways, in order for them to really scale into a marketplace, it’ll make a lot of sense for them to buy one of the leaders in a marketplace they want to get into.”
Roku shares fell steeply Friday after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock, saying the streaming company is overvalued. Still, the company is trading well above its IPO price, and posted a 48 percent increase in active accounts in the third quarter, as well as a 58 percent increase in streaming hours.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/a-bold-prediction-on-why-facebook-would-acquire-roku).
Big beverage and big tobacco may be seducing some players in the burgeoning marijuana market, but Canada-based Aurora Cannabis is not one of them. In a Tuesday interview with Cheddar, CEO Terry Booth said it's just too soon for his company, one of the world's largest medical marijuana producers, to jump in bed with a major name in alcohol or tobacco.
As ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft rush to debut on the public markets, the pressure is on. "You can falter out of the gates, because people don't know how to value a ride-share company," Phil Haslett, founder and chief revenue officer of EquityZen told Cheddar on Tuesday.
Gene Munster isn't worried about Apple. The managing partner of Loup Ventures and venture capitalist told Cheddar Tuesday that the tit-for-tat with Qualcomm over iPhone sales in China is insignificant for Apple's long-term value.
If forced to choose between putting their child in a driverless car or in a vehicle driven by a stranger, the majority of parents, Ford reports, would prefer a non-human to take the wheel. "When we talk about trust, that's somewhere where we see something really jumping out at us," Sheryl Connelly, futurist at Ford, told Cheddar Monday.
Tally is on track to expand its product offering in 2019, Cheddar has learned. “With 2019 ahead of us, we’re laying the foundation for being able to automate beyond credit card debt,” CEO and founder Jason Brown said, potentially referring to savings and investing, or other kinds of debt like student and auto loans.
Apple filed an appeal on Monday to overturn a court-ordered ban on the import and sale of some iPhones in China. Chipmaker Qualcomm requested an injunction against Apple ($AAPL), alleging patent violations on a particular feature that allows users to adjust the size and appearance of photos, and another that manages applications with a touchscreen.
The holiday season is here again ー and as consumers buy and spend, more personal information is being exposed online. The number and severity of cyberattacks are on the rise, and both consumers and businesses need protection. Shane Wall, chief technology officer at HP and global head of HP Labs sat down with Cheddar on Monday to discuss the state of cybersecurity heading into the new year.
As Cheddar reflects on 2018, we are profiling the most innovative, flamboyant, and often-controversial entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who delivered the year's most memorable moments in business. Cheddar's Class Clown Award Goes to Elon Musk.
A.I. robot Sophia is getting a software upgrade, one that will inch her ー and perhaps A.I. ー even closer to humanity. According to her creator, not only will Sophia earn her citizenship, she will reach a level of advancement equal to human beings in roughly five to 10 years.
After a year of reckoning for big technology, Microsoft President Brad Smith is urging his peers to learn from their mistakes and improve their privacy protections ー and for governments to impose regulations that make sure they follow through. "Change is not easy; it's, in fact, painful. But it can be done. And when it is done, everybody is better in my view," he said.
