*By Conor White*
As if digitally organizing the wardrobes of hundreds of thousands of people wasn't enough, Finery is answering the demands of its users by providing added features to its fashion app and website.
"This is so typical of an unbelievable, strong, millennial woman," said the Finery co-founder and CEO Whitney Casey. "She's like, 'Great, I want my wardrobe on my phone. Thanks for doing that. And, can you also give me a whole outfit and how to wear it?'"
The new Finery features, which launched Tuesday, are a response to customers' requests for personalized fashion recommendations, recommendations for outfits based on the weather, and visualizations to give customers style inspiration based on what they already have in their closets.
To do all of this, all Finery needs is one photo of a piece of clothing, Casey said in an interview Tuesday with Cheddar.
"We take that image, and scan it for the most important colors, how many pixels of each color, if there's a print, we can even know down to if it's a silk, or if it's a linen, or it's velvet, that's how advanced computer vision is getting," she said. "Then we take that same knowledge, scan multiple images all through Instagram to try to find a dress that looks like this."
Since the company was founded in 2016, Finery's free service has only been for women, but Casey said it won't be difficult to start helping men, when the time comes.
"Once we nail women, and get all of that styling, and really learn the A.I. on what women are liking and what women are not liking with the product, men, I'm sorry to say it, but you're just going to be so easy to dress," she said.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/finery-founder-talks-app-updates).
Food waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Strella Biotechnology is trying to solve the problem by introducing new technology to a business that's been around for generations -- farming. The 24-year-old CEO created hi-tech sensors that interpret the shelf life of produce and alert farmers when fruits and vegetables are ready to be sent to supermarkets. The company says the process can help farmers make money, reduce food waste and increase the quality of produce. Strella Biotechnology's co-founder and CEO Katherine Sizov and co-founder and COO Jay Jordan joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Hugh Odom, founder and president of Vertical Consultants, shared his expertise on telecommunications with Cheddar on the safety issue raised about 5G deployment by airlines. The installation was partially delayed again on Tuesday as the airlines warned of potentially catastrophic delays in a letter to the Biden administration. Later, both Verizon and AT&T relented and put a pause on some of the implementations. "The first thing the Biden administration needs to do is get everybody in the room and say, look, aviation industry, identify the problem — wireless industry, come up with a solution," said Odom.
Microsoft announced on Tuesday it's acquiring video game publisher Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion in cash, a company that's is known for big titles like "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft." Lyron Bentovim, Glimpse Group president and CEO, and Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush, sat down to talk about what Ives called "a shot across the bow" towards the competition. "This is pretty exciting for the industry as a whole because another one of the big players is coming to the metaverse," said Bentovim. "Microsoft using metaverse in the quote from their CEO in their press release shows the importance of this deal."
Netflix may not be staying at the top of the streaming wars, according to some wary investors, as competition heats up and it raises prices yet again. Tuna Amobi, director and senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, spoke with Cheddar about what investors should be considering should they stick with the streaming pioneer or drop the investment. "I think it's always mostly about the subscriber growth for the Q4, which is going to be an indicator of how the company has been navigating the speed bumps that we saw early in the year," said Amobi.
L’Oréal is doubling down on its investment in tech. The French beauty giant unveiled two new high-tech products ahead of CES 2022, aimed at simplifying the hair coloring process. Guive Balooch, global vice president of L’Oréal Technology Incubator, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the company's innovations for hair coloring, including the Colorsonic application device and the Coloright AI diagnostic tool.
Walmart is one of the latest companies looking to adapt to the emerging digital economy by possibly establishing its own cryptocurrency. The retail giant filed at least seven applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including one for blockchain assets.
Bitcoin plunged below the $40,000 mark on Monday, hitting its lowest price since September. The world's most valuable cryptocurrency has had months of hot and cold streaks, and the latest drop now has investors wondering just what 2022 will have in store for bitcoin and the crypto space as a whole. Ben McMillan, CIO at IDX Digital Assets, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
