Amazon is in talks with some big Wall Street banks to launch a checking account geared towards its younger customers. The e-commerce giant is in the early stages of talks with banks like JPMorgan, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Amazon is not trying to become a bank but rather wants to offer Amazon-branded checking accounts. This would be the second partnership Amazon has with JPMorgan. Earlier this year, the company announced it was teaming up with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathway to create an independent healthcare company.
Apple will reportedly unveil a cheaper MacBook Air and noise-canceling headphones later this year. Longtime Apple analysts are predicting the cheaper MacBook Air could comes as soon as the second quarter of this year. The current version of Apple's MacBook Air costs $999. The newer version will reportedly be a 13-inch model. And according to Bloomberg, Apple is planning to release noise-canceling headphones, similar to ones made by Bose and Beats by Dre. Those are expected out at the end of this year.
Ashley Jenkins, host of Rooster Teeth's "The Know," joins us to talk about the alleged meeting between President Trump and video game makers. So far, no gaming companies have received invitations for the meeting which is supposed to take place this week. The goal of the meeting is to address violence in video games and what effect it could potentially have on people. Jenkins notes there are no studies showing any link between video game consumption and behavior. She also touches on Twitch's new user guidelines which will strictly enforce anti-hate speech and harassment rules. Jenkins says the new rules will allow Twitch to ban users with more uniformity.
Plus, we're recapping the 90th annual Academy Awards with Bonnie Fuller, editor-in-chief at Hollywood Life. The biggest prize of the night, Best Picture, went to Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water." Fuller was excited to see Frances McDormand win Best Actress for her role in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." She also weighs in on McDormand's speech, calling for actors to make use of inclusion riders in their contracts. The show also gave some airtime to the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, with actresses like Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino taking the stage to call for action.
The Chinese government brought the sitcom "Friends" back to its streaming services. However, it had instances of LGBTQ+ references left out, after the series had been banned on Chinese streaming platforms for years.
Season 13 "Shark Tank" contestant Tania Speaks secured a $400,000 deal for her Speaks Organic Skincare brand with "Shark" Mark Cuban while also being named one of the best pitches in the history of the show — all at 19 years old. Now 20, Speaks joined Cheddar News to talk about the skincare line, the clean beauty industry, and the moment that host Cuban was moved by her pitch. "I couldn't believe that he got emotional. I'm surprised I held back my tears that long," the young entrepreneur revealed. "It's just amazing for someone else to be inspired by your story, especially Mark Cuban himself."
The media giant formerly known as ViacomCBS has officially rebranded itself as Paramount Global with a focus on its streaming service, Paramount Plus. Naveen Chopra, chief financial officer at Paramount, joined Cheddar to discuss the company’s name change and streaming wars. "There are components of content licensing that we continue to do, either historical arrangements or opportunities to license content that don't really impinge on what we're trying to do with our owned and operated services and that continues to be an important ingredient in our broader financial model," he said. "But our number one priority is putting our best assets on Paramount Plus." Chopra also discussed theatrical release windows before feature films hit its service and the platform's subscription goals.
In efforts to help support black-owned brands. Ulta Beauty says it will make a commitment to not only give these brand shelf space but also help them navigate the ins and outs of growing a business. Last week, the beauty retailer announced in order to reach those goals, the company will spend $50 million on diversity and inclusion programs, including an accelerated program to mentor entrepreneurs of color. CEO of Ulta Beauty, Dave Kimbell, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
