–London-based Toast is the latest startup to try to create a high-end product using cast-off waste, this time beer made from bread scraps. Via Wallpaper.
–Magic Leap, the Google-backed tech company, has raised nearly $800 million to fund a mysterious “cinematic reality” device, writes Wired.
–How did Netflix create its widely admired company culture? It comes down to “freedom and responsibility,” says a company document posted on Fast Company.
–Pepsi plans to open a restaurant “centered on the kola nut” in Manhattan’s upscale Meatpacking District, although some fear the brand could “look more like a dad at a high school party than a member of the cool kids club.” Via New York Times.
–Do we have to worry about a future of genetic discrimination? For one boy in California, it’s already here, writes Wired.
–Saigon Silicon City signals Vietnam’s emergence as a promising tech hub, writes the BBC.
–The New York Times notices “an expanding universe of space apps.”
–Amazon is rumored to be planning hundreds of bookstores—but Fast Company explains why it’s “probably not as straightforward as it sounds.”
–What’s behind Uber’s new brand identity? Wired unpacks the thinking behind the redesigned logo and app.
–Lululemon Labs opens in New York, offering “a hybrid between function, sweat, performance, and ready-to-wear that can take you through your whole day.” Via Well + Good.
–A natural nail salon opens in Austin, Texas, as the naturals trend further infiltrates beauty across the US, writes Wallpaper.
–The new London store SEE••DS focuses on customer experience with its blend of high-end design retail and a special events space, writes Wallpaper.
–The “Oreo Wonder Vault” appears in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood in the brand’s latest whimsical activation. Adweek calls it a “Wonka-like hole.”
–Food design site Mold recaps the main trends from the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco: cassava, bakkwa and “sap water,” it seems, will be on the menu.
