Snap is working on a new version of its Lenses product that lets people overlay images onto landscapes in the real world, not just faces. The new technology is a notable expansion of the object recognition within Snapchat’s Lenses, one that could lead to more ad-friendly products.

The new Lenses are currently being tested on Snap’s internal version of the app, according to a person ...

In the world of corporate law, Snap will set a precedent with its expected IPO. It will likely be the first company to go public with a novel legal defense against an increasingly common kind of IPO-related lawsuit, one sparked when a company’s stock price falls after the public offering.

Snap added a provision to its charter last October requiring any shareholders wishing to file such a ...

Fitbit is to cut between 5% and 10% of its employees, the company will announce on Monday, while disclosing that its fourth-quarter results were below expectations. The disclosures are the latest sign of a slowdown in the wearables market, according to two people briefed on the news.

About 1,600 people work at Fitbit so the job cuts affect between 80 and 160 people, across multiple ...

Six months before LinkedIn went public in 2011, the company tapped a longtime Silicon Valley financial executive, Stanley Meresman, to join its board. As head of the audit committee, Mr. Meresman played a key role in preparing the company for the rigors of being publicly traded, said one former LinkedIn board member.

Nearly six years later, Mr. Meresman is playing that same part for Snap as it ...

In late 2015, Priceline held discussions with Hotel Tonight about possibly buying the smaller hotel-booking rival. Executives at Priceline liked the startup’s young, affluent user base and boutique hotel selection. But Hotel Tonight was on pace to lose $37 million that year on revenue of just $33 million. Priceline executives didn’t believe Hotel Tonight could better keep costs in ...

Google is expanding its “Android One” program for low-cost smartphones to the U.S in coming months, promising phone makers major new promotional dollars if they play by its rules, say three people briefed on the plan.

The first phone to launch in the U.S. with Google’s Android One seal of approval, backed by an ad campaign funded by Google, is expected before the middle of the ...

Airbnb, which has been adding new businesses to maintain growth, has also reorganized its top management tier to consolidate power among a smaller group of executives.

Among the people gaining responsibility has been Chief Financial Officer Laurence Tosi, who now oversees business travel and customer service. Belinda Johnson, chief business affairs and legal officer, also took on more ...

Of all the on-demand businesses that swept through tech in the past couple of years, few were as hyped and strange as laundry. At the center of that spin cycle was Washio, a Los Angeles startup that promised to be an “Uber for Laundry.” Customers could use an app to order their dirty laundry picked up and returned clean the next day—and with a complimentary cookie.

At its peak ...

Scott Genereux, an Oracle senior vice president in charge of hardware sales in North America, recently left the company, said two people with knowledge of the matter. He will join storage vendor Veritas Technologies later this month as executive vice president of worldwide field operations, a Veritas spokeswoman said.

Mr. Genereux, who joined Oracle in 2012, was one of the Oracle’s top ...

Amazon.com is planning to let competing retailers integrate with its mobile app, as part of a broader effort to power more shopping outside its digital walls, according to a person briefed by the company.

The service, which Amazon is calling “place cards,” would let a consumer click on an email from a store that takes them to an app page that would look like the store’s app. ...

Fiat Chrysler has garnered outsized headlines for becoming the first traditional carmaker to make electric minivans with self-driving technology designed by Alphabet’s Waymo. Behind the scenes, however, Fiat Chrysler is developing its own autonomous vehicles so that it won’t be just a metal bender for tech companies like Waymo, The Information has learned.

Details of the previously ...

Be careful what you say around your Amazon Echo. Your words may be recorded and used against you in court.

In what may be the first case of its kind, police investigating a murder in Bentonville, Arkansas, issued a warrant to Amazon.com to turn over audio and other records from an Echo. The device in question belongs to James Andrew Bates, who was charged earlier this year with first-degree ...

A Google product manager is suing the company over its internal confidentiality policies, saying they breach California labor laws. Among other things, the lawsuit alleges Google runs an internal “spying program” which relies on employees voluntarily reporting other employees who might have leaked information.

The lawsuit alleges that Google warns employees to not put into writing ...

Fidelity Investments made fewer private tech investments this year in part because it couldn’t agree with companies over the level of their valuations, according to Andy Boyd, Fidelity’s head of global equity capital markets.

Fidelity had sought to invest at lower valuations that companies would not accept, Mr. Boyd told The Information in an interview this week. He was commenting ...