The Daily Crunch 09/17/16

Unilever looks to get Honest, Canon finally gets with the times and Twitter embraces its own identity. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for September 17, 2016. And if you're not tracking the eyes, are you even really living?

1. Unilever eyeing The Honest Company

When consumer packaged goods brands come calling, startups take note: Unilever is the leader in a bidding race for The Honest Company, the Jessica Alba-founded startup that focuses on selling goods with all-natural ingredients. The rumored price on the table is around $1 billion, which is the same price that Unilever payed for startup Dollar Shave Club earlier this year.

2. Canon's newest DSLR is aimed at a more professional crowd

The Canon EOS M5 is a new direction for the iconic camera maker. The M5 has more of a DSLR feel, vs. its more consumer-focused offerings to date. It might signal that Canon is finally ready to fully embrace the mirrorless world, where it badly lags competitors including Sony and Fujifilm.

3. Another VR competitor is set to enter the fray

Fove's take on a VR headset includes eye-tracking, which should make it more immersive in theory. The new Oculus and Vive competitor will go on sale on November 2, but that's pre-orders – we still don't know exactly when it'll ship, or even how much it will cost. Still, good to see some more progress in the VR hardware space.

4. The Echo effect

Amazon's Echo is coming to the UK and Germany soon, and I'd be surprised if the company didn't keep rolling it out to other markets after that. Especially because according to NPD Group, just owning an Echo tends to boost customer shopping at Amazon, as compared to their shopping habits prior to picking up the smart speaker. I'd also expect Amazon to build more shopping power into the device, which might amplify that effect in the future.

5. Note 7 recall gets fully official

The Galaxy Note 7 recall is officially official, with the Consumer Product Safety Commission noting that it's now banned for resale, and with Samsung giving Note 7 owners a date for when they'll start getting replacement units: September 21. Also today is iPhone 7 launch day, so you know that's got to hurt.

6. iOS 10 isn't playing nice with T-Mo

It's not all roses for Apple, though – iOS 10 is causing some problems with T-Mobile's network, and that means T-Mo is advising users to hold off on an upgrade for now; even John Legere is doing his part on Twitter to deter upgraders using an iPhone SE, 6 or 6+.

7. Tools for tackling customer triage on Twitter

Speaking of customer service on Twitter, the social network is actually make it easier for front-line customer service people like CEO Legere to tackle requests and complaints on the platform. It's a smart place to iterate, since it seems like a very high percentage of many people's Twitter usage is moaning at co's when they're displeased.