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06 : 11 : 17

London – Following the acquisition of Browns by Farfetch, the London-based boutique has opened an innovative permanent store in Shoreditch, East London. The store takes a gender-neutral approach and incorporates Farfetch’s Store of the Future technology, which uses data to enhance the customer experience and connect the online and offline retail worlds.

While other brands such as Selfridges have experimented with gender fluid pop-up spaces, Browns East’s permanent location presents the concept as a viable retail model.

US – With e-waste a growing problem, particularly in countries such as India, Samsung has partnered with iFixit to tackle the issue.

The Galaxy Upcycling programme will help customers to breathe new life into their old phones by enabling them to repurpose them into Internet of Thing (IoT)-connected devices. The initiative also features a community hub where users can share their designs.

Announced at the 2017 Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco, where the brand presented a series of concepts created through the programme, including a Galaxy S5 phone repurposed as a Bitcoin-mining device and an IoT-connected fish tank. The programme is part of a wider shift in the industry towards accessibility among brands that have traditionally sought to discourage phone owners from hacking their devices. See our Insight for more on how changes in US legislation might help to reduce e-waste.

According to the World Meteorological Organization’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, which analyses data from 51 countries, average concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 403.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2016, up from 400ppm in 2015. Earlier this year, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii recorded the first-ever carbon dioxide reading in excess of 410ppm, prompting widespread anxiety. See our Smog Life series for more on how rising pollution levels are shaping consumers’ lives and business practices.