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A few of the world's leading healthcare providers, including Mount Sinai, the Cleveland Clinic, and Johns Hopkins, are reported to be in talks with Apple regarding the use of the tech giant's new Healthkit mobile application. According to reports, Healthkit would be used to collect and store healthcare data and information at their facilities. The talks are in the very early stages and may not even amount to anything substantial, yet they highlight Apple's determination to break into the booming health tech industry by creating this app. Healthkit may just be become the go-to app for consolidating important patient health data and vitals, such as blood pressure, pulse, and weight, making it easier for consumers and healthcare providers to view. Apple's Health app is schedule to debut...

On Tuesday, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell filed a potentially precedent-setting lawsuit: He's accusing major auto-insurance provider State Farm of forcing car repair shops to install unsafe replacement parts, endangering drivers across America.The lawsuit was filed in Baton Rouge's 19th Judicial district and is currently being reviewed by State Farm. In a press conference, Caldwell said, "State Farm has created a culture of unsafe business practices in which consumer vehicle repairs are performed with cost savings as the primary goal, rather than safety and reliability."Caldwell is focusing specifically on the use of after-market and junkyard parts for car repairs. These parts are cheaper to buy and install, but they may also be damaged or ill-fitting. Cheap parts often lack su...

California's State Assembly is currently considering passing a bill that would make dramatic alterations to the state's franchising law.According to an August 12 MSNBC article, Senate Bill 610 (SB 610) would make it much more difficult for franchising corporationsto end licensing agreements with their franchisees.The bill has already been approved in the California State Senate, MSNBC reports, and the State Assembly now has to determine whether or not the state's current franchising law is able to competently protect franchisees from the "arbitrary whims" of large corporations like McDonald's. Another clause of SB 610 would make it so franchise licensing agreements won't be able to prevent franchisees from being a part of franchisee associations or selling the franchises if they chose, ...

Native advertising and print advertising have collided thanks to a quiz from People's StyleWatch. By using the quiz to generate traffic online, advertisers were able to receive more exposure -- and StyleWatch was able to fund its biggest September issue yet.The Stylewatch quiz was similar to a sponsored Buzzfeed.com quiz, using just eight questions to match users to their "celebrity style twin." Unlike a Buzzfeed quiz, however, StyleWatch readers could click on embedded links to purchase the 600 clothing items, accessories and beauty products featured in the quiz. Of the fashion items shown in the quiz, around 25% of them made it into the September issue. The issue will contain 203 pages of advertising, a 6.6% increase from last year, according to Media Industry Newsletter's editor-in-c...

Amazon's already burst into the media selling, publishing and smartphone markets, and now it's looking to expand it's empire into mobile point-of-sale solutions. Though it'll go up against many POS providers jostling for dominance, it's generous pricing model for first-time users may give it an advantage.On Wednesday, Amazon released a mobile card reader called Amazon Local Register, which will compete with similar devices from companies like Paypal, ROAM and Square. Like the other products, the device works in tandem with apps for Google Android and Apple iOS, as well as the FireOS on the new Amazon Fire. Merchants running Amazon Local Register can access the funds from transactions within one business day, though they'll be able to spend them within only a few minutes on Amazon.com. ...

Many companies are looking into new technologies to make bill payment at restaurants waiter-free through the use of smartphone apps and mobile payment systems that connect to restaurant POS systems.Capitalizing on this trend are PayPal's 'Pay at Table' service and it's partner MyCheck in Tel Aviv as well as start-ups like Dash, Tabbedout and Cover in the US and Flypay in the UK. Now, Ukranian start-up Settle is looking to throw it's hat in the ring.Settle recently got a $1.5 million funding injection from a venture fund called Life based in Moscow. The funds will be used to roll out the new technology in Eastern Europe, starting in Kiev and followed by large releases in Moscow and Warsaw. Settle will provide customers at restaurants with a mobile payment service that allows you to order...