Autonomous vehicle startup Cruise has partnered with Walmart to deliver orders from a Scottsdale, AZ, Walmart store to local customers' homes, starting early next year. General Motors-backed autonomous vehicle startup Cruise has announced a partnership with Walmart to deliver orders from a Scottsdale, AZ, Walmart store to local customers' homes, starting early next year. Customers will be able to place orders to the store and have them delivered in one of Cruise's electric self-driving Chevy Bolts. If the pilot goes well, a Cruise spokesperson said, the company will mull launching on-demand delivery with other retailers in the future. Walmart has forged driverless vehicle delivery partnerships with other automakers and startups.

One Drop, a New York City-based provider of digital therapeutic solutions for diabetes and other chronic conditions, today announced that its wireless glucose meter kit and supplies are now available at hundreds of Walmart stores in the United States. Each kit includes a Bluetooth glucose meter, lancing device, carry case, test strips, and lancets, as well as one year of free access to One Drop's certified diabetes coaches for 24/7 support. In addition to being sold at US Walmart stores and on walmart.com, One Drop's wireless glucose meter is currently available at select Apple retail locations, and on getonedrop.com, One Drop's integrated platform offers an easy and effective way for people to track and manage a variety of health conditions.

Do you recognize this photograph? It's a picture of a robot from Bossa Nova that has been "patrolling" the aisles of some Walmart stores in the United States. There have been attempts for several years to bring automation to retail stores – with mixed success. A popular back-office example is the "picking robots" used in Amazon and Ocado distribution centers. Even Costco's pizza-making bot provides an eye-catching example of automation.

Google will be announcing its new pair of Pixel 2 smartphones Wednesday alongside other new products. One of them is the smaller Google Home Mini, which popped up prematurely on Walmart's website Tuesday morning. The listing also revealed the Google Home Mini release date. Walmart listed that the Google Home Mini will arrive on Oct. 19, which is just two weeks after Google's official unveiling tomorrow. As IBT previously reported earlier this month, the smaller smart speaker will cost $49.