Amazon wants to make you dinner, Google puts Glass to work (for real this time) and a robot without its face is interesting as hell but also terrifying. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for July 18, 2017. 1. Amazon's Blue (Apron) crush Amazon is already testing its own meal kit service, and that's been bad news for newly-public company Blue Apron. The APRN stock has taken a beating, and it's only getting worse. At first, the reports were about trademark filings and prospective services, but it turns out Amazon was actually already testing Amazon Meal Kits, and at least one user says they're delicious. Amazon tests a lot of things, though, so we don't know for sure how this will play out. 2. Google Glass Episode II: The Enterprise Strikes Back When Google Glass made its debut, it found a strong niche among enterprise customers – but Google didn't seem that interested in that market at the time. Turns out, they were, and now they have a new version of the product called Glass Enterprise Edition that's even better suited to factories, ERs, engineering firms and construction sites. 3. Google launches Hire Meanwhile, Google is also focusing on helping businesses recruit and hire applicants, with a G Suite integrated service called Hire. Google wants the enterprise big time. 4. FreshBooks raises a fresh $43 million Online invoicing platform FreshBooks is actually 15 years old – but it only just raised its Series B funding round. The company hasn't tread the usual course for startups, preferring instead to build a strong revenue base, but now it wants to grow its North American market share. 5. WeWork targets Japan with SoftBank Co-working space operator WeWork is looking to Japan for expansion, thanks in part to support from partner SoftBank. It's an interesting move, since Japan isn't super well known for its entrepreneurial culture, but the joint venture with SoftBank will offload some of WeWork's risk with the move. 6. Disney reveals the inside of its Avatar robot This is pure nightmare fuel: The Na'vi Shaman that ends Disney's Avatar-themed ride is hyper realistic, and at TC Sessions: Robotics, we got a look at what goes on beyond that lifelike visage. 7. Netflix kills industry expectations with subscriber growth Netflix is enjoying another big beat for its quarterly results – the second in a row. It saw huge subscriber growth again, resulting in a big stock surge. How long can this keep up? Also, FYI the automated version of this newsletter is no longer going to be sending on the weekends, but if you still want TC news on the weekend you can sign up for the Week In Review or the Startups Weekly. |
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