Daily Crunch: Netflix tests a linear video channel

Netflix takes an old-fashioned approach for its latest feature, Amazon plans a new data center in India and we review the PlayStation 5. This is your Daily Crunch for November 6, 2020.

The big story: Netflix tests a linear video channel

Today in surprising product strategies: Netflix is testing a linear channel in France called Netflix Direct, according to Variety.

To be clear, it’s not a regular TV channel but rather something you access on Netflix’s website. But like a broadcast or cable channel, it ditches streaming’s on-demand side. Instead, you watch whatever movie or TV show is playing right now.

Netflix previously tested a Shuffle button, so apparently it’s very interested in exploring a viewer experience where you just turn the TV on and veg out. The service says it’s testing this in France because “many viewers like the idea of programming that doesn’t require them to choose what they are going to watch.”

The tech giants

Review: Sony’s PlayStation 5 is here, but next-generation gaming is still on its way — Devin Coldewey writes that the new generation of consoles is both a hard and an easy sell.

Amazon to invest $2.8 billion to build its second data center region in India — The investment will allow Amazon to launch an AWS Cloud region in Hyderabad by mid-2022.

Steve Bannon’s show pulled off Twitter and YouTube over calls for violence — Bannon had his show suspended from Twitter and an episode removed by YouTube after calling for violence against FBI director Christopher Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Challenger bank Starling is out raising a new £200M funding round — Having raised £363 million to date, including a £100 million state-aid grant, Starling now boasts 1.9 million customers.

Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai hits $5.3 billion valuation — The company has raised more than $1 billion since its founding, including $400 million from Toyota.

Provizio closes $6.2M seed round for its car safety platform using sensors and AI — The startup has a “five-dimensional” sensory platform that supposedly perceives, predicts and prevents car accidents in real time and beyond the line-of-sight.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Startups making meat alternatives are gaining traction worldwide — New partnerships with global chains like McDonald’s in Hong Kong, the launch of test kitchens in Israel and new financing rounds for startups in Sydney and Singapore point to abounding opportunities.

Software companies are reporting a pretty good third quarter — It’s great news for startups looking for capital heading into 2021.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Europe urges e-commerce platforms to share data in fight against coronavirus scams — The concern here is not only consumers being ripped off, but also the real risk of harm if people buy a product that does not actually protect them as claimed.

Elon Musk’s Tesla tequila will run you $250 a bottle — Sure, why not.

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