The Daily Crunch 08/08/16

A "WalJet" isn't anywhere near as cool as it sounds, and which social network stands the best chance of winning the next-gen TV wars? All that and more in The Daily Crunch for August 8, 2016. Once you've read this email, go ahead and hit that physical iPhone Home button while you still have one to hit.

1. The race is on to become the TV of the mobile generation

ABC's TGIF is a touchstone for people my age in North America like almost no other, but younger TV watchers probably won't have a common experience with similar shared reach. Mobile companies are vying to become that, though, and the latest volley in that battle comes from NBCUniversal and Snapchat, which are partnering on mini TV shows that will follow and be distilled from broadcast programming including The Voice and SNL. Meanwhile, Twitter is still trying to be a home for live broadcast content, and of course YouTube has a stranglehold on kids. The writing's on the wall for traditional TV – the only question now is what, if anything, will replace it.

2. One Hulu's ending is just another Yahoo's beginning

Yahoo has a new TV site, speaking of the tubes, and it's populated by Hulu's free content. At the same time, Hulu is shutting down its own free tier, meaning Yahoo is the place to go if you don't want to pay up for a Hulu subscription. Hulu is likely aiming to become a powerful early streaming bundle provider, as more viewers move online and the traditional cable/satellite model suffers as a result. The deal with Yahoo was in the works long before it was acquired by Verizon (which also owns TechCrunch), so we'll have to see if it continues under the new owners down the road.

3. Walmart + Jet = WalJet?

WalJet sounds like a pretty cool gadget, but sadly it's not. Instead, it's a crappy neologism I just made up to describe the merger of Walmart and Jet. Walmart acquired the e-commerce player for $3 billion in cash, making it the largest e-commerce exit ever. And yet, it still feels strangely like failure, since Jet talked a lot about challenging Amazon when it first debuted, and managed to not do that at all. Walmart also wants to be relevant in e-commerce, and this move screams of desperation. For the record, I don't think it's going to work out.

4. iPhone 7 may finally drop the home button... sort of

The iPhone 7 rumors continue to cascade, and the latest from prolific and generally accurate leaker Mark Gurman suggests Apple will be swapping out its physical home button for a pressure-sensitive piece of glass that offers haptic feedback instead. Sound familiar? It's the same kind of tech Apple uses in the trackpads of newer MacBooks, which don't actually "click" but make a good enough approximation powered by software that you can't tell the difference. That's another step in service of a future where the display covers the entire surface of an iPhone, and any "home" button is completely embedded in the display.

5. Pokemon Go at one month

It's been a month since Pokemon Go launched, and the game is still a mess technically. Bugs aside, it's also still getting big dollars from users, with over $200 million in gross revenue so far – almost double the next biggest mobile hit of 2016, Clash Royale. It's riding high on a staged international rollout, partly, as new countries experience the height of Pokemon hype every time a new market comes online. But is interest generally cooling? Some TC back-channel chatter indicates that among jaded tech bloggers, the answer may be yes.

6. Autopilot saves

Tesla's Autopilot may have resulted in at least one driver death, but it also seems to have been a key ingredient in another driver's continued enjoyment of life. Missouri's Joshua Neally handed the reins of his Model X over to Autopilot for about 20 miles of highway driving to help him get to the hospital while he was having a pulmonary embolism. He might not have made the best choice (i.e. just pull over if you feel like you're dying) but Autopilot is designed to keep a clear head where humans won't, so this is a huge win for Autopilot as far as I'm concerned.

7. Airbnb looks for more cash

Who wants money? Airbnb does. The peer-to-peer short-term housing network is seeking $850 million in additional funding, in a round that will up its valuation to $30 billion. The company has been angling its finances to put off an IPO as long as possible, a strategy shared by fellow multi-decacorn Uber. Still, Airbnb does seem to eventually want to get to IPO territory, and this new raise (which doesn't over inflate its valuation as much as some other offers it's rejected in the past) may be the way to do that.