Amazon and Disney to Launch New Voice Assistant for Walt Disney World Resort Hotels

Amazon and Disney are coming together to launch a new voice assistant named "Hey, Disney!" both companies have stated that the new service will be available to guests staying at Walt Disney World Resort hotels and homes on Amazon Echo devices. These new smart speakers are being tested at Yacht and Beach Club Resorts and will be released soon.

This new vice assistant will give guests the ability to sort of interact with the company's most favorite characters in entirely new ways. In addition to being able to perform various functions that are similar to Alexa, "Hey, Disney!" will also include several jokes, interactive trivia, puzzles, personal greetings from the Disney characters, and soundscapes for more than 1,000 possibilities.

The company has said that the Walt Disney World Resort Hotel customers can do functional things like order breakfast or necessary things to the room without any hassle.  The echo microphones that are present in the hotel rooms can be manually turned off. Before use, "Hey, Disney!" one will require verifiable parental consent. The users can easily delete the voice recordings. "Hey, Disney!" will make its official debut by 2022 and free in Walt Disney-owned resorts and hotel rooms. Read More blog

Amazon and Microsoft Aids Cloud Startup Databricks to Boost its Valuation

A cloud-software vendor, Databricks, is illustrating how modern computing is changing. The startup has raised $1.6 billion in funding, increasing its valuation by a humungous 35 percent. It is now placed in the fourth position as the largest privately held, venture-backed US company. The other three companies in the first three positions are Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Google parent Alphabet Inc.

The San Francisco-based company, which started in the year 2013, is providing robust software services that let customers use and analyze their data in various cloud sectors. The cloud implementation rate accelerated during the pandemic as companies and individuals adopted new services. The businesses and governments also increasingly started signing up for a mix of providers to meet their needs. Databricks successfully leveraged this advantage, and now it's placed among the largest cloud-based ventures.

Databricks is one of the best examples of a startup rapidly shifting to private markets with a giant leap in valuation than other companies based in Silicon Valley. Many big companies are investing in Databricks as its market size is growing bigger in the data analysis sector. Besides, it has won favor with cloud vendors because of its unique operating style.

 

 

 

Australia’s Remedy Drinks Launches New Zero-Sugar Kombucha to the Market

Number one selling brand in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK and the fourth largest kombucha company in the world producing over 90 million cans per year, Remedy Drinks in a recent announcement, have stated that it is planning to replicate its success in the US market by bringing zero-sugar, shelf-stable kombucha to the US market. The company aims to launch a healthier and fizzy alternative to carbonated drinks that are full of flavor.

The brand is ready for the US market, as kombucha has taken a giant leap from conventional market to mainstream natural channel. The kombucha and fermented beverages market is gaining huge popularity and is growing bigger every year. Remedy Drinks has observed this change and is trying to bring unique flavors and shelf-stable products to the US food and beverages sector.

The company makes it easier for consumers to enjoy something unique, healthy, full-flavored, and convenient to carry a drink. Remedy drinks are also launching direct-to-consumer on Amazon, and the product will be shipped nationwide. In addition, the zero-sugar canned kombucha comes in four different flavors- Peach Kombucha, ginger lemon kombucha, mixed berry kombucha, and raspberry lemonade kombucha.

 

Amazon Expected to Surpass Walmart as America's Largest Retailer

Recent reports and statistical analysis have reported that Amazon will surpass Walmart in total merchandise sales in the US. Besides, Walmart is growing its sales volume by more than 20 percent every year. An April report from e-commerce data company Edge reported that Amazon wouldn't pass Walmart until 2025. But J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth thinks Amazon will pass Walmart in US sales by the end of next year.

Amazon currently holds a market share of approximately 40 percent of all online sales in the US, which puts its gross merchandise volume to around $327 billion. Also, Amazon has a "small" physical retail operation that's brought in over $15 billion in revenue over the last four quarters. This makes the total retail volume around $340 billion. In contrast, Walmart US and Sam's Club generated a combined income of $439 billion over the last four quarters. Walmart also operates a third-party merchant marketplace.

So, as of now, Amazon is still about $100 billion behind Walmart. That's a big gap to make up in just seven quarters. But there are slight chances that Amazon's gross merchandise volume, excluding its physical stores, will climb to $377 billion this year and reach $457 billion in 2022. Henceforth, there is still a lot of room for e-commerce to take a share of total retail sales, which will lead to sustainable double-digit growth.

 

 

Jeff Bezos to travel to Space on Blue Origin's first passenger flight

Jeff Bezos, America's business tycoon, media proprietor, investor, founder, and CEO of the multinational technology company Amazon in a recent announcement, has stated that he will travel to space next month on his company Blue Origin's first-ever passenger flight. His brother Mark and an auction winner will be joined on the flight scheduled for July 20th.

It is reported that they will fill three of the six seats on the first crewed suborbital flight, which will travel to an altitude of more than 340,000 feet. Jeff Bezos wrote in an Instagram post that he had been dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, he, along with his brother, will be traveling to space. He said it would be the most incredible adventure with his best friend.

Recently, Blue Origin kicked off a three-phase online auction that offered one seat on the first flight of its New Shepard spacecraft, named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard.  The sealed portion of the online auction began on May 5th, which allowed the bidders to submit any amount for getting a golden opportunity to ride into space. The second online bidding runs through June 10th. The bidding will conclude on June 12th.