The Roundup
Everything you missed this past week on Product Hunt: Top products, spicy community discourse, key trends on the site, and long-form pieces we’ve recently published.
RIP McDonalds. Robot hamburgers are here 🍔
Robot hamburgers have arrived, and they're delicious. 🤖😋
We stopped by the brand-new Creator restaurant in San Francisco, home of the (almost!) completely automated hamburger-making robot.
Tomatoes, pickles, onions, cheese, and sauces are all stacked above a conveyor built. Toppings are sliced and immediately dropped onto brioche buns. Ketchup, mustard, mayo – drizzled down to the millileter. Shredded cheese is shared and heated in a rotating drum as the patties are cooked at the end of the conveyor belt. The patties are grilled to optimal medium-rare perfection tracked by 11 different sensors.
Needless to say, it was delicious and only $5.50.
The best part: you can watch your burger travel down the conveyor belt. It's like a massive Rube Goldberg machine.
Of course companies like Creator make people nervous. Will robots take our jobs (this site will let you know if your job is safe)? Some think so. Others see companies like Creator in service of human labor, empowering people rather than replacing them. Creator has 20+ employees for the 40-seat restaurant, helping feed the burger-making machine and interact with customers.
Creator isn't the only robot-powered culinary establishment. Cafe X just raised a $9.4M Series A led by Jason Calacanis and Craft Ventures to build and operates robot baristas all around San Francisco.
Our vision of a full robot kitchen is far, farrrr away. In the meantime, here's your glimpse into the future of food. 🍔
We stopped by the brand-new Creator restaurant in San Francisco, home of the (almost!) completely automated hamburger-making robot.
Tomatoes, pickles, onions, cheese, and sauces are all stacked above a conveyor built. Toppings are sliced and immediately dropped onto brioche buns. Ketchup, mustard, mayo – drizzled down to the millileter. Shredded cheese is shared and heated in a rotating drum as the patties are cooked at the end of the conveyor belt. The patties are grilled to optimal medium-rare perfection tracked by 11 different sensors.
Needless to say, it was delicious and only $5.50.
The best part: you can watch your burger travel down the conveyor belt. It's like a massive Rube Goldberg machine.
Of course companies like Creator make people nervous. Will robots take our jobs (this site will let you know if your job is safe)? Some think so. Others see companies like Creator in service of human labor, empowering people rather than replacing them. Creator has 20+ employees for the 40-seat restaurant, helping feed the burger-making machine and interact with customers.
Creator isn't the only robot-powered culinary establishment. Cafe X just raised a $9.4M Series A led by Jason Calacanis and Craft Ventures to build and operates robot baristas all around San Francisco.
Our vision of a full robot kitchen is far, farrrr away. In the meantime, here's your glimpse into the future of food. 🍔
Here’s $2,000 for your Amazon shopping spree
Normally we run a single giveaway at once.
Not anymore! Innovation has arrived, so we're back with two giveaways to help you treat yo' self. Two chances to win a spending spree on us. Enjoy. 😊
Boring legal disclosure: the sweepstakes is only open to our community based in the US. We're working on opening these up to everyone!
Not anymore! Innovation has arrived, so we're back with two giveaways to help you treat yo' self. Two chances to win a spending spree on us. Enjoy. 😊
Boring legal disclosure: the sweepstakes is only open to our community based in the US. We're working on opening these up to everyone!
Airbnb’s newest competition is… unique
Houses might not look like houses for long.
While the world focuses on IoT home devices like Amazon Echos, an entire new generation of microapartments, container homes, and capusle hotels is here for city-dwellers and wanderlust-filled tourists.
🔮 Conker Living Pods look like massive soccer balls. Each contains an entire studio apartment, customizable to your needs. Their exteriors are stunning… but you’ll have to find a bathroom elsewhere. 💩
🌲 Tired of the city? Hate your phone? Slow Cabins are off-the-grid eco lodges for couples, families, or solo adventurers looking to focus hidden around Belgium. The company is slowly expanding internationally.
🤗 Sonder is like if Airbnb and a Four Seasons had a baby, offering handpicked homes in cities around the world. Better than risking your trip on an Airbnb. 🤭
🏕️ Ditch walls altogether and explore unique campsites around the world in this "Airbnb for camping" with over 300,000 campsites available.
🚌 Avoid hotels entirely. For your next weekend vacation, try a Cabin and their luxury overnight sleeper buses. Fall asleep in your city, and wake up in a magical destination for a weekend adventure. Currently travelling between LA and SF, but we're hoping they expand soon.
While the world focuses on IoT home devices like Amazon Echos, an entire new generation of microapartments, container homes, and capusle hotels is here for city-dwellers and wanderlust-filled tourists.
🔮 Conker Living Pods look like massive soccer balls. Each contains an entire studio apartment, customizable to your needs. Their exteriors are stunning… but you’ll have to find a bathroom elsewhere. 💩
🌲 Tired of the city? Hate your phone? Slow Cabins are off-the-grid eco lodges for couples, families, or solo adventurers looking to focus hidden around Belgium. The company is slowly expanding internationally.
🤗 Sonder is like if Airbnb and a Four Seasons had a baby, offering handpicked homes in cities around the world. Better than risking your trip on an Airbnb. 🤭
🏕️ Ditch walls altogether and explore unique campsites around the world in this "Airbnb for camping" with over 300,000 campsites available.
🚌 Avoid hotels entirely. For your next weekend vacation, try a Cabin and their luxury overnight sleeper buses. Fall asleep in your city, and wake up in a magical destination for a weekend adventure. Currently travelling between LA and SF, but we're hoping they expand soon.
This crypto company just went public 💰
When there's a gold rush, start selling shovels. 🤑
As cryptocurrencies exploded last year, multi-million dollar mining farms plugged in around the world to confirm transactions for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Dogecoin, and hundreds of other token networks.
In exchange for confirming transactions, miners get paid big bucks. Every confirmed block of Bitcoin transactions pays out 12.5BTC, or ~$87k every ten minutes. Bitmain, a leading mining group, is reported to have made $3-4B... just last year. 😮
Meet the newest shovel salesman: Argo Mining, which just went public in London and raised £25M. Pick your preferred coin, choose a mining contract, and the coins will start flowing into your wallet. Over 50,000 are on Argo's waiting list for their Canadian-based rigs.
Cryptocurrency mining contracts have excited since bitcoin mining took off years ago, but it's not typical to see blockchain companies go public. We'll have to wait and see if Argo Mining can find a loyal group of miners.
Want to try mining yourself? This nifty browser extension lets you donate your processing power to charities like The Hispanic Foundation, or to help people get out of jail.
And if all of this is confusing, here's a beautiful visual demonstration of the technology behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more. ⛓️📦
As cryptocurrencies exploded last year, multi-million dollar mining farms plugged in around the world to confirm transactions for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Dogecoin, and hundreds of other token networks.
In exchange for confirming transactions, miners get paid big bucks. Every confirmed block of Bitcoin transactions pays out 12.5BTC, or ~$87k every ten minutes. Bitmain, a leading mining group, is reported to have made $3-4B... just last year. 😮
Meet the newest shovel salesman: Argo Mining, which just went public in London and raised £25M. Pick your preferred coin, choose a mining contract, and the coins will start flowing into your wallet. Over 50,000 are on Argo's waiting list for their Canadian-based rigs.
Cryptocurrency mining contracts have excited since bitcoin mining took off years ago, but it's not typical to see blockchain companies go public. We'll have to wait and see if Argo Mining can find a loyal group of miners.
Want to try mining yourself? This nifty browser extension lets you donate your processing power to charities like The Hispanic Foundation, or to help people get out of jail.
And if all of this is confusing, here's a beautiful visual demonstration of the technology behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more. ⛓️📦
BEST products of the year so far 🏆
This past month was filled with hundreds of product launches, from companies big and small. Y Combinator launched their free online Startup School, Stripe launched a toolkit to create, control, and distribute physical prepaid cards, and you too can Make OS X Great Again. 🍎
Tools built for Product Hunters are all the rage:
🔍 Preview Hunt lets you preview your post page before launch
🚫 Hunted or Nah is an extension that checks if a site has been hunted
✔️ We launched Makers, an online community to help you get stuff done
And if you're feeling nostalgic about what technology was like a long time ago, check out the Best of January, February, March, April, May, or June.
As for the the most upvoted product of the year, it's a close race between Robinhood's cryptocurrency trading platform, Google's slightly creepy AI that can schedule restaurant reservations, and a magical organization tool from a small startup here in San Francisco. 👀
Tools built for Product Hunters are all the rage:
🔍 Preview Hunt lets you preview your post page before launch
🚫 Hunted or Nah is an extension that checks if a site has been hunted
✔️ We launched Makers, an online community to help you get stuff done
And if you're feeling nostalgic about what technology was like a long time ago, check out the Best of January, February, March, April, May, or June.
As for the the most upvoted product of the year, it's a close race between Robinhood's cryptocurrency trading platform, Google's slightly creepy AI that can schedule restaurant reservations, and a magical organization tool from a small startup here in San Francisco. 👀
Up to $50,000 fee-free Stripe processing for makers ⛵
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into smaller manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” – Mark Twain
We built Ship to help you get started on your own startup, because not every project should need a massive engineering team to launch.
We just partnered with our friends at Stripe to secure up to $50,000 fee-free Stripe processing, available to our annual Ship subscribers.
Product Hunt runs on Stripe, and you can too. You'll also get access to the full suite of Ship tools, including:
🖥️ Landing pages: Create a lovely landing page in 60 seconds.
🔖 Surveys: Gather feedback from your users to deliver targeted emails.
💌 Email campaigns: Broadcast product updates & chat with your users.
You'll also get immediate access to Stripe Atlas, which will get your startup incorporated and legally compliant from anywhere, and up to $7,500 in free Amazon Web Services credits to host your project.
Claim your up to $50,000 in fee-free Stripe processing today. ⛵
We built Ship to help you get started on your own startup, because not every project should need a massive engineering team to launch.
We just partnered with our friends at Stripe to secure up to $50,000 fee-free Stripe processing, available to our annual Ship subscribers.
Product Hunt runs on Stripe, and you can too. You'll also get access to the full suite of Ship tools, including:
🖥️ Landing pages: Create a lovely landing page in 60 seconds.
🔖 Surveys: Gather feedback from your users to deliver targeted emails.
💌 Email campaigns: Broadcast product updates & chat with your users.
You'll also get immediate access to Stripe Atlas, which will get your startup incorporated and legally compliant from anywhere, and up to $7,500 in free Amazon Web Services credits to host your project.
Claim your up to $50,000 in fee-free Stripe processing today. ⛵
Win a DJI Drone (and Ecuador trip!) 🚁🗺️ 
Drones are fun. Everybody agrees.
Not having a drone is not fun. Have fun. Win a drone. 🚁👈
Even better: after you've won the DJI Spark drone (with an HD camera that's automatically stabilized), you'll get to fly to Ecuador with a $1500 travel bundle that includes airfare and the best local activities.
Ecuador is beautiful. Drones are fun. Please take us with you. 😉
Boring legal disclosure: the sweepstakes is only open to our community based in the US. We're working on opening these up in the future to everyone!
Not having a drone is not fun. Have fun. Win a drone. 🚁👈
Even better: after you've won the DJI Spark drone (with an HD camera that's automatically stabilized), you'll get to fly to Ecuador with a $1500 travel bundle that includes airfare and the best local activities.
Ecuador is beautiful. Drones are fun. Please take us with you. 😉
Boring legal disclosure: the sweepstakes is only open to our community based in the US. We're working on opening these up in the future to everyone!
"Urgent" email for your boss
Subject: Product Hunt hooked us up
To: Your boss
From: You and your team
Hi {{Your Boss's Name}}!
TechCrunch's Disrupt SF conference is coming up in September, and Product Hunt just hooked us up with a special extra 15% discount on Early Bird tickets.
Barista robots, decentralized scooters, self-driving cars, and automated food delivery bots – San Francisco is a melting pot of of cutting-edge tech.
Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber CEO), Reid Hoffman (Greylock), Cyan Bannister (Founders Fund), Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO), Whitney Wolfe Herd (Bumble), Sophia Amoruso (Girlboss), and dozens more will be answering questions and meeting with attendees.
This will help me succeed in my role because {{of a super convincing reason}}. We have to move quickly: the discount expires July 25th.
What do you think? Link to sign up is here.
-{{Your Name}} {{Your Favorite Emoji}}
---------
We get it. Conference tickets, hotels, and flights are expensive... so we've partnered with TechCrunch got you a killer discount on tickets to their upcoming conference in San Francisco.
We also pre-wrote the email you should send to your boss to get the conference expensed. Our little secret.
The Product Hunt team will be there too. See you soon 👋
Today’s Weekly Digest was crafted by Product Hunt (we are TechCrunch users!) and sponsored by our friends at TechCrunch. 😊
To: Your boss
From: You and your team
Hi {{Your Boss's Name}}!
TechCrunch's Disrupt SF conference is coming up in September, and Product Hunt just hooked us up with a special extra 15% discount on Early Bird tickets.
Barista robots, decentralized scooters, self-driving cars, and automated food delivery bots – San Francisco is a melting pot of of cutting-edge tech.
Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber CEO), Reid Hoffman (Greylock), Cyan Bannister (Founders Fund), Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO), Whitney Wolfe Herd (Bumble), Sophia Amoruso (Girlboss), and dozens more will be answering questions and meeting with attendees.
This will help me succeed in my role because {{of a super convincing reason}}. We have to move quickly: the discount expires July 25th.
What do you think? Link to sign up is here.
-{{Your Name}} {{Your Favorite Emoji}}
---------
We get it. Conference tickets, hotels, and flights are expensive... so we've partnered with TechCrunch got you a killer discount on tickets to their upcoming conference in San Francisco.
We also pre-wrote the email you should send to your boss to get the conference expensed. Our little secret.
The Product Hunt team will be there too. See you soon 👋
Today’s Weekly Digest was crafted by Product Hunt (we are TechCrunch users!) and sponsored by our friends at TechCrunch. 😊
Is this the next iPad? 👀
Our favorite technologies are becoming more accessible. Years ago, stationary desktops were quickly replaced by plastic white MacBooks that took over college campuses and offices around the world.
Today’s Daily Digest was crafted by Product Hunt and sponsored by our friends at Hewlett Packard. 😊
Then came the iPad in 2010, and sleek devices replaced our beloved MacBook with data connections, Angry Birds, and an entire suite of productivity tools. Tim Cook famously runs Apple on the road from an iPad Pro and his iPhone. 🤯
HP just launched a new laptop-hybrid blend, the ENVY x2, as the next step in our never-ending march towards our phones:
😮 Insanely light, with the same touchscreen glass as your iPhone.
🔋 22 hour battery life. Yes, you read that correctly.
📡 4G LTE coverage, so no more awkwardly asking for the Wifi password.
It actually runs on the same Qualcomm chip that powers every flagship Android phone on the market today. Neato. Get yours today.
Win a $2,000 Virtual Reality Bundle 👀
Ready Player One might be coming sooner than you think.
The Oculus Rift is arguably the best virtual reality headset on the market today, with hundreds of games and experiences available from your favorite game designers. Most VR headsets require you to stand still – the Rift can actually track your body as you move around the room.
Unfortunately, the Rift needs a powerful gaming PC to work. 👎
So, we're giving away a $2000 Oculus Rift Bundle:
😮 An Acer Aspire Gaming PC (including a GTX 1060 graphics card)
👁️ Oculus Rift VR headset
🖥️ ASUS gaming monitor
⌨️ Mechanical keyboard and mouse
Come join The Oasis – enter to win today. 👈
Psst! Yes, the PC can also play Fortnite, PUBG, League of Legends, Overwatch, and all the rest of your favorite esports games.