US growth revisions show activity collapse nearly three times worse than thought June 25, 2014 The US economy contracted at an annual rate of 2.9 per cent in the first three months of 2014, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Economists had expected huge downwards revision to the BEA's second release, which estimated that GDP had contracted at an annual rate of just -1 per cent. The collapse [...]
Treasury minister Nicky Morgan clashes with City on immigration June 25, 2014 Immigrants’ success in the City will not persuade the government to end its crackdown on visitors to the UK, financial secretary to the Treasury Nicky Morgan said today. Ukip’s success in the European elections cannot be ignored, the MP said, indicating the City’s needs will not be allowed to take priority over wider anti-immigrant [...]
Google I/O 2014: Expect Google TV, Google Glass, Android Lollipop and wearables June 25, 2014 Google’s I/O conference brings together developers from across the world to see the latest breakthroughs, products and software created by the internet giant. The event kicks off later today, but speculation is rife about the announcements due to come out of San Francisco. Here’s what’s expected (in addition to guests pulling up in Google's driverless [...]
Uber’s south east Asian rival looks to make history June 25, 2014 The chief executive and co-founder of Malaysian-based startup Grabtaxi believes his mobile app has the potential to take south east Asia by storm and revolutionise the taxi industry. Speaking to the Financial Times, Anthony Tan said: "We all believe that if we get this right, we can literally go into the history books." The taxi app [...]
Amazon drone delivery plans remain on course despite reports of US ban June 25, 2014 Amazon will continue with plans to make deliveries by drone a reality, despite widespread reports that US regulators have banned the unmanned aerial vehicles. The e-commerce giant responded to CNET saying that the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) guidelines, published yesterday, did not address the use of drones for commercial purposes and were not relevant to [...]
Digital news as popular as print for the first time says Ofcom June 25, 2014 Consumers are now accessing news via the web and mobile apps just as much as print for the first time, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom. Some 41 per cent of people say they now access news on websites and apps, a substantial increase from 32 per cent in 2013. Digital news consumption also raced past [...]
North Korea calls Seth Rogen’s new film The Interview an “act of war” June 25, 2014 North Korea has branded a new action-comedy film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco as "a most wanton act of terror and act of war", according to an AFP report. The Interview, which is expected to be released in the US on 14 October, is about a talk show host and his producer who land an [...]
Key retail growth indicator plummets on clothing sales slump June 25, 2014 A key indicator of retail strength has seen unexpected weakness in June. The headline figure of sales growth, released by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has fallen to just four per cent, from 16 per cent in May. Just 29 per cent of the 133 firms surveyed saw sales volumes higher than in June [...]
Bluewater shopping centre sold for £696m June 25, 2014 Land Lease, an Australian Developer with interests across the UK, has sold its 30 per cent stake in Bluewater shopping centre for £696m to Land Securities Group. The deal is expected to net the company A$480m (around £265m). The proceeds from the sale will go to pay down debts and fund investments in development projects [...]
Facebook’s Oculus eyes consumer virtual reality device with acquisition June 25, 2014 Oculus, the virtual reality technology company owned by Facebook, has bought the product design firm best known for creating the Xbox 360 controller as it aims to take its VR device into the mainstream. Seattle-based Carbon Design was snapped up by Oculus for an undisclosed sum, it said in a blog post published on the Oculus website. [...]