Italian senators approve new PM Renzi February 24, 2014 ITALIAN senators approved new Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government by a margin of 169 to 139 late last night. The 39-year-old has never been elected to parliament, instead serving as mayor of Florence. He is promising to shake up the way the government operates, making it easier for a single party to rule. He also [...]
D’Aloisio brings Summly-based Yahoo app to UK February 24, 2014 NICK D’Aloisio, the 18-year-old who sold his Summly app to Yahoo last year for $30m (£18m), yesterday launched Yahoo News Digest for the UK. News Digest, described by D’Aloisio as providing a “definitive summary of all the need-to-know news”, is designed to curate and summarise the top news stories of the day from multiple sources [...]
Nokia abandons Windows for Android weeks before takeover February 24, 2014 NOKIA has launched a range of low-cost smartphones powered by Google’s Android platform just weeks before its handset division is acquired by Microsoft. The Nokia X smartphone line up, revealed yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, has ditched Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform and instead uses Google’s free Android software. The moves means it [...]
Samsung offers better camera with Galaxy S5 February 24, 2014 SAMSUNG last night unveiled its latest flagship Galaxy smartphone, a phone that Samsung hopes will help it fend off competition from Apple and Sony. The Galaxy S5, which will be available in April, includes a slightly bigger screen than its predecessor, at 5.1 inches against five inches, improved camera technology and better protection against water [...]
Essar directors shun investor’s offer as too low February 24, 2014 ESSAR Energy’s independent directors have rejected a plan from the firm’s biggest investor to take the company private, saying the 70p offer price “clearly undervalues the company and its prospects”. The board members with no links to the Ruia family’s Essar Global Fund (EGF) unanimously shunned the proposal yesterday. EGF owns 78.02 per cent of [...]
Game’s landlords win key case on rent owed by collapsed firms February 24, 2014 COLLAPSED retailers must pay to use their shops even if the rent bill was due before they failed, the Court of Appeal said yesterday, marking a major change to the way retail administrations are handled. Landlords for Game Group, which filed for administration the day after its quarterly rent was due in March 2012, are [...]
Shrek moving to the South Bank February 24, 2014 DREAMWORKS Animation’s green ogre Shrek will star in a tourist attraction opening on the South Bank in the summer of 2015, the first of six attractions based on the franchise that will be built over nine years. Dreamworks has licenced Shrek and other characters to Merlin Entertainment, which will build and operate “Shrek’s Far Far [...]
Zucker-bore is set on pushing his Internet.org February 24, 2014 THE TECH geeks currently nerding it out over at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona couldn’t believe their luck that just five days after Facebook splurged $19bn on Whatsapp, the connectivity wunderkind himself Mark Zuckerberg delivered the keynote speech last night. The Facebook chief exec showed up in his trademark jeans and T-shirt and like some [...]
Journo has phone nicked at Mobile Congress February 24, 2014 It might look like fun and games at the Mobile World Congress, with giant Android costumes (pictured) entertaining the crowds, but editor of Tech Crunch UK and co-founder of Tech Hub Mike Butcher had his phone swiped at the event yesterday. “Phone stolen (pick-pocketed) in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress (yes, finally they got me)” [...]
Calver resigns as Mothercare chief executive February 24, 2014 MOTHERCARE chief executive Simon Calver has stepped down just six weeks after a hefty profits warning that sent shares in the baby products chain tumbling by more than a third. The firm brought in the former head of online movie rental service Lovefilm two years ago to lead its turnaround and overhaul its UK estate. [...]