Rosetta mission: The European Space Agency is hoping comet lander Philae is about to wake up March 16, 2015 The European Space Agency is eagerly awaiting signs that the Rosetta probe Philae – which successfully landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November – is about to wake up. It was an historic moment last autumn when the signal was received in ESA's German mission centre that the probe had landed on the comet's surface. But [...]
Boutique tech bank Restoration Partners backed by ex King.com chair Mel Morris March 16, 2015 Boutique merchant bank Restoration Partners announced that technology entrepreneur Mel Morris has made “a significant investment” in the firm and joined its advisory board. The company, which works alongside visionary entrepreneurs in the technology sector, refused to reveal how much Morris had invested, but said it was looking forward to working with him. “In the [...]
Uber rival Lyft valued over £1.5bn after £353m funding round March 12, 2015 Taxi app Lyft has raised $530m (£353.6m) from a new funding round, softening the blow dealt by a US judges’ ruling against the ride-sharing service. Lyft is now valued at more than $2.5bn (£1.67bn) after a funding round led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten closed this week. Rakuten now owns an 11.9 [...]
Jay Z’s £37m offer for loss-making Swedish streaming service accepted March 12, 2015 Jay Z has paid $56.2m (£37.5m) for Swedish media technology company Aspiro, according to local news reports. Aspiro, which reported an operating loss of SEK41.5m (£3.23m) last year, has accepted the offer from S. Carter Enterprises’ Project Panther Bidco, despite opposition from minority shareholders. The Swedish company owns music streaming services WiMP and [...]
PayPal sets up cyber security centre in Israel and buys startup CyActive March 11, 2015 Online payments company PayPal yesterday announced it was establishing a cyber security centre in Beersheba, Israel, and has bought local startup CyActive to help to launch the development. PayPal, which is due to be spun off from eBay later this year, did not disclose financial details, but Israeli media have said the purchase was worth [...]
Human to superhuman: Time to upgrade yourself March 11, 2015 If you could use biotechnology to upgrade yourself, would you? Perhaps you’ve always despaired at your numerical illiteracy, or maybe you have trouble remembering things. A branch of science is looking beyond mere wearable tech toward a future of devices that you actually add to your body to make it better. From hearing aids to [...]
It’s proven: Autism and high intelligence are genetically linked March 11, 2015 For years, evidence has pointed towards a connection between autism and extreme intelligence. Einstein, Mozart and Newton are among those researchers believe suffered from the disorder. But a direct link between the two has been difficult to find, since there are many types of autism and in some cases it has the exact opposite impact [...]
Total recall: Could you draw the Apple logo from memory? March 11, 2015 Do you know what the Apple logo looks like? How confident are you that you're right? Chances are you might be deluding yourself if you answered “very”. We are constantly bombarded with logos from McDonald's Golden Arches to Nike's swooshing tick, but a new study suggests we really aren't paying all that much attention. [...]
Google Shop London in pictures: Inside the search giant’s first ever physical shop on Tottenham Court Road March 11, 2015 It may have succeeded as one of the most successful companies of the 21st century by offering services online, but Google is making a move offline for the first time – right here in London with its first real life shop. Based at Currys PC World on Tottenham Court Road, the “shop within a shop” [...]
Electric cars and new fuels could slash costs of driving and add £5bn to UK GDP by 2030 – Cambridge Econometrics study March 11, 2015 Motorists could save £960 a year on fuel costs by 2030 if they give up on petrol and switch to electric cars and GDP could jump by £5bn if low-carbon vehicles are embraced. A move away from hydrocarbons could also mean a 40 per cent drop in oil imports by the same year. According to [...]