MPs and peers launch ‘super committee’ to scrutinise online harms laws July 29, 2021 A joint committee of MPs and lords has been launched today to scrutinise controversial government plans to tackle online harms. The new super committee will be tasked with seeking views on the online safety bill, which was published in draft form in May. The bill is designed to hold tech giants such as Facebook and [...]
Google hit with £920m UK lawsuit over ‘unlawful’ app store charges July 29, 2021 Google has been slapped with a £920m class action lawsuit in the UK over claims charges on its Google Play Store are “excessive and unlawful”. The claim, filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, alleges that the tech giant shuts down competition in its Play store and hits out at its 30 per cent [...]
Spotify beats forecasts as paid subscribers hit 165m July 28, 2021 Spotify has beaten expectations for the second quarter as the streaming giant saw its paid subscriber numbers grow by a fifth. The Swedish company said premium subscribers jumped 20 per cent year on year to hit 165m in its latest quarter – towards the upper end of its guidance and modelty ahead of forecasts. Monthly [...]
Exclusive: UK esports funding hits record high amid lockdown gaming boom July 28, 2021 British esports startups enjoyed record levels of investment last year as surging interest in the sector during Covid lockdowns helped fuel a major cash injection. Esports firms raised £42m in 2020, which was a record year for both value and number of deals. The momentum has continued into 2021, with eight deals worth £15m already [...]
Big Tech earnings: What to expect this week as tech titans report July 27, 2021 Wall Street is gearing up for a slew of Big Tech earnings this week with Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft all set to deliver figures for their latest quarter. Twitter and Snap kicked off proceedings by smashing expectations last week, raising hopes that a post-pandemic advertising rebound will boost other platforms. Tesla also shrugged [...]
Dallas engineering giant Jacobs to support UK’s first satellite launch site July 27, 2021 Dallas engineering giant Jacobs, which works with NASA, has secured a role in supporting the UK’s first vertical space satellite launch site due to be based in the Scottish Highlands. Jacobs will assess the local supply chain and report on how advanced engineering, asset management and avionics – aviation electronics – can be transferred to [...]
`Your network is your net worth´: seven tips to propel your career July 27, 2021 | City Talk My thought leadership speaking tours to the Middle East and Europe were postponed. To convince the organizers to host their events online, I went on a shopping spree and bought all kinds of audio and video equipment just before the first lockdown in Singapore. It wasn’t just me. Everyone, from students to senior professionals, needed [...]
Just Eat Takeaway investor calls for merger as it slams stock performance July 27, 2021 A major investor in Just Eat Takeaway has urged the food delivery platform to explore a potential merger as it took aim at the company’s share price performance. Cat Rock Capital, which holds a 4.7 per cent stake in the group, slammed management’s “deeply flawed communication” with investors, which it blamed for a 28 per [...]
Tech stocks – slow-down or slump? July 27, 2021 | Sponsored With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the shift towards a digital-first world; technology stocks rose to all-time highs in 2020, as people spent more time online.1 However, as economies have begun to reopen following the rollout of highly effective coronavirus vaccines; tech stocks sold-off as investors rotated towards sectors set to benefit from reopening. In this [...]
Wechat suspends new user registration amid China crackdown July 27, 2021 Chinese social media giant Wechat has temporarily suspended new user registrations as Beijing ramps up its crackdown on domestic tech firms. The messaging platform, which is owned by Tencent, said it was upgrading its security technology “to align with relevant laws and registrations”. “During this time, registration of new Weixin [Wechat] personal and official accounts [...]