Patient admitted to hospital ‘every 30 seconds’ as Covid hospitalisations hit record January 18, 2021 “Someone is admitted to hospital with coronavirus every 30 seconds,” the health secretary has said, as hospitalisations continue to hit fresh heights amid the rapid spread of new Covid mutations. There are currently 37,475 people in UK hospitals with coronavirus, with more than a tenth on ventilators. “That is the highest that it’s been throughout [...]
Drones and robots may get their big breakthrough in 2021, says what3words CEO January 18, 2021 2020 was a volatile and unpredictable year for businesses large and small. In a sink-or-swim situation, the swimmers were those who responded fairly quickly to the pandemic and managed to come up with creative and innovative solutions. This often involved pivoting to an entirely new model, according to Shoreditch-based Chris Sheldrick, co-founder and CEO of [...]
Exclusive: UK tech still needs the EU, says TechUK boss January 18, 2021 As thousands of businesses breathe a sigh of relief now the Brexit deal has been agreed, one leading tech figure thinks the EU remains important for the UK. Julian David, chief executive of TechUK, spoke to City A.M. about his thoughts on the Brexit deal for the tech sector and the future for the industry [...]
Edge computing – what to look out for in 2021 January 18, 2021 | City Talk Businesses will be familiar with cloud computing, with many having moved their IT to colocation facilities or to cloud-based applications such as Office 365, Salesforce and Slack. The networks required to deliver these services transfer huge amounts of data to central hubs where it is processed and stored. This can result in data congestion and [...]
Whatsapp delays controversial update following privacy backlash January 15, 2021 Whatsapp has delayed changes to its privacy policy following a backlash that saw scores of users flocking to rival apps Telegram and Signal. The messaging app today said it was pushing back the date by which users would have to accept the new terms, adding that no one would have their account suspended or deleted [...]
Dating app Bumble files for US stock market float January 15, 2021 Dating app Bumble has filed for a US initial public offering, joining a host of major tech companies expected to go public this year. The app, which is backed by private equity giant Blackstone, registered for a float of up to $100m (£74m), though this is a placeholder amount and is expected to change. Previous [...]
Signal down: Messaging app stops working after surge in new users January 15, 2021 Messaging app Signal has stopped working in the wake of a huge surge in new users. The social media platform, which bills itself as a more privacy-focused alternative to the incumbent tech giants, suffered glitches this afternoon that prevented messages from sending. There was a spike in users reporting problems with connection and logging in [...]
Satellite firm Oneweb secures $400m in fresh Softbank-led funding January 15, 2021 Oneweb, the satellite broadband firm bailed out by the UK government last year, has raised a further $400m (£294m) in a fresh funding round led by Softbank. The Japanese conglomerate will also take a seat on the board of Oneweb, which was rescued from bankruptcy in November by the government and Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti [...]
Amazon hit with class-action lawsuit over ebook price-fixing January 15, 2021 Amazon has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit over accusations it colluded with publishers to fix ebook prices. The lawsuit, filed in a New York district court, alleges that Amazon and the so-called Big Five publishers — Penguin Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster — agreed to price restraints that cause [...]
Blackrock sells $200m China Telecom stake after US ban January 15, 2021 Blackrock has offloaded almost all of its stake in China Telecom at a significant discount following a new ban on US investment. China Telecom is one of a number of tech firms subject to a Trump administration executive order blocking American investors from owning companies deemed to have links with the Chinese military. The move [...]