Spotify earnings: Is the music streaming giant facing a subscriber lag? April 28, 2021 Spotify will be in the spotlight this afternoon as it reports its first-quarter figures, with all eyes on the streaming giant’s subscriber numbers. The Swedish music platform enjoyed a bumper year in 2020, with paid subscribers hitting 155m thanks to higher demand for music and podcasts during the pandemic. But Spotify warned that pace of [...]
Covid connections: Pandemic narrows digital divide as more Brits go online April 28, 2021 While it may be hard to find silver linings in lockdown, it appears the rapid shift to online services has had its benefits. A surge in demand for internet services over the last year means the UK’s digital divide has narrowed even further, with more and more Brits getting connected. The proportion of homes without [...]
Microsoft sees continued demand for cloud services April 27, 2021 It was another stellar quarter for Microsoft as it continued to benefit from the pandemic-induced shift to the cloud. The tech heavyweight beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly revenue, rising 19 per cent to $41.7bn in the three months to March just ahead of analysts’ estimates of $41.03bn. Last quarter Microsoft reported a 17 per [...]
Google owner Alphabet beats revenue expectations as ad spend recovers April 27, 2021 Google’s parent company Alphabet beat Wall Street estimates for the first quarter amidst a recovery in digital ad spend. Revenue rose to $55.31bn in the first quarter from $41.16bn a year earlier, beating analyst estimates of $51.7bn according to Refinitiv data. Alphabet shares rose about five per cent to $2,405 in after-hours trading. Digital advertising [...]
Softbank leads $525m round in British drug developer Exscientia April 27, 2021 British pharmaceutical company Exscientia has received funding from Softbank Vision Fund just a month after closing its last investment round. Exscientia uses artificial intelligence to discover new drug molecules and has now designed two drugs that are in Phase 1 of clinical trials. The Oxford-based company today announced it had completed a $225m Series D [...]
Oneweb raises $550m as French satellite firm Eutelsat takes major stake April 27, 2021 Oneweb today said it had raised $550m (£395m) in fresh funding from French satellite firm Eutelsat as the race to roll out space internet services gathers pace. Eutelsat, which is part owned by the French state, will take a stake of roughly 24 per cent in the British company and take on similar governance rights [...]
Spotify launches podcast subscriptions as Apple rivalry heats up April 27, 2021 Spotify today revealed plans to launch a paid subscription platform for podcasters as the streaming service’s rivalry with Apple continues to heat up. The feature, which will initially launch in the US, means podcast creators can mark certain episodes as subscriber-only and publish them on Spotify, as well as on other podcast services. It comes [...]
Oppo Find X3 Pro review: An excellent new top-tier handset April 27, 2021 The consumer electronics industry has been hit as hard as any by the pandemic, with companies struggling to even build their products – just try getting your hands on a graphics card or a next gen games console – let alone get them in front of customers. And while there have been a handful of [...]
Digital health app Livi secures $2bn valuation after fresh funding round April 27, 2021 Digital GP platform Kry today said it has raised $300m (£216m) in a fresh funding round after enjoying a surge in demand for remote healthcare services during the pandemic. The new cash injection, led by CPP Investments and Fidelity, takes the company’s valuation to over $2bn — almost three times the price tag given after [...]
Facebook advertising chief issued warning over inflated audience figures April 27, 2021 A top Facebook executive warned colleagues the company must “prepare for the worst” over claims it inflated figures on how many people its adverts could reach, court filings have revealed. Carolyn Everson, vice president of the social media giant’s global business group, wrote in an email in 2017 that the company would be “justifiably” criticised [...]