Why you might never buy a phone again June 8, 2020 | Sponsored In the past few years we’ve ditched DVDs, said goodbye to CDs and realised that owning a car is an expensive inconvenience. Increasingly consumers looking to save time, space and money are streaming, subscribing and leasing their stuff. The next item to lease could be your mobile phone and that’s where London-based startup, www.raylo.com, comes [...]
DEBATE: Should we be worried about the privacy issues around the contact tracing app? June 8, 2020 Should we be worried about the security and privacy issues around the government’s contact tracing app? Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, says YES. The government’s contact tracing strategy raises many questions and offers few answers. Why does the UK government, unlike other democracies, want a state-controlled contact tracing app? Why do they want [...]
Astrazeneca approaches Gilead about potential merger June 8, 2020 British pharmaceuticals giant Astrazeneca has approached US rival Gilead Sciences over a potential merger in what would form the biggest healthcare deal on record, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The Cambridge-based firm contacted Gilead last month in a bid to gauge interest in a possible deal, but did not provide details of any transaction, according to Bloomberg. [...]
Coronavirus: BBC calls for right to publish news directly on Whatsapp June 4, 2020 The BBC should be allowed to publish directly on chat platforms such as Whatsapp to help counter fake news about the Covid-19 crisis, one of the broadcaster’s top bosses has said. Jamie Angus, director of the BBC World Service Group, urged tech giants to open their platforms to trusted news providers as part of their [...]
Apple boss Tim Cook pens open letter on racism after ‘senseless’ George Floyd killing June 4, 2020 Apple chief executive Tim Cook has published an open letter admitting that his company must do more to tackle racism. In the letter, published on Apple’s website, Cook spoke out about the “senseless killing” of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis. “To create change, we have to [...]
Softbank launches $100m minorities startup fund in the wake of George Floyd protests June 4, 2020 Softbank has launched a new startup fund to invest in companies led by “people of colour” in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd. The Japanese technology giant announced the $100m (£80m) Opportunity Growth Fund as other executives of firms speak out over racial inequality. Chief executive Masayoshi Son wrote on Twitter [...]
Channel 4 to air Hollyoaks on Snapchat as it targets young viewers June 4, 2020 Channel 4 today said it will air Hollyoaks on Snapchat as part of a fresh deal to bring more than 300 episodes of its TV programmes to the social media app over the next year. From today the broadcaster will show short-form edits of the soap opera favourite on Snapchat’s Discover section. The Undateables, The [...]
Let hydrogen fuel our vehicles to a greener future June 4, 2020 Almost exactly a year ago, the UK became the first major economy to sign into law an ambition to become carbon neutral by 2050. Getting to “net zero” will be a monumental feat, and will require both behavioural changes and new technological solutions coming to market. Such efforts are essential to protect against the worst [...]
Zoom revenue surges as video conferencing app cashes in on Covid-19 June 3, 2020 Zoom has reported a huge surge in revenue for the first quarter as the video conferencing app enjoys booming demand during the coronavirus lockdown. The California-based company posted revenue of $328.2m (£260.8m) in the first three months of the year, an increase of 169 per cent on the same period in 2019. Zoom also lifted [...]
Twitter’s feud with Trump could be a savvy business move June 3, 2020 The social media founders promised utopias, where speech would be democratised and each of us would be given our voice in the public square. Utopias, however, have always been tricky. The term was coined by Thomas More in his 1516 work of the same name, and it was a pun that More’s learned readers would [...]