Coronavirus: What is the NHS contact-tracing app and how does it work? May 5, 2020 The eagerly-awaited NHS contact-tracing app has been rolled out for the first time today, with key workers on the Isle of Wight the first to trial the new technology. The smartphone app, which is available to healthcare and council workers from today and the rest of the island from Thursday, is expected to be rolled [...]
Investment firms deploying new tech are the most trusted among investors May 4, 2020 Investment firms that are deploying new technology are the most trusted by both institutional and retail investors, according to new research. Nearly two-thirds of institutional investors and nearly half of retail investors with an adviser trust their investment firm because of an increased use of technology. There is growing interest in the use of artificial [...]
Startups’ coronavirus Future Fund is a ‘bad deal’ for founders May 4, 2020 The government’s flagship support scheme for startups hit by coronavirus, the Future Fund, has been described as “simply not good enough” and “a bad deal” by one of the UK’s leading tech entrepreneurs. Priya Lakhani, founder and CEO of education technology company Century, said the terms under which money could be accessed through the scheme are [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Priya Lakhani OBE May 4, 2020 In this episode, Christian is joined by Priya Lakhani, founder and CEO of Century – an AI-powered education platform. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Priya, who served as a business adviser to the coalition government, gives a candid and forthright assessment of the government’s support packages for businesses. [...]
UK tech firms suffer worst quarter since financial crisis May 1, 2020 British tech firms have posted their worst quarterly performance since the global financial crisis as the Covid-19 crisis stunts growth, new figures have revealed. Business activity across the tech sector declined for the first time in almost eight years, according to the latest KPMG UK Tech Monitor index. The headline index dropped to 47.1 from [...]
Amazon and Apple earnings: Covid-19 crashes the tech titan party May 1, 2020 It’s been a busy week for Silicon Valley as the major US tech firms lined up to report earnings for the first quarter. Google, Facebook and Twitter all delivered upbeat figures, proving that social media services are well-placed to weather the Covid-19 storm. But the mood was dampened somewhat last night as coronavirus costs weighed [...]
Twitter posts rise in revenue despite Covid-19 advertising hit April 30, 2020 Twitter today posted a rise in revenue for the first quarter despite the lingering threat of a slowdown in advertising caused by the coronavirus crisis. The social media platform reported revenue of $808m (£646m) in the first three months of the year, up three per cent on the same period in 2019 and ahead of [...]
Google removes 2.7bn bad ads as it launches Covid-19 taskforce April 30, 2020 Google removed roughly 2.7bn so-called bad ads last year as the tech giant ramps up its efforts to block misleading and malicious campaigns actors on its platform. The search engine’s crackdown, which equates to 5,000 ads per minute, is an increase on the 2.3bn adverts removed in 2018. In addition, Google suspended nearly 1m advertiser [...]
Facebook earnings: Shares leap despite lowest growth since 2012 April 30, 2020 Facebook’s shares jumped almost 10 per cent in after hours trading following a surprisingly upbeat set of first quarter results from the tech giant. Following Alphabet’s figures earlier this week, all eyes were on Facebook to see how the Covid-19 crisis has hit social media. Here are three key takeaways from the numbers: 1. The [...]
SoftBank warns of steeper losses as it takes hit on WeWork April 30, 2020 SoftBank has warned of further losses on investments outside its Vision Fund, piling pressure on founder Masayoshi Son’s bet on the struggling WeWork. The Japanese company widened its forecast for a net loss in the year ended in March from 750bn to 900m yen (£6.7bn). SoftBank said it expects to lose 700bn yen on a [...]