Apple supply chain sinks into red on coronavirus fears February 18, 2020 Shares in Apple slipped more than two per cent in afternoon trading while its suppliers around the globe were dragged into the red after the tech giant warned the coronavirus outbreak would impact its quarterly targets. The iPhone maker last night told investors that it would not meet its revenue forecast of between $63bn (£48bn) [...]
Union slams Amazon over ‘hellish’ warehouse conditions February 18, 2020 More than 600 serious injuries or near misses have been logged at Amazon warehouses in the past three years, according to the latest figures from GMB Union. Between 2016/17 and 2018/19 a total of 622 reports have been made from Amazon warehouses to the Health and Safety Executive, the union said as it called for [...]
Who do you think you are? A conscious AI workforce could lead to a world of slaves February 18, 2020 With artificial intelligence (AI) promising to make huge numbers of people redundant across a swathe of industries, there’s been much discussion of “the world without work”. Some see in that a utopia, in which automation provides us all with limitless free time; others, a nightmarish end to human dignity. But if the machines do take [...]
Klarna and Stripe investor Atomico launches fifth tech fund at $820m February 18, 2020 London venture capital giant Atomico has today revealed the close of its fifth fund, aimed at young European tech startups, at $820m (£630.2m). The investor has previously backed global companies such as Klarna, Stripe and Supercell, as well as British success stories such as Farmdrop, Habito and Graphcore. The closure of Atomico V brings the [...]
The privacy paradox: How we got trapped in a data dystopia February 18, 2020 One of the less encouraging reports to come out of the tech world this month was that Facebook, everyone’s favourite villainous corporation, knew very well about the colossal security flaw that let hackers rob personal data from millions of users long before the breach itself. Facebook employees have said that they felt “guilt” and “hurt” [...]
Apple says it will miss revenue targets because of coronavirus impact February 17, 2020 Apple said today it will not meet its quarterly revenue guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak which has affected production and demand in China. The company had previously forecast $63bn (£48bn) to $67bn in revenue for the quarter ending in March. It did not give a revised forecast today. Apple said that despite the fact [...]
City grandee Michael Spencer among losers after collapse of startup Laundrapp February 17, 2020 City grandee Michael Spencer has lost millions after a laundry startup he was a key backer for went into administration on Friday. Laundrapp was sold in a pre-pack administration on Friday after running out of cash. Spencer’s private investment group IPGL was a cornerstone investor in a £4m 2015 funding round in Laundrapp in which [...]
Jeff Bezos launches climate change fund with $10bn donation February 17, 2020 Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos has revealed he will be committing $10bn to the cause of fighting climate change, with the launch of the Bezos Earth Fund. The billionaire said in an Instagram post the fund would be used to provide grants to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), scientists and activists — or “any effort [...]
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales on Nintendo Switch review: Gwent is back and it’s never felt so good February 17, 2020 Gwent, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. The Witcher 3 is one of the truly great open-world games, mind-boggling in its scope and masterful in its execution. But there were times when it felt like elaborate padding around the in-game pastime, Gwent. I clocked over 300 hours in this [...]
Former Amazon executive admits turning off Alexa for ‘private moments’ February 17, 2020 A former senior Amazon executive has admitted to turning off his Alexa whenever he wants some privacy due to concerns the company was listening in on his conversations. Robert Frederick, who served as senior manager of Amazon Web Services, told BBC Panorama: “I don’t want certain conversations to be heard by humans. Conversations that I [...]