Apple shares bounce as Christmas forecast tops estimates October 30, 2019 Apple has predicted a bumper holiday period, easing concerns regarding the impact of the US-China trade war on its overall health. The iPhone maker forecast revenue for the upcoming quarter at between $85.5bn and $89.5bn, signalling a return to annualised growth as it comfortably beats last year’s $84.3bn for the same period. For its fiscal [...]
Twitter pulls all political advertising as voters support regulation October 30, 2019 Twitter tonight announced that all paid-for political advertising would be banned from its platform from 22 November in a move that will pile pressure on Facebook to do the same. Writing on the platform, founder Jack Dorsey wrote: “A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet. Paying for reach [...]
Financial Times owner Nikkei loses $29m in apparent fraud October 30, 2019 Nikkei, the Japanese media giant behind the Financial Times, has lost roughly $29m (£22.5m) in an apparent wire transfer fraud. In a statement issued today, the company said an employee of its US subsidiary had transferred the funds after receiving “fraudulent instructions by a malicious third party who purported to be a management executive of [...]
Amazon ad banned for ‘misleading’ customers into signing up for Prime October 30, 2019 Amazon has been reprimanded by the ad watchdog over concerns the delivery options on its website may have misled people into signing up for Prime. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 10 complaints about a promotion that appeared during the ecommerce giant’s checkout process. Read more: Microsoft beats Amazon to Pentagon’s $10bn cloud computing contract [...]
Facebook abandons appeal against £500,000 Cambridge Analytica fine October 30, 2019 Facebook has dropped its appeal over a £500,000 data protection fine for its Cambridge Analytica scandal. The social media network has made no admission of liability but will no longer contest the maximum fine imposed by UK watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office. Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg appealed the penalty last November after the watchdog issued the [...]
Whatsapp takes Israeli firm to court over cyber attack October 30, 2019 Whatsapp is suing Israel’s NSO Group, saying that the firm was behind cyber-attacks that infected devices with malware. The Facebook-owned messaging service accused the company of sending malicious software to around 1,400 mobile phones for spying purposes. Read more: NSO deny spyware is capable of obtaining individual’s data from cloud Journalists, human rights activists, political [...]
How Amazon is inspiring the next generation of engineering October 30, 2019 When I was a teenager growing up in the 80s, I can clearly remember the “practical” lessons at school, and the satisfaction of building things – like my first ever circuit to power a lightbulb. These moments undoubtedly shaped my choice to become an engineer. Those “eureka” moments are powerful for any young person. When [...]
British satellite giant Inmarsat gets green light for $3.4bn takeover October 29, 2019 The government has given the green light for a $3.4bn (£2.6bn) private equity buyout of British satellite giant Inmarsat. Read more: Satellite firm Inmarsat ditches dividend ahead of $3.4bn private equity takeover Culture secretary Nicky Morgan today said she has waved through the merger after accepting a series of remedies put forward by Inmarsat and [...]
Tiktok owner Bytedance denies having immediate plans for Hong Kong listing October 29, 2019 Bytedance, the $75bn Chinese firm behind short-form video app Tiktok, has denied reports it is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong as soon as next year. The Financial Times has reported that the seven-year-old startup could list in the territory as soon as the first quarter of next year, but Bytedance denied [...]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is fuelling the toxic media discourse she so despises October 29, 2019 At a US congressional hearing last week, representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – the leading light of the 2018 Democratic intake – confronted Facebook’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg was supposedly attending the hearing to discuss libra, Facebook’s nascent digital currency, now facing considerable legislative pressure. In five blistering minutes, Ocasio-Cortez widened her aim, taking him to [...]