Amazon to deliver packages by drone ‘within months’ June 6, 2019 Amazon will begin delivering packages by drone within months, fulfilling a goal that has eluded the world’s biggest online retailer for years. The new fully-electric drones take off and land vertically like a helicopter. They use visual, thermal and ultrasonic sensors to fly themselves and can avoid objects in the air and on the ground. [...]
US trade ban on Huawei could slow global 5G rollout, warns Barclays June 6, 2019 The US’s decision to blacklist Chinese tech firm Huawei could slow down the global rollout of 5G, Barclays has warned. In a new report analysts said network carriers in Europe could be hit by heavy costs and technical disruption if they are forced to upgrade existing Huawei 4G technology with gear made by a different [...]
Tech firms urge Tory leadership candidates to back UK’s digital sector June 6, 2019 Tech firms have issued a desperate plea to candidates in the Tory leadership race, urging them to avoid a no-deal Brexit and back the UK’s booming digital sector. Tech UK, which represents more than 900 businesses, has written to the candidates warning of “long-lasting and damaging consequences” of a no-deal Brexit for tech investment and [...]
Autonomy trial: Meg Whitman ‘ready to throw Leo under bus’ for failed merger June 5, 2019 Former HP chief executive Meg Whitman was prepared to throw her predecessor “under the bus“ and blame him for the tech giant’s failed £8.4bn acquisition of Autonomy, a court heard yesterday. In an email to HP’s head of communications in 2012 Whitman said she was “happy to throw Leo under the bus in a tit for tat”. Read more: HP not suing Autonomy [...]
Games round-up: Observation and Heaven’s Vault reviews June 5, 2019 Observation Platform: PC, PS4 Observation is one hell of a proposition: a follow-up to the superlative indie horror game Stories Untold, set in a space station designed by alumni of Alien: Isolation, in which you control a rogue AI inspired by HAL from 2001. And for the most part, it lives up to that promise. [...]
Microsoft and Oracle team up to take on Amazon Web Services June 5, 2019 Microsoft and Oracle will connect their cloud services in an effort to woo big businesses and take on market leader Amazon Web Services (AWS). The combined service will enable users to connect Oracle’s autonomous databases with Microsoft services, such as Azure analytics and artificial intelligence. The new high-speed link between the two company’s data centres [...]
Surface Studio 2 review: Microsoft’s shape-shifting iMac killer June 5, 2019 The Surface Studio 2 is the latest addition to Microsoft’s Surface range, which began in 2012 with a series of hybrid tablet computers. But while those first devices were popular, it wasn’t until the launch of the Surface Book laptop in 2016 that the company really started upping their design game, and stealing Apple’s brushed [...]
Samsung cuts output at its last Chinese smartphone factory June 5, 2019 Samsung will cut production at its last remaining smartphone factory in China, as its loses ground on domestic rivals. Read more: Trump: US and UK will reach an agreement on Huawei The reduction comes just six months after the South Korean firm announced the closure of its factory in Tianjin. Another factory in Shenzhen closed [...]
Apple asks developers to put its new sign-in button above Facebook and Google’s June 5, 2019 Apple is set to ask developers to put its new “Sign in with Apple” button above those of rival services Google and Facebook on iOS apps. Apple unveiled its new login button at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Many users sign in to apps using their Facebook or Google accounts because it saves them [...]
Government must do more to protect UK from cyber attacks, MPs warn June 5, 2019 The government has not done enough to protect the UK from the growing risk of cyber attacks, MPs have warned. The influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today published a report criticising the government for not making sufficient progress in its cybersecurity strategy. Read more: Less than one per cent of cyber crimes lead to prosecution [...]