Playtech shares rise as it plots €40m buyback after drop in profits February 21, 2019 British gambling software provider Playtech saw shares rise almost nine per cent today as it announced a €40m (£34.7m) share buyback scheme after full-year profits plummeted. Read more: Paddy Power buys stake in Georgia's biggest online betting firm The figures Total revenue for 2018 grew 54 per cent year on year to €1.24bn. But net profit slumped 50 per [...]
Huawei takes ground from Apple and Samsung in smartphone war February 21, 2019 Tech giants Apple and Samsung are losing their grip on the smartphone market to cheaper rivals such as China’s Huawei, as the sector looks increasingly trapped in a slowdown. Research by consultancy firm Gartner found global smartphone sales stalled in the final quarter of last year year, growing just 0.1 per cent from the end [...]
Still a nation of innovators: Nurturing the talent to power Britain’s AI revolution February 21, 2019 The UK has been a leading light in the development and testing of machine intelligence since Alan Turing’s pioneering work during the Second World War. Now, we are living in a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is a reality in our everyday lives. It’s already benefiting customers, and from advanced manufacturing to financial services, almost every [...]
Kevin Hart, the Oscars, and social media – don’t leave any skeletons in your online closet February 21, 2019 The Academy Awards and drama go hand in hand, but this year’s choice of host dominated the news for all the wrong reasons. In December, homophobic tweets made by the chosen host, American comedian Kevin Hart, resurfaced from the late 2000s. The Academy offered him an ultimatum: apologise or step down. He went for the [...]
Fintech startup Revolut pushes ministers for fast-track tech visas February 21, 2019 London will fall behind as a world-leading fintech hub if the government does not prioritise incoming tech talent, the chief executive of Revolut warned today. Nikolay Storonsky, a Russian native who started digital bank Revolut in 2015, called on ministers to introduce a fast-tracked visa process for technology workers, particularly within software development and data [...]
UK AI sector funding hits record £1bn for 2018, almost the same as the rest of Europe combined February 20, 2019 Investment into the UK’s artificial intelligence (AI) sector from venture capital firms reached a record $1.3bn (£998m) last year, almost as much as the rest of Europe combined. The new figures from Dealroom represent a fourfold increase in five years, up from a total of $200m in 2014. In comparison, French AI startups raised $400m last [...]
Best travel gadgets 2019: Here’s the essential holiday tech you shouldn’t leave home without February 20, 2019 Nintendo Switch £279, nintendo.co.uk More essential for surviving a long-haul flight than an oxygen mask and a couple of the engines, the Switch is the ideal way to while away a couple of hours in the sky. Nintendo’s hit console has become its most beloved since the Wii, and its growing library of games includes [...]
Accountancy funding platform Capitalise secures £3.5m Series A investment backed by QED Investors and Hambro Perks February 20, 2019 Accountancy funding platform Capitalise has closed a £3.5m Series A investment round led by US venture capital firm QED Investors and supported by existing investor Hambro Perks. Capitalise, which works with 105 institutional partners, will use the funding to expand the company’s cloud product for advisers to “navigate the ever growing market of financial products [...]
UK telecoms operators must strengthen cyber security to prevent cyber attacks, says top spy boss February 20, 2019 The UK needs higher standards of cyber security across the telecoms sector, a top spy boss said today, insisting no conclusion has been reached about the use of Huawei’s 5G equipment. Speaking at a cyber security conference in Brussels this afternoon, Ciaran Martin, head of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said the telecoms market must [...]
Celebrity marketing fees fall by two-thirds in two years amid shift to micro-influencers February 20, 2019 The amount of money marketers are willing to splurge on high-profile celebrity influencers has plunged by two-thirds over the last two years, a new survey has revealed. Data published by Rakuten Marketing shows UK marketers are willing to fork out £25,000 for a single post by a Facebook influencer, down from £75,000 in 2017. Read [...]