AI has not yet spurred a productivity boom, but just you wait January 30, 2019 Nobel laureate Bob Solow pronounced 30 years ago that “you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics”. At the start of the 1980s, the world entered the digital age. Fax machines transformed communications. The introduction of personal computers made high-powered computing available to all. But it took time to work out [...]
Software is the UK’s most popular sector for angel investment, report shows January 30, 2019 Software has retained its position as the top sector for angel investment in the UK, a new report has revealed. Software was the best performing sector for both investment and pitches in 2018, according to an analysis of 100,000 businesses by the Angel Investment Network (AIN). Read more: UK fintech Featurespace raises £25m in latest funding [...]
Social media sites should have legal duty over child safety, says children’s commissioner January 30, 2019 Social media platforms must do more to protect children from harmful material on their platforms, the children’s commissioner has said. Anne Longfield today penned an open letter to social media giants urging them to take legal responsibility for the safety of children on their sites. Read more: Facebook tightens ad rules for EU political parties ahead [...]
Apple soothes investor fears by topping estimates in festive quarter results January 29, 2019 Californian tech giant Apple assuaged investor concerns tonight, having narrowly beaten analyst predictions for its first fiscal quarter of 2019. Reporting for the three months to 31 December, Apple said it took in revenue of $84.3bn (£64.1bn), slightly above consensus estimates of $84bn as collated by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Sales were down five per cent [...]
London-listed video advertisers Taptica and Rhythm One to unite in £260m merger January 29, 2019 Merger talks between two firms in the video advertising sector have reached an advanced stage, which could be valued at £260m. London-listed firms Taptica and Rhythm One are in discussions regarding an all-share tie-up, which would see Taptica take over its competitor, according to a report by Sky News. Taptica shareholders would own a slightly larger [...]
London startup backed by the Mayor and National Grid launches embedded car charging points January 29, 2019 Connected Kerb has today launched its first series of electric car charging points fully embedded into the road's curbside. Built into Borough Road in Southwark, the launch was supported by Southwark Council, Virgin Media and National Grid. The move comes after the London startup won the Mayor's Award for Urban Innovation last year. Users of electric cars [...]
Apple sales come to the fore as big tech firms brace for crunch results January 29, 2019 Silicon Valley will be preparing for market instability this week as several members of the so-called Faang grouping gear up to report quarterly results for the recent festive period. Three members of the big tech club – which includes Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google – will publish figures amid rising speculation that their time [...]
This major iPhone bug turns Facetime into a privacy invasion tool January 29, 2019 Apple has come under fire for a Facetime bug that enables people to spy on call recipients without their knowledge. The security flaw, discovered by 9to5Mac yesterday, gives Facetime callers access to both the microphone and front-facing camera of the recipient while the call is still ringing, according to reports. Read more: Facebook to integrate Messenger into [...]
Facebook’s popularity among children wanes as social media safety concerns deepen January 29, 2019 Facebook’s popularity among children slipped in 2018 as more young people look to Instagram for their social media updates, according to an Ofcom report. While Facebook remains the most popular social media site among 12 to 15-year-olds, only 31 per cent of people in this age range named it as their main site or app, [...]
Philips announces €1.5bn share buyback after sales boost January 29, 2019 Technology company Philips today said it boosted like-for-like sales five per cent last year to €18.1bn (£15.7bn). The Amsterdam-headquartered technology company said it also grew sales five per cent in the fourth quarter to €5.6bn. The company said its adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (Ebita) improved 100 basis points to 13.1 per cent [...]