Mobile data use increases tenfold while landline phone use falls by half January 5, 2019 Landline telephone use has been halved in the last six years while mobile data has increased tenfold during the same period, according to a study by Ofcom. The number of minutes of calls made from a landline has decreased dramatically, from 103bn in 2012 to 54bn in 2017. During the same period the number of mobile [...]
Huawei punishes staff after Happy New Year tweet sent from an iPhone January 4, 2019 Huawei staff have reportedly been punished after Twitter followers were wished a happy new year from the official account via an iPhone. The tweet was posted on New Year’s Day, wishing followers a "Happy #2019", but the message included automated text telling users it came “via Twitter for iPhone”. While the company promptly deleted the tweet, [...]
Alexa: Tell me why I can’t have a flying car like in Blade Runner January 4, 2019 Bad news: it’s 2019, and that means we are now living through the year in which the original Blade Runner film was set. Released in 1982, Blade Runner has some interesting ideas about 2019. Yes, it’s a post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape where sentient bioengineered robots (“replicants”) must be hunted down against a backdrop of a dying [...]
The internet is a positive force, not a menace to be controlled January 4, 2019 There is no doubt that the internet industry faces many challenges. The same tools that allow information to pass from one user to another, or to join a business with a customer on the other side of the world, can be put to bad uses by bad actors. But amid the torrents of negative headlines [...]
China successfully lands space probe on the dark side of the moon January 3, 2019 The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has successfully landed a lunar probe on the far side of the moon, transmitting the hidden half's first ever up-close image. The moon is tidally locked to Earth and rotates at the same rate as it orbits our planet, meaning we never see most of the so-called dark side. While [...]
Plans for tiny robot workers to fix Britain’s underground pipes get £7m government backing January 3, 2019 Tiny robots the size of a human fingernail will one day swim and crawl along Britain’s vast network of underground pipes, working in teams to carry out repairs in place of people. The government is to plough £7m into the creation of the micro robots, which it hopes will one day perform infrastructure maintenance work on pipes, [...]
Cooked: Apple shares spiral as investors fight back in securities fraud lawsuit January 3, 2019 Shares in Apple opened 8.6 per cent down on Wall Street this afternoon, after a shock revenue warning from chief executive Tim Cook caused shivers across global markets and exchanges. In an open letter to investors published last night, Apple cut its revenue forecast for the busy Christmas quarter by 7.8 per cent. The tech giant is [...]
Apple’s sales warning hits European stocks as it places the blame on China January 3, 2019 Apple sent shockwaves through global markets last night after it issued a second consecutive warning against its sales performance, causing suppliers' stocks, European markets and emerging currencies to spiral. Chief executive Tim Cook cut Apple's quarterly sales target late last night, blaming weak iPhone sales in China and fewer customers upgrading their iPhones in an open [...]
Drones, cybercrime, AR, and robots – the tech trends to watch out for in 2019 January 3, 2019 It is finally 2019, and I can’t wait to see what surprises the technology industry has in store for us. What should we keep our eyes peeled for over the next 12 months? To whet your appetite about the future, I asked the experts for their predictions for the top tech trends of this year. Devious [...]
Netflix to appoint former Activision exec as new finance chief January 2, 2019 Netflix has appointed a new finance chief to its executive team, filling a four-month-long hole left by the role's former occupant David Wells. The streaming service said it has hired Spencer Neumann for the position, a veteran media executive who was most recently the chief financial officer for gaming firm Activision Blizzard. As first reported by Reuters, Neumann [...]