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 [...]
Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing expands into fintech as driver regulation rears its head January 2, 2019 Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing has expanded into financial services, as fresh domestic regulation threatened to put a dampener on its driver numbers. The firm has today launched a suite of financial products, including crowdfunded health insurance, wealth management and lending, all aimed at short-term workers on temporary contracts. The move comes after Didi announced a [...]
Tesla shares fall as it cuts car prices and misses production estimates January 2, 2019 Shares in Tesla have fallen more than 10 per cent as markets opened this afternoon, after the electric vehicle manufacturer said it would be cutting the prices of its cars by $2,000 (£1,586). The carmaker was forced to partially absorb the cost of changes to a US green tax credit for electric vehicles, which almost halved yesterday to [...]
Android apps send user data to Facebook without consent, report shows January 2, 2019 Almost two dozen popular Android apps automatically send user data to Facebook as soon as they are opened in a potential breach of data protection laws, a new report by Privacy International has revealed. An analysis of 34 Android apps showed 61 per cent of apps automatically transfer data to Facebook, even if the user [...]
Back to the future: UK scientists complete testing of AI-powered autonomous Mars robot January 2, 2019 To boldly go where no other robot has gone before, the UK Space Agency have finished testing a Mars rover that will be able to make its own decisions on where to explore, enabling it to travel much further than existing robots. The Martian robot will use artificial intelligence (AI) software, developed by researchers at King's College London [...]
Playtech pays €28m to settle Israeli tax audit after shares shaken by Italy gambling tax January 2, 2019 Betting software firm Playtech has agreed to pay €28m (£25.2m) to settle a run-in with Israeli tax authorities. Israel had audited the company’s accounts between 2008 and 2017, with the additional tax payment covering this period. The company will face no penalties once it makes the payment in the next 30 days. The news comes shortly [...]
Musk’s Space X finally launches first US national security space mission December 23, 2018 A Space X Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched in the US this afternoon, after four successive failed attempts to carry out the company's first national security space mission. The rocket, which was carrying a satellite worth roughly $500m (£393.7m) built by Lockheed Martin, blasted off from Florida just before 2pm GMT. The satellite's launch was initially planned [...]
China rebuffs accusations of major cyber hacks on UK and US December 21, 2018 China has said it strongly opposes "slanderous" accusations made by foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, the US and other nations, which criticised the country for utilising cyber hacks for "economic espionage". The UK government yesterday said a group known as APT 10 acted on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security to carry out a "malicious" cyber [...]
Delivery Hero sells off German operations in €930m deal December 21, 2018 The world's biggest online food delivery firm Delivery Hero has agreed to partially sell its operations in Germany to Dutch rival Takeaway.com, in a deal valued at €930m (£838.3m). The tie-up includes businesses owned by Delivery Hero in the region, including Deliveroo-style app Foodora, Lieferheld and Pizza.de. It brings to an end the expensive battle for dominance of [...]