The world will never go plastic-free – and nor should we want to July 12, 2018 The City of London (which I represent as a common councillor for Bishopsgate) has launched a new campaign – “Plastic-Free City” – to reduce waste. Specifically, the aim is reduce the use of single-use plastics in City properties, and more widely, through a public information programme. Reducing waste and encouraging better choices are all good [...]
Sony Xperia XZ Premium review: A premium device that puts Sony back in the game July 12, 2018 The Sony Xperia XZ Premium looks like the futuristic phone your younger self imagined you’d be using in the year 2017. It’s huge and silver (well, at least the silver version is) and resembles something an alien might insert into a glowing slot to power up his or her spaceship. While other phones try to [...]
Huawei P8 Lite (2017) review: The best phone you can buy in this price bracket July 12, 2018 Are you sitting comfortably? Then let’s begin untangling Huawei’s utterly incomprehensible naming conventions. The Huawei P8 Lite (2017) is the updated version of the original P8 Lite, which is the stripped-down budget version of Huawei’s 2015 flagship, the Huawei P8. The P8 and old P8 Lite were followed by the P9 and P9 Lite, themselves [...]
The UK tops the charts for venture capital funding in Europe after a bumper second quarter July 12, 2018 The UK has regained its title as the top spot in Europe for venture capital investment in the second quarter of 2018. A total of £1.55bn of venture capital money was invested into UK businesses in the second quarter, spanning across 244 deals with artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity and biotech as the most popular sectors [...]
Going for gold: London fintech Glint is heading to the US and Japan, and will be raising £15m to do it July 12, 2018 Glint, a London startup that lets you spend and save in physical gold, is looking to raise a £15m Series A to help bolster its target of launching in the US and Japan by the end of the year. First launched in the UK in November last year, Glint offers its users a pre-paid Mastercard [...]
The cost of a major data breach for businesses hits £263m, almost doubling in just five years July 11, 2018 The hidden costs of a data breach to businesses globally has risen by 6.4 per cent in the last year, with the average total cost of a major breach hitting £263m. The amount of so-called mega breaches – cases that involve more than 1m records being lost – have nearly doubled over the last five [...]
Micro Focus share price slips but revenue decline slows July 11, 2018 Software company Micro Focus has said today that its revenue is not declining as fast as previously announced. On a constant currency basis revenue fell eight per cent for the six months ended 30 April 2018, rather than previous guidance of a nine to 12 per cent fall. Read more: FTSE 100 softech Micro Focus' [...]
Nest Hello video doorbell review: A brilliant but expensive solution to all your front door needs July 11, 2018 My Victorian terrace, built in 1897 by Thomas Courtenay Warner, is an increasingly absurd mish-mash of crumbling architecture and modern technology. The single-pane sash windows keep out neither sound nor heat, but if I want to change the temperature on the thermostat from 3,000 miles away, that’s not a problem. Wind howls up through [...]
Legal case against former Apple employee reveals trade secrets on its self-driving car technology July 11, 2018 Criminal charges filed against an ex-Apple employee for stealing trade secrets on the company's self-driving car technology have revealed some interesting new details on what Apple is up to. Xiaolang Zhang was charged by a US federal court over evidence submitted by Apple that Zhang accepted a position at Chinese rival Xmotors, and downloaded the [...]
Going to miss the RAF July centenary flypast while you’re at work? There’s an app for that July 10, 2018 If you're not going to make it to Buckingham Palace to watch the Royal Air Force (RAF) centenary flypast on Tuesday, there's now an app to help you watch it in augmented reality from wherever you are in the world. The RAF100 AR Flypast app features 35 different types of aircraft spanning the RAF's entire [...]