Uber goes on a charm offensive by offering drivers free English courses and tips on how to make more money February 16, 2017 Uber is making efforts to improve its app for UK drivers, as part of a new charm offensive, including offering free English courses. Transport for London (TfL) delayed its new English tests until September, but Uber has said it will offer free courses for its drivers ahead of then. The ride-hailing app will also now allow [...]
It turns out Snapchat’s IPO valuation is lower than we expected February 16, 2017 The company behind Snapchat has set a valuation for itself ahead of its IPO – although the figure is towards the lower end of expectations. In documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission today, Snap, Inc said it plans to sell 200m class A shares at between $14 and $16, which it expects to generate [...]
Private equity giant Blackstone buys majority stake in London technology company Cloudreach February 16, 2017 Private equity giant Blackstone has announced a deal to acquire a majority stake in a London cloud technology company. Cloudreach provides cloud computing products and services for companies including BP, Pearson and Hearst Corporation. Founded in 2009, the company now has offices in seven countries and has a presence in both Europe and North America. [...]
Scientists have found a super-easy way to cut the number of sick days you take February 16, 2017 If your team is looking a bit peaky at the moment, or you can't shift that lingering cold, there might be an easy way to restore health, scientists have found: Vitamin D supplements. A new study, published in the British Medical Journal, has suggested taking daily or weekly Vitamin D supplements could be more effective than the [...]
Feeling the burden of social care and the NHS? Crowdfunding can save us February 16, 2017 Earlier this month, a crowfunding platform launched solely to raise money to create adult-only games. This week, teachers from schools in Portland, Oregon turned to crowdfunding to help close gaps in funding for classroom equipment. And last week, we ran an interview on this page with Julia Salasky, the founder and chief executive of CrowdJustice. Her [...]
Seven-year-old girl asks Google for a job – and gets a reply from its boss February 16, 2017 In days gone by, parents might have held ambitions for their children to become doctors, lawyers or teachers. Nowadays, it's all about getting a foot in the door of one of the big tech firms. With competition for these roles being so fierce however, it takes an application with a difference to attract the notice [...]
Amazon Prime revenues reach £5.2bn February 15, 2017 Amazon has published the figures for its Amazon Prime service for the first time, revealing that revenues for the subscription service have hit $6.4bn (£5.2bn). This means the service, which allows customers to access premium video content and faster product deliveries, lags behind Amazon's retail and web divisions. In 2016, Amazon Retail brought in $91.4bn [...]
The HTC U Ultra is a 5.7-inch phablet with a dedicated notification screen and a whole lot of power February 15, 2017 HTC says that the design of its new phone is inspired by water. And to be fair, it does look wet and shiny, like a boy in a Hockney painting emerging from a swimming pool, skin glistening in the California sunlight. The U Ultra’s all-glass, all-the-time aesthetic gives it a slick and glossy style that [...]
Sniper Elite 4: As unflinchingly ultra-violent as this World War Two shooter series gets February 15, 2017 World War 2 is a well-represented setting in video games, but Sniper Elite 4 is proof that the generic isn’t always boring. This four-quel transports the series from the deserts of Africa to the towns, vineyards, forests and docklands of sunny northern Italy, where you’ll embark on all sorts of different missions, typically involving shooting [...]
Amazon’s delivery drones could one day be dropping packages by parachute February 15, 2017 Amazon has filed another very interesting patent. At the end of last year, it was revealed Amazon had filed a patent for a flying airship warehouse designed to speed up drone deliveries. As you do. And now the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted the e-commerce giant a patent for a new way to deliver [...]