Putting the “art” in startup: UK art marketplace Artfinder raises $2.2m December 14, 2016 UK art startup Artfinder said today it has raised $2.2m (£1.7m) – some of which came from the man behind the Amazon Echo. The company, which bills itself as an art marketplace, said it had brought on a new VC investor, Oxford Capital – and the round was also backed by William Tunstall-Pedoe, the Cambridge AI [...]
The 53 countries where you get better mobile signal than the UK December 14, 2016 Finding a lack of mobile coverage irksome? Perhaps it's time to move country. The UK's 4G coverage is actually worse than you'll find in Albania, Peru and Morocco. In fact, an astonishing 53 countries around the world have better signal according to a report calling on the government to push for better access across the country, or [...]
Pokemon didn’t make people Go, according to scientists December 14, 2016 Pokémon Go was undoubtedly the biggest fad of 2016. Within half an hour of the game's release, half a million people had downloaded it on Android devices and by the end of the day it was at the top of the UK app charts. As the craze took hold of the nation, businesses tried to cash [...]
Move over Trump and Brexit: These are the things we Googled most in 2016 December 14, 2016 It wasn't Donald Trump and the EU referendum which elicited our curiosity the most in 2016, it turns out (despite how it might have felt). While the two biggest political events of the year ranked highly in Google's year in search, which compiles the top most searched trends, neither were the biggest topic that occupied our [...]
Waymo: Full speed ahead as Google spins off self-driving car business December 13, 2016 Google is stepping up a gear with its self-driving car project, spinning it out into a separate business it will call Waymo. It will now come out of the shadows at what is known as Google X's "moonshiots" and under the umbrella of parent company Alphabet. "It's an indication of the maturity of our technology. We can [...]
British Gas is blaming ultra high definition 4K TVs for adding £82m to energy bills by 2019 December 13, 2016 They may be turning into a must-have item, but energy inefficient 4K TVs are set to add £82m to UK consumers’ electricity bills by 2019, British Gas has warned. The ultra high definition (HD) TV sets have this year single-handedly caused the first rise in household energy bills from watching TV since 2011, preliminary findings [...]
The price of bitcoin has hit highs not seen since 2014 December 13, 2016 The price of bitcoin has hit a near three year high as global and political uncertainty continue to make the cryptocurrency an increasingly attractive safe haven for investors. The price of bitcoin versus the dollar surpassed its 2016 high of $781.31, reaching highs not seen since early 2014 and creeping closer toward the $800 mark. It hit a high of [...]
The Last Guardian review: 10 years in the making, Fumito Ueda’s new game is a flawed work of genius December 13, 2016 Playing The Last Guardian is like booting up a fondly half-remembered game from your childhood. Almost 10 years in the making, Japanese designer Fumito Ueda’s follow-up to his elegiac PS2 titles Ico and Shadow of the Colossus comes with a monumental weight of expectation; its protracted development – only snippets of which were glimpsed over the years [...]
Apple’s wireless Airpod headphones are finally here (with delivery before Christmas) December 13, 2016 They're here! The biggest leap forward in Apple's headphone technology has finally arrived, with the wireless Airpods now available to order on the UK Apple Store. They're priced at £159 with deliveries in London being estimated to take place as early as 19 December – just in time for the crucial Christmas shopping season. Read [...]
Emoji translator is probably the most millennial job you’ll ever see December 13, 2016 We've had lego model builder, doing social media for the Queen and, of course, there was the famous "best job in the world" living on an island paradise in Australia, but now we think we've found the most millennial job in the world – emoji translator. Those who don't know their aubergines from their see no evil [...]