Samsung must now x-ray batteries for its Note 7 phone in South Korea September 22, 2016 South Korean technology giant Samsung has been told it needs to x-ray new batteries for its Note 7 phone to make sure they’re safe. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards made the order as Samsung prepares to resume sales of the smartphone. Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, announced a global recall of at least [...]
Newspapers warn over threat to democracy of Google and Facebook taking advertising revenues September 22, 2016 National newspaper publishers have warned the government that news aggregators like Google and Facebook are threatening the UK’s democracy by taking their advertising revenue. The News Media Association (NMA) said in a letter to ministers that it is becoming “increasingly difficult” to fund quality journalism, with advertising revenues at news organisations plummeting. Read more: Guardian [...]
Yahoo hack hit 500m user accounts – putting pressure on its Verizon deal September 22, 2016 Internet company Yahoo has revealed a massive data breach that compromised as many as 500m of its users' personal details. Yahoo said it believes the hack – which happened in 2014 – was carried out by a state-sponsored actor. No financial information is thought to have been compromised. Read more: Will Yahoo ever be a verb? Account information, including names, [...]
More staff than ever are working on fintech at the City regulator September 22, 2016 The City regulator's team of staff working with fintech startups has grown tenfold in the last two years, it's been revealed, as it increasingly looks at the implications of technology on finance. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Project Innovate scheme, which kicked off in 2014, now has more than 20 staff focused on the crossover [...]
Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan pledge to cure all disease September 22, 2016 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have announced their next big project – probably the biggest challenge they could embark on. The billionaire tech whizz said last night that the next major focus for their charity, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, is to help scientists to "cure, prevent or manage all diseases" by the [...]
This new proptech startup wants to help generation rent buy their first home September 22, 2016 Zoopla and top investor Robin Klein are backing a new property technology venture designed to help first time buyers hop on to the incredibly difficult first rung of the property ladder. Wannabe homeowners can invest in a property Isa with Bricklane.com which launches today. Cash will go into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), which will invest in rental [...]
No respite for ISPs as one in four customers say they’re willing to switch broadband provider this year September 22, 2016 Competition in the broadband market is showing no signs of slowing, despite the regulator complaining customers could be finding switching too difficult. According to new study from big four accountant EY as many as one in four broadband customers are willing to switch provider this year. That's up from just over one in five (21 per cent) in [...]
Apple Watch Series 2: repositioned as a fitness watch, it begins to make a lot more sense September 21, 2016 Smartwatches haven’t exactly set the world on fire. After 18 months, the Apple Watch – a product that once seemed like a plausible successor (or at least an indispensable companion) to the iPhone – is still decidedly niche. This requires some qualification, however: it dominates its market – about a third of smartwatches are made [...]
iPhone 7 review: A brilliant handset but one that hints at even bigger things to come September 21, 2016 There were no queues around the block for the UK launch of the iPhone 7. Flash floods were a mitigating factor (plus the fact the annual pilgrimage has been on the wane for a couple of years), but I suspect it’s also because it looks so damn similar to the last one. The aluminium chassis [...]
The UK is second in the world for tech startup exits September 21, 2016 More tech startups in the UK went public or were acquired than in any other country in the world behind only the US at the start of the year, new research reveals. The high-profile acquisitions of Swiftkey by Microsoft and Magic Pony by Twitter helped send tech merger and acquisition (M&A) surging across Europe. Read more: Why companies like [...]