From smartphones to smart homes: O2 launches subscription connected home service September 1, 2016 O2 is going from smartphones to smart homes with the launch of a new service that will let users operate their heating and lighting from their mobile. O2 Home will also offer connected plugs to control any device, cameras, intruder alarms and more all controlled via an app from whereever you are and which can react to your return home [...]
WhatsApp only SIM card comes to the UK September 1, 2016 Telecoms startup FreedomPop has launched the first ever WhatsApp only mobile SIM in the UK. The SIM card gives free, unlimited data when using the popular Facebook-owned messaging app and offers an additional 200 megabytes of general data, as well as 100 voice minutes per month. Earlier this week FreedomPop made headlines when Russian billionaire [...]
Why Dappad online clothing delivery service is a genuinely impressive style tool August 31, 2016 We ordered a hamper from online clothing delivery service Dappad and this is what happened… What? Dappad is one of a host of online clothing delivery companies that sends a hamper full of designer and high-street threads to your home or office: keep what you like and send the rest back (for free). How does [...]
Ireland pushes Apple appeal decision back to Friday August 31, 2016 Ireland's government is yet to reach a consensus on whether to appeal yesterday's European Commission ruling on Apple's tax bill, it was revealed this evening. The cabinet will now meet on Friday to discuss the issue further. The European Competition Commission has presented the technology giant with a tax bill for €13bn (£11.1bn), and dragged the Irish government into the [...]
A major insurance firm just joined this blockchain consortium August 31, 2016 The blockchain consortium R3 has signed up yet another new member, this time the major US insurance firm MetLife. The addition brings the number of members to more than 60 and it joins the likes of the biggest banks such as Barclays, HSBC and Goldman Sachs. The insurer will work with the other financial services [...]
Uber’s going electric in London August 31, 2016 Uber is launching a fleet of fully electric cars across London in a bid to reduce levels of pollution in the capital ahead of another potential clash with the city's transport regulators. Already well-known for its hybrid Toyota Priuses, 50 electric powered cars will hit the city's roads over the next month with potential plans for hundreds more [...]
10 London startups named the hottest in Europe August 31, 2016 Dinner delivery startup Deliveroo and and an artificial intelligence company acquired by Twitter have both been named among the hottest startups in Europe to emerge from London. Top entrepreneurs and investors from across Europe have chosen the startups, along with a further eight, to compile a top 10 list of the capital's newest tech companies making a name for themselves, [...]
Watch out Uber, now Google’s getting into ride-sharing August 31, 2016 Google is getting in on the ride-sharing action with the expansion of a pilot feature helping commuters catch a ride from a driver heading in the same direction and who has a spare seat. Google will use Waze, a real-time mapping and navigation startup it snapped three years ago, to connect those driving in San Francisco with potential passengers. The tech company has already been testing [...]
Amazon’s Dash button service launches in the UK today: Prime users can press a button to order condoms, dishwasher tablets, cat food and more August 31, 2016 Amazon has today launched its Dash button service in the UK, meaning British shoppers can order essential household items such as loo roll, dishwasher tablets, condoms and cat food using a physical button placed in the home. Launched in the US last year, Dash buttons are dongle-sized devices that connect to your home wi-fi network [...]
Brussels and Washington DC must end this silly standoff over taxes and fines August 31, 2016 Transatlantic relations were hardly flourishing even before Apple was slammed with a €13,000,000,000 tax bill by the European Commission yesterday. Such is the awkward standoff between Washington DC and Brussels that the move was pre-empted in America last week, with the US Treasury accusing the EC of becoming a “supranational tax authority”. The tax tiff [...]