What3Words co-founder Chris Sheldrick explains how his company is creating Mongolian addresses and helping the UN in disaster zones September 19, 2016 Back in November 2014, advertising executive Rory Sutherland called What3Words “the best navigation idea [he’d] seen since the tube map”. The idea is simple: take the globe, divide it into 57 trillion 3m by 3m squares and ascribe three common words to each square. To cover the globe, What3Words needs to use 40,000 words – [...]
Getting VC funding right: Why you need to think about pre-built networks, IP and evolving the whole team September 19, 2016 So you've built the next tech unicorn. The platform is solid, your product fits the market and all you need now is scale. However, someone needs to help pay for all the free sugary drinks, table tennis tables and office space that the army of growth hackers, developers and sales people are going to need. [...]
London’s black cab drivers are considering a legal challenge against accepting card payments September 18, 2016 Cab drivers are considering whether to launch a legal challenge over the mandatory introduction of card payments in black taxis across London, as they put on hold plans for protests on the capital's roads this week. Passengers will be able to pay for journeys by credit or debit card under rules due to come into force by the end of [...]
Knock to UK tech as Microsoft to close Skype’s London office September 17, 2016 Microsoft is set to shut its Skype office in London, putting 400 jobs at risk, the Financial Times reports. Skype counts among one of Europe's most valuable unicorns – tech firms valued over $1bn (£768m) – and the closure will come as a blow to the UK tech industry just as it comes to terms [...]
Everyone’s going crazy for the new Apple iPhone – apart from Londoners, who were wet and stuck on trains September 16, 2016 The newest iPhone has been released and, predictably, everyone is going crazy for it. Well, almost. Apple outlets throughout the world have been swamped by eager customers – with some saying they have queued since yesterday to get their hands on Apple's newest smartphone. But London's response has been rather limp, by comparison. This morning Reporters gathered [...]
Samsung Galaxy Note 7: US authorities launch formal recall of fire-catching and exploding smartphones September 16, 2016 US safety authorities have launched a formal recall of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones after reports that faulty batteries led to fires and explosions in the devices. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was recalling the phones "because this product presents such a serious fire hazard" and urged consumers to take advantage of the [...]
Is Twitter becoming a broadcaster? September 15, 2016 Twitter is moving heavily into the broadcast space, making a bet that its strength lies in real-time news. The joy of Twitter has always been its stream of pithy commentary around current events, with Twitter Moments the latest attempt to curate and editorialise those stories. Certainly, Twitter has always been able to break and spread [...]
You can even use Amazon Echo to check your stock portfolio September 15, 2016 Time to ditch your computer screen? Checking how your portfolio is doing or finding out what's going on with a certain stock price is now as simple as asking. Amazon Echo, the home voice assistant device which launched in the UK yesterday, can tell you what the weather is like, play your music or help you keep track [...]
Blockchain startup Ripple raises $55m from Standard Chartered and Accenture September 15, 2016 Blockchain startup Ripple, one of several groups working with banks to create standards for the distributed ledger technology, has landed millions more in funding, with Standard Chartered and Accenture among new investors jumping on board the blockchain bandwagon. The venture arm of Siam Commercial Bank, SCB Digital Ventures, and Japan's SBI Holdings also participated in the $55m [...]
London’s the most expensive place in the world to locate a tech startup September 15, 2016 London is the most expensive place in the world to locate a startup, with the average cost of renting office space in Shoreditch outstripping that of San Francisco, Brooklyn and 19 other tech and creative hubs around the globe, putting at risk the city's potential of producing its very own Google. The cost of renting business space in the [...]