The Juno probe has begun its scientific orbit around Jupiter: We speak to the man who helped build it about the challenges of reaching the red giant September 5, 2016 As the Juno space probe approached Jupiter, the massive gravitational pull of our solar system’s largest planet accelerated the craft to a speed of 265,000km/h. That made it the fastest man-made object in history. At its top speed, Juno could travel from Brighton to Aberdeen in under ten seconds. Juno gathered speed by slingshotting around the [...]
This satellite firm wants millions from SpaceX after rocket explosion September 5, 2016 It's not great when your experimental rocket ship explodes. It's even less great when said rocket is carrying some rather expensive equipment. The owner of the satellite on board the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket which was last week destroyed by an unexpected and fiery explosion has now demanded $50m (£38m) from Elon Musk's company – or a free ride [...]
Now you can open a HSBC account with a selfie September 5, 2016 Forget passwords and pins, but now its not even fingerprints or eye scanning that is replacing these traditional security measures — it's selfies. HSBC will now let its business customers open an account simply using a selfie thanks to facial tracking technology, a type of biometrics which is becoming increasingly popular among firms as a way of making [...]
The reason for Britain’s dearth of digital media unicorns – the funding gap September 5, 2016 Much has been written in these pages about the dearth of British start-up success stories in comparison to our US cousins. Digital media companies are no exception. But what is causing this discrepancy? Perhaps most significant is the funding gap. In the UK, there is a strong angel investment culture thanks to seed enterprise investment [...]
Northzone raises €300m fund and is eyeing London fintech startups September 5, 2016 A European venture capital firm which has previously backed Spotify, iZettle and London fintech startup MarketInvoice, has launched a new multi-million pound fund to plough into tech startups across Europe, including the UK in another vote of confidence in the country after Brexit. Northzone has closed a €300m (£252m) fund to invest in early stage companies from global institutional investors and is eyeing up tech [...]
Jaguar powers up electric racing team September 4, 2016 Jaguar will lift the lid on plans for its electric Formula E racing team this week. The car, team, and sponsors are set to be unveiled on Thursday and will compete in the opening race of the Formula E season in Hong Kong next month. Jaguar Land Rover – owned by the Indian industrial giant [...]
EU takes closer look at more Irish tax deals, as Apple decision fallout rumbles on September 4, 2016 The European Commission is closely scrutinising a slew of Irish tax opinions, less than a week after its competition division decided its dealings with Apple amounted to illegal state aid. The European Competition Commission hit the tech giant with a bill for €13bn (£10.9bn) last week following a two-year investigation into the company's tax affairs in Ireland. [...]
“No security issues” surrounding billion-pound data centre deal with China September 4, 2016 The company run by the billionaire Reuben brothers has denied there are security concerns around a potential sale of a stake in its data centre company Global Switch to Chinese investors. The former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind has called on the Prime Minister Theresa May to vet the potential multi-billion pound deal over concerns around access to data. Read [...]
Ireland agrees to appeal against €13bn Apple tax repayment demand from EU September 2, 2016 Ireland's coalition government has agreed to appeal against a multi-billion-euro back tax demand that the European Commission slapped on iPhone maker Apple earlier this week, after independent members of the Cabinet gave their backing. "A motion will come before the Dail (the Irish parliament) on Wednesday seeking an endorsement of that decision," a government spokesman said. On Tuesday, [...]
Samsung stops selling Galaxy Note 7 and issues recall after reports of spontaneous explosions September 2, 2016 South Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung is pulling its latest handset off the shelves – due to a risk of spontaneous combustion. The product recall was prompted by reports of phone batteries exploding. “Samsung is committed to producing the highest quality products and we take every incident report from our valued customers very seriously. In response to recently [...]