Business must embrace voice assistants – or be left screaming July 11, 2016 During its recent Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced that its voice-activated assistant, Siri, has been seriously turbo-charged and is to be migrated to the Mac itself. Since then, a lot has been written about how this will improve the consumer experience. But what has been covered far less, if at all, is the impact the [...]
Adarsh Radia and new business partner Ignacio Macias are matchmaking startups and corporates July 11, 2016 If you've already been a fund manager and serial entrepreneur, how do you seek a fresh perspective on work – and life? For Adarsh Radia, who’s ex-Merrill Lynch and co-founder of popular Indian restaurant Dishoom (you may have queued to get in), the answer was to enrol himself at the Singularity University, a Silicon Valley think [...]
How to revive the music industry: Imogen Heap explains why blockchain could bring about a music revolution July 10, 2016 Whether we stream it through our smartphones or buy tracks from our laptops, technology has made music more accessible than ever before. For consumers, this is good news. But for the music industry, it’s a different story. In 2015, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) estimates music consumption increased 3.7 per cent and streaming grew a whopping [...]
Driverless car buyers may need new insurance covering cyber-attacks, and even ransom, a new report has warned July 10, 2016 Driverless car users may need to find cover against a raft of new dangers, including ransom payments demanded by hackers. A new paper from motor insurer Axa has warned that the rise of autonomous vehicles could lead to cars being hacked to conduct criminal activity, or even to be used a weapon. Alternatively, drivers could [...]
The government has quietly been testing blockchain technology for benefits payments July 10, 2016 The government has quietly been testing out blockchain technology to make benefit payments, it has been revealed. The department of work and pensions (DWP) has worked with Barclays, Npower, University College London and a UK-based distributed ledger platform startup called GovCoin to create an app which tracks spending. "Claimants are using an app on their phones [...]
Here’s how UK fintech’s rallying action in a post-Brexit no-man’s land July 10, 2016 London's fintech industry is rallying to action after the vote for Brexit in a bid to alleviate the fears of startups, along with their investors and supporters, over issues such as capital, market access and talent. The industry is already formulating a plan in the face of overwhelming uncertainty and a lack of clarification from political leaders on [...]
Here’s how you can watch the Wimbledon final live on Twitter July 10, 2016 Tennis fans will be able to easily watch Wimbledon online as Twitter is live streaming sports for the first time with live coverage of the British tennis tournament – a new feature that follows a digital rights deal to show NFL football games earlier this year. The social network is testing out the new video streaming feature with a page dedicated to the [...]
UK fintech startups are more attractive than ever post-Brexit, one investor claims July 10, 2016 A major tech investor has said it's likely to become more aggressive in its UK investments following the Brexit vote, while funds based outside the UK will find investing in startups based here more attractive. Anthemis, which has invested in fintech firms such as Azimo, eToro and Currency Cloud as well as challenger bank Atom, holds most of [...]
Nintendo share price jumps on release of new Pokemon game July 8, 2016 Shares in video game giant Nintendo soared in early trading this morning, after the release of its new Pokemon game. The Japanese firm's stock was up 10 per cent at one point, to their highest level in more than two months. Pokemon GO, a new smartphone game, was released on Wednesday, and shot to the [...]
Silver lining? Rising threat of cyber crime helps boost NCC Group’s profits July 7, 2016 The increasing threat of cyber crime has at least brought some good news for one company today, as NCC Group announced a substantial increase in both its revenue and profit. The figures The cyber security and risk mitigation firm reported revenue for its full year to May of £209.1m, up 56 per cent from £133.7m the year before. Meanwhile, adjusted profit [...]