Oil major Total makes near €1bn wager on renewable energy with bid for battery maker Saft May 9, 2016 French oil major Total made a €950m (£750m) bid for battery maker Saft, effectively increasing its wager on the renewable energy sector. It said that the €36.5 per share offer represents a 38.3 per cent premium to Saft's closing price as of Friday. The friendly offer has already received unanimous approval from Saft's board, but it's still subject to a review [...]
After Apple, another smartphone maker is feeling the slowdown – this time, HTC May 9, 2016 It's tough time in the smartphone market these days. Pretty much everyone who's going to get one has already got one – in established markets at least – and that means the market is, in fact, more finite than firms imagined when growth rocketed over the past few years. Even for the likes of Apple. But it's HTC which is [...]
NHS fined £180k for data breach that leaked HIV clinic patient identities May 9, 2016 The NHS has been fined thousands of pounds for revealing the identities of hundreds of patients of a London HIV clinic because of an email error. A newsletter from a sexual health clinic in Soho was sent out to more than 700 users of an HIV service last year with patient email addresses and full [...]
Someone spent thousands on this one-off Jony Ive designed Apple iPad Pro May 9, 2016 An iPad specially created by Apple's design guru Jony Ive and the only one of its kind in the world has been snapped up at auction for thousands of pounds. The one-off yellow iPad Pro, along with a blue suede smart cover and orange leather Apple Pencil case, was bagged by an unknown buyer at the auction for a hefty [...]
China takes stake in Apple chip supplier Imagination Technologies May 9, 2016 A Chinese technology fund has taken a three per cent stake in UK chip maker Imagination Technologies, sending shares rocketing more than 13 per cent. Tsinghua Unigroup, a state-backed tech holding firm which is part of Tsinghua university, has ambitions to become the biggest chip maker in the world and has taken a three per cent stake in [...]
Should you believe in unicorns? Tech start-ups have polarised investors with Bill Gates calling for restraint but others arguing new tech will change the world May 9, 2016 The sad demise of unicorns was widely predicted at the start of the year. Unicorns – or young, technology private companies valued at over $1bn (£693m) – drew vast sums of investment throughout last year and comparisons with the dot-com boom were drawn. There are around 170 companies with unicorn status, according to Fortune. Some are [...]
The blockchain payments app: How Circle plans to change the way we spend – and think about money May 9, 2016 You don't pay to send someone an email – to send information from one place to another. And merchants typically pick up the cost of actually making the transaction when you buy something online. And the founders of Circle – the free, blockchain-enabled payments app – don’t think you should pay to send money, either. [...]
Why banks should be offering more P2P and bitcoin services for SMEs May 9, 2016 UK banks could generate £8.5bn in extra revenue by 2020 if they broaden their offerings for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), according to a new report. Accenture's SME Banking 2020 report found there is currently a “significant perception gap” between small businesses and banks. Banks are also facing “stiff competition” from fintech, and should be [...]
Palantir founder hits out at claims unicorn startup is struggling May 8, 2016 A founder of one of the world's most highly valued startups has hit back at claims the company is struggling with the loss of clients and staff. Joe Lonsdale, a founder of the secretive startup Palantir along with PayPal pioneer Peter Thiel and others, which boasts the Bank of England as one of its clients, said it was [...]
EU referendum: Now top life science bosses warn of Brexit risk, including GSK, AstraZeneca and Pfizer in open later May 8, 2016 Top bosses at firms such as GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Pfizer are among more than 90 leaders in the life sciences who are the latest to warn of the risks of Britain leaving Europe. In a letter, published in the Observer, the group warned of the implications on the sector which employs more than 222,000 people, spends £4bn on research and [...]