London to Sydney in less than two hours? Scientists are closer to developing hypersonic flight technology May 25, 2016 Could it one day be possible to fly halfway around the world in less than the time it currently takes to get from London to Manchester? Scientists in Australia have suggested it might – as they came one step closer to developing so-called hypersonic technology, which could allow people to travel at speeds of over 5,500mph. [...]
Screen it out: How to stop distractive devices from sapping your productivity May 25, 2016 We live and work in a technologically-driven world, and tech does not come without its challenges. We now receive and process more than double the amount of information per day as we did 20 years ago, and this explosion has profoundly affected our wellbeing. Read more: Employees lose a staggering amount of time to stress – [...]
The world’s 100 most disruptive startups revealed May 25, 2016 Japanese startup Spiber, that makes synthetic spider thread for outdoor apparel products, has been named the world’s most influential company on the Disrupt 100 index which lists “companies shaping our futures”. Last year, Spiber’s thread was used in the The Moon Parka, a special edition coat from outdoor clothing giant The North Face. The list, [...]
Now you can pitch your startup idea to a VC in an Uber May 24, 2016 Anyone with a startup idea can now pitch it to top investors, simply by getting an Uber on the streets of London. The on-demand startup is partnering with some of Europe's top venture capital firms – Atomico and EQT Ventures – for UberPitch, an elevator pitch but in an Uber car. Wannabe Zuckerberg's and Kalanick's will have 10 minutes to woo [...]
Volkswagen invests $300m in Uber rival Gett May 24, 2016 Volkswagen has invested $300m (£205m) in taxi on-demand service Gett, a rival to Uber, handing it a stake in some of Britain's black cab fleet and also indicating the future of the German car brand. Gett bought up Radio Taxis, adding more than 1,000 traditional cabbies to its fleet of 10,000 drivers in the UK earlier this year and [...]
Twitter changes 140-character limit (giving investors more room to moan about stock falling to fresh lows ) May 24, 2016 Twitter has confirmed speculation that it will no longer count images, links and more within the 140-character limit on tweets, giving you plenty more room to share exactly what you're thinking. For Twitter and its investors, that may not be a good thing, as the troubled social network received another downgrade from a Wall Street analyst, sending shares to an [...]
New broadband entitlements “embarassing” to tech entrepreneurs says Lib Dem peer May 24, 2016 New plans to introduce a right to high-speed broadband service for citizens and businesses fall “embarrassingly” short, according to the Liberal Democrats. Last week's Queen's Speech saw the Government pledge to introduce a new Broadband Universal Service Obligation, giving citizens and businesses the legal right to a fast broadband connection of at least 10Mbps a [...]
Dubai opens the world’s first 3D-printed office building May 24, 2016 Dubai says it has opened the world's first 3D-printed office building – and the emirate wants 25 per cent of its buildings to be printed by 2030. The new, city-centre offices were created using a special mixture of cement, the Dubai government said, with reliability tests carried out in Britain and China. The arc-shaped construction was built in [...]
The Slovakian makers of the 700mph Hyperloop have invented their own super-safe material which is 10 times stronger than steel May 24, 2016 Remember Hyperloop, the 700mph mass transportation system invented by Tesla founder Elon Musk? The technology – which is still at prototype stage – has been seized on by a company in Slovakia, which today announced that it has come up with a new, super-safe material to ensure passenger safety. “Vibranium” may sound suspiciously close to Avatar’s Unobtainium, [...]
Google’s French offices raided over tax May 24, 2016 Google's offices in France have been raided as part of a probe into its taxes by authorities in the country. Tax officials and law enforcement began searching the premises in the heart of Paris early on Tuesday morning, renewing the attention on the corporate tax of large companies which has simmered in ongoing rows this year. The [...]