HTC Vive review: Virtual reality has finally arrived, but it will be years before games can catch up May 4, 2016 The Hardware There’s a thrilling moment when you first slip your face into the HTC Vive, soon after you stop feeling like a bootleg Robocop, when you become utterly convinced of the vast virtual world into which you’ve been teleported. You’ll absent-mindedly try to lean on furniture that isn’t there. You’ll laugh like an idiot [...]
The curious case of the iphone trademark: Apple loses fight over iPhone name in China May 4, 2016 Apple has lost a legal battle against a Chinese handbag maker over its use of the iPhone trademark. Xintong Tiandi, a Chinese company that sells leather purses and phone cases, trademarked "IPHONE" in 2010. Apple filed a trademark for “iPhone” in 2002, but got approval only in 2013. The tech giant launched a legal tirade against [...]
London fashion retailer Farfetch raises over £75m in funding round May 4, 2016 Online fashion retailer Farfetch has raised $110m (£75.6m) in its latest funding round to augment expansion plans in the Asia-Pacific region. The London-based luxury shopping platform plans to use the funding to expand in China, Farfetch’s second largest market, Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries. China represents 12 per cent of the company’s sales with Asia-Pacific collectively representing [...]
Star Wars Day shows us the droids we’re looking for May 4, 2016 Over the years I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I firmly believe science fiction is one of the most powerful influences on how people think about the future potential of technology. We’ve seen wonderful examples where the creative license of a few enlightened people have led to the creation of incredible technologies that [...]
Work in tech, bored of London? Forget Silicon Valley, try Australia May 4, 2016 Tech entrepreneur Oli Madgett and his wife Tara recently decided to swap London for South Australia. The weather, beaches, and wine played their part but the city’s growing reputation as a tech hub was crucial. As London’s ‘Here East’ starts to establish itself here’s how our Aussie cousins are doing it. Go big or go [...]
I would trust Google’s DeepMind with my personal data more than the NHS May 4, 2016 The NHS is not a data company. Google's pretty good with that kind of thing. No wonder, then that the millions of pieces of information the health service has amassed about the nation's wellbeing – from admission times to blood tests – is being shared with the company in pursuit of the shared and very human [...]
Why the advertising watchdog is taking issue with broadband providers May 4, 2016 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced this morning that it would be cracking down on misleading broadband price claims in adverts, but what's all the fuss about? Here are the top three ways that broadband companies have been accused of misleading customers: Too much mental maths involved Let's be honest: nobody enjoyed doing sums sans calculator [...]
Anonymous hackers launch cyber attack on Bank of Greece … no money taken May 4, 2016 The activist group Anonymous shut down the website of the Greek Central Bank yesterday, according to a report from Reuters, after it launched a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack on the institution. “The attack lasted for a few minutes and was successfully tackled by the bank’s security systems,” an official said, adding that because the event took place on a public [...]
Playing this smartphone game could help scientists spot the warning signs of dementia May 4, 2016 Could a mobile app named Sea Hero Quest help scientists spot the warning signs of dementia? Scientists at University College London (UCL) believe it could – and they want you to take part in their study. Researchers at UCL developed the game, in which users navigate a ship through "Arctic rivers and the glorious Golden [...]
Adobe acquires audience engagement innovator Livefyre as part of its Adobe Marketing Cloud services May 3, 2016 US software giant Adobe has announced it is buying the content curation and audience engagement innovator Livefyre for an undisclosed sum. The Livefyre platform gives brands and publishers instant access to user-generated content that can be streamed in real time to websites, adverts, emails, apps and TV, and is also well-known for its online commenting [...]