Drones banned in London for Barack Obama’s visit to the UK April 19, 2016 A ban has been placed on drones across London when the US President visits the capital later this week. Between Thursday evening and Sunday morning the devices will be grounded by the ban, as "part of the overarching security plan" for Obama's visit. The ban was instigated by the secretary of state for transport Patrick McLoughlin and [...]
Last remains of failed unicorn Powa Techologies to be sold this week April 19, 2016 Powa Technologies, one of the UK's first "unicorn" billion dollar startups, has found a buyer for the remaining part of its business after collapsing into administration earlier this year. Administrator Deloitte has found an as yet unnamed buyer for PowaPOS, the last of its three businesses, and is expected to finalise a deal by the end of [...]
Death of a unicorn: Inside one of the biggest startup failures of all time – and Powa Technologies boss Dan Wagner’s surprise statement April 18, 2016 Powa Technologies, once valued at more than $1bn making it one of Britain's rare breed of so-called unicorns, collapsed into tech myth earlier this year. In fact, it was one of the most well funded startups in the world to ever fail, according to tech data gurus at CB Insights, after raising multi-millions of pounds worth [...]
Brussels shines spotlight on Google’s Android as EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager raises concerns April 18, 2016 Brussels has set its sights on Google again, and this times it's all about Android. Competition chief Margrethe Vestager today spoke out about its investigation into Android's operating system, ahead of formal action which is expected to soon be taken. The EU Commission is looking at whether Google dominates apps to the exclusion of others, thus reducing competition, [...]
Treehouse? Windmill? The 10 Airbnb getaways we most desire to stay April 18, 2016 Fancy a holiday? You're not the only one. The UK's Airbnb-ers add more pads to their wish lists than any other country in Europe, and there are some particularly interesting favourites of the nation. Treehouses and windmills are among our faves, but in fact we have some demure dreams for holidays, according to new data from Airbnb, [...]
Here’s what Neil Woodford thinks of UK tech innovation April 18, 2016 Star fund manager Neil Woodford has warned that the UK is facing "economic doom" if it doesn't better support the development of early innovations coming out of the nation's top universities. “We are failing as an economy to capture [the opportunity in science] and if we fail to capture that the economy is doomed," he told City A.M.. [...]
Cyber security training is outdated or not fit for purpose at many UK companies, finds new study April 18, 2016 Cyber security training at many UK companies has failed to move with the times, research out today has found. The study by AXELOS found that less than a third of firms were employing modern techniques, such as gamification and animation, into their cyber security training. In addition, fewer than half (46 per cent) of executives in [...]
Boaty McBoatface wins public vote to name new polar research vessel April 17, 2016 The British sense of humour triumphs again. The brilliantly ridiculous Boaty McBoatface has won a public vote to name a new high spec ship that will be home to scientists in the arctic and antarctic researching everything from ice sheets to marine life. The competition to name the £200m polar research vessel hit headlines due to the comedy name. The brainchild of [...]
What life is really like as an ethical hacker at one of the world’s biggest tech companies April 15, 2016 Charles Henderson gets paid to think like a bad guy. As an ethical hacker for IBM, Henderson's job is to break into networks, applications, or physical locations to figure out how a real attacker would go about their work, exposing flaws and the impact those flaws might have on an organization's security. Given the increase [...]
The rumours are true: Apple only expects its devices to last a few years April 15, 2016 Splashing £500-odd on a new iPhone every few years might seem like a bit of an ask – but at least if you're buying an Apple device, you know it's going to last, right? Wrong. Today the company published new information on how it deals with old devices – and revealed that iPhones are built to die [...]