XCOM 2 review: a game of difficult choices, dire consequences and little alien men February 11, 2016 PC, Mac | ★★★★★ The XCOM series tells the timeless story of an extremely polite alien invasion in which everybody has kindly agreed to take turns fighting, chess-style, rather than piling on to one another in a furious mess of guts and explosions and insectoid limbs. XCOM 2 doesn’t stretch the idea too far, feeling [...]
The hottest tech sectors for investment and deals: Biotech, pharma and fintech are set to grow in Silicon Valley and Silicon Roundabout alike February 11, 2016 Last year was a bumper year for UK tech investment, with over £3bn of investment by venture capital. Yet the year finished without its usual flourish. It was the same story in the US and with the same protagonists – perceived overvaluations of private companies, particularly in the technology sector, and the uneasy public markets. [...]
Farming is more digital than finance – and the most digital business industries in the UK February 11, 2016 The digital economy is being fuelled by traditional businesses as much as it is hot shot startups – but some are innovating more quickly than others and you might call finance a surprising slow moo-ver. Farming and the agriculture industry counts more digital businesses in its midst than finance, according to figures from market intelligence firm GrowthIntel. Just [...]
We’ve reached peak Twitter as user growth goes negative at former social media darling February 11, 2016 Haunted by quarters of slowing growth, Twitter’s worst nightmare became a reality yesterday. It’s not growing anymore. The company’s fourth quarter report revealed monthly active users (MAUs) dropped to 305m from 307m in the previous quarter. None of this should come as a shock, although it obviously did for many investors. The stock fell as much as [...]
Italian low-carbon energy company Cogenpower to float on Aim February 11, 2016 An Italian low-carbon energy company will float on the London Stock Exchange's alternative investment market (Aim) tomorrow, as it seeks to expand into the UK. Cogenpower wants to raise £1m by listing 5,000,000 shares at 20p each, giving it an anticipated market capitalisation of £10m. Cogenpower's power plants and district heating networks deliver cheaper, cleaner heat and energy to nearby communities [...]
Google tax row won’t slow UK’s booming digital economy, says digital minister Ed Vaizey February 11, 2016 The biggest US technology companies won’t be put off setting up shop in the UK following a backlash against Google’s tax arrangements, the digital minister Ed Vaizey has insisted. “Fast growing UK companies are trading elsewhere, but we obviously benefit from inward investment,” he told City A.M., as new figures revealed the UK’s digital technology economy grew [...]
Viva la e-revolution, and what’s next for the booming UK digital economy February 11, 2016 The UK’s economy is witnessing an e-revolution. Digital innovation is now not only driving the digital economy, but is transforming the ways in which the more “traditional” industries are approaching their day to day business activities. Today at SPRINT – the annual event hosted by the Government Digital Service which showcases the digital transformation work [...]
Driverless cars could prevent 95 per cent of road accidents February 11, 2016 Making all cars driverless could prevent 95 per cent of car accidents and add £51bn a year to the UK economy, a new report has claimed. The report, by the Institution of Management Engineers (IME), said 95 per cent of crashes happen due to driver error. "The benefits of this sort of technology are huge," [...]
Shares in Farmville creator Zynga drop almost eight per cent after company posts declining revenue and customer numbers February 10, 2016 Zynga, the online games company behind Farmville, recorded revenue of $186m (£128m) in the three months to the end of 2015, down from $193m in the last quarter of 2014. Shares in the group dropped by almost eight per cent in after hours trading. The company's losses widened to $47m from $45m year-on-year, while bookings dipped [...]
Shares in Twitter plunge by over 10 per cent in after hours trading as social media site reports February 10, 2016 Twitter’s share price dropped by over 11 per cent in after hours trading despite news that revenue increased by 48 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015 as monthly user numbers stayed flat on the previous quarter. Revenue was up to $710m (£489m) in the three months to 31 December, compared with $479m in the final [...]