Campaigners attempt to test Google “Tories are/Labour are” autocomplete “conspiracy theories” February 4, 2016 A conspiracy theory that Google is blocking negative auto-suggestions for "Conservatives are…." is being put to the test by campaigners trying to train the search engine into offering particularly mean ones. Google was forced to deny "conspiracy theories" that its £130m tax bill is linked to censorship of the search terms around the Conservatives. Users [...]
Facebook has slashed six degrees of separation to just 3.57 putting us much closer to Kevin Bacon February 4, 2016 Remember six degrees of separation? The theory that you, Kevin Bacon and every other human on Earth are just six connections away? Well, forget it, Facebook has changed all that The firm has analysed its over 1.5bn active users and discovered that in the age of social media, the real degree of separation between us [...]
Is this the biggest test yet for Google’s driverless cars? Testing roll out to Kirkland, Washington State will pose rain challenge February 4, 2016 Google's driverless car testing has logged more than a million miles on the road, but there's one thing they may not have come across in all those hours of driving which could pose quite a big challenge, especially if they were to come to Britain's roads: rain. The self-driving cars will now hit the streets of a new [...]
GoPro share price loses 9.34 per cent after revealing plummeting sales February 3, 2016 Camera manufacturer GoPro has posted a 31.1 per cent decline in sales for the final quarter of 2015, down to $436.6m (£299.3m) from $633.9m, missing analysts' expectations of $496.1m. Shares in the company dropped by over nine per cent in after hours trading, and at the close yesterday were down by more than 80 per cent over [...]
Volkswagen scandal: The European parliament has passed watered-down emissions testing legislation which could contribute to thousands of deaths in London February 3, 2016 This year London exceeded one of its annual pollution quotas in just one week – but MEPs have now voted for legislation which could cause London to become even more polluted. This morning the European parliament passed controversial plans to water down standards in new real-world driving emissions tests. Even before Volkswagen was caught out [...]
Index Ventures has a new $550m VC investment fund and its eye on London tech startups February 3, 2016 Europe's biggest venture capital investor and the backer of star startups such as Just Eat, Asos and Transferwise has raised millions of pounds in new funds to invest in tech startups across Europe, the US and Israel. Index Ventures has raised a new $550m (£377m) fund from its existing long-standing investor base which includes endowments, pensions and insurance funds, among [...]
What will the mobile world look like in 2020? Predictions suggest smart devices, mobile video and connections skyrocketing February 3, 2016 There’s going to be three times more mobile connections than people in the UK by 2020. Thought we’d reached peak smartphone? Think again: the number of mobile connections is going to keep soaring, and are set to double in the UK over the next five years, from today’s 1.5 per person to three. Globally, there [...]
Spotify down: Now the music streaming service is having technical issues across Europe with track skipping February 3, 2016 Spotify is down for some users across Europe. Users of the music streaming service have reported that it is down completely, while others said there were issues with tracks skipping. Spotify is down…………………… pic.twitter.com/CYW4jvxKcw — Rob🏌️♂️ (@rbrtmcmxcii) February 3, 2016 For every minute Spotify is down in our office our collective productivity drops by 10%. Exhibit [...]
Cyber crime’s new target: Fisher-Price smart toy and Here0 gps watch allowed children’s data to be hacked exposing vulnerability of Internet of Things February 3, 2016 A smart teddy bear left children’s personal data exposed to hackers, revealing security lagging behind as more and more of our household products are brought online through the rapidly growing Internet of Things. Vulnerabilities have been discovered in Mattel’s Fisher-Price Smart Toy, a stuffed bear that learns your child’s name, and gps watch Here0 that [...]
Microsoft’s just bought successful London-based startup Swiftkey February 3, 2016 One of London's most successful startups is being acquired by Microsoft for a multi-million pound sum. Swiftkey, a keyboard app for Android and iOS smartphones powered by artificial intelligence, has been snapped up by the US tech giant for as much as $250m (£174m), reports suggest. Co-founders Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock said in a blog post: [...]