Student lender Future Finance announces fintech investments totalling £119m as it reports rocketing demand for loans March 14, 2016 Student lender Future Finance has raised £119m from fintech investors. Investors in Future Finance Loan Corporation – which has loaned nearly £25m to students since May 2014 – include QED Investors, Blackstone Strategic Opportunity Fund and Colchis Capital. The new investment takes the company's total funds to £185m. Read more: The future of education finance is here [...]
AlphaGo fourth Go game result: Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence just made a mistake and lost to human player Lee Sedol March 13, 2016 The machines this week triumphed over man, as Google DeepMind's artificial intelligence (AI) took on the top – and very human – player in the ancient chess-like Chinese game of Go, winning three of their matches. However, the fourth bout between them has reversed the tables and resulted in Lee Sedol triumphing over AlphaGo for the first time. The technology "pressured AlphaGo into a [...]
Budget 2016: Chancellor George Osborne to announce UK will test driverless cars on motorways from next year March 12, 2016 Driverless cars could transverse the UK's motorways for the first time in 2017, bringing Britain a step closer to its goal of having autonomous cars fully operational by 2020. Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce plans in next week's Budget to test vehicles on motorways and say the government will bring forward proposals to remove regulatory [...]
New iPhone SE launch and rumours: Everything we know so far about Apple’s event on 21 March March 11, 2016 Apple is set to showcase its new iPhone SE – 'special edition' – at a launch event on March 21, finally putting the rest rumours about the design and specifications of the smartphone that have been circling the internet for months. The iPhone SE is rumoured to have a 4-inch display while keeping many of [...]
General Motors accelerates in driverless car race as it buys Cruise Automation March 11, 2016 General Motors (GM), owner of such marques as Vauxhall, Cadillac and Chevrolet, has just come closer to taking pole position in the race to develop a driverless car, after it bought San Francisco-based startup Cruise Automation. The company, which is developing autonomous vehicle software, was founded in 2013. It has tested its technology "in San Francisco's [...]
US justice department files iPhone encryption case response, accusing Apple of creating “barriers” against FBI March 10, 2016 The United States Department of Justice has filed its latest response to Apple in the legal fight over iPhone encryption. In the document, filed today, the DOJ wrote: "Here, Apple deliberately raised technological barriers that now stand between a lawful warrant and an iPhone containing evidence related to the terrorist mass murder of 14 Americans. [...]
Businesses and law enforcement must work closer together to stamp out cyber crime, warn cyber security experts March 10, 2016 Cyber crimes could be better prevented and dealt with if businesses and law enforcement worked closer together, a panel of cyber security experts has urged this evening. Esther George, author and former senior policy advisor for the Crown Prosecution Service, told a roundtable event hosted by access rights management consultancy 8Man: "If [businesses] would share some of [...]
Here’s the outlook of UK tech startups right now – and how they feel about Brexit, business confidence and hiring talent March 10, 2016 More UK tech startups are now worried that Brexit will be bad for business as the referendum on Britain's membership of Europe inches ever closer. In a comprehensive new survey of startups in the UK by Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), 70 per cent believe Brexit will have a negative impact on their businesses, a rise on the 64 per cent [...]
An ex-Ofcom employee stole commercially sensitive data about the UK’s major TV broadcasters – and then offered it to one of them March 10, 2016 Ofcom has admitted that a former employee stole data from the regulator exposing commercially sensitive information about the UK's biggest TV companies. The ex-employee, having left Ofcom, joined one of those TV companies – and offered the information to their new employer, bringing the theft to light, City A.M understands. Ofcom was made aware of the theft two weeks ago [...]
Apple announces new iPhone and iPad event for 21 March March 10, 2016 Apple has sent out the invitations to an event on 21 March, where it is expected to unveil a new generation of the iPad and a smaller version of the iPhone. According to sources the new iPhone will look similar to the iPhone 5s, but will contain updated components. Apple's event will be held the [...]