Blockchain just expanded even further into the public sector as Credits and Skyscape Cloud Services announce partnership April 28, 2016 Blockchain technology has made another inroad into widespread adoption by public services. Credits, a blockchain infrastructure provider, has partnered with Skyscape Cloud Services, a UK cloud services provider, to deliver "Blockchain-as-a-Service" to UK public sector organisations. Credits' platform enables organisations "to quickly and easily build robust blockchains" that address the challenges of establishing provenance and authentication faced by many [...]
Mark Zuckerberg added $4bn to his fortune thanks to Facebook earnings sending stock soaring April 28, 2016 Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has increased his wealth by a healthy $4.7bn (£3.2bn), despite taking home just a $1 salary. The social network's latest earnings pleased investors, sending stock soaring nearly 10 per cent and helping Zuckerberg add billions to his wealth. The additional cash in the bank (well, shares) helped the [...]
Samsung had the smartphone bump Apple was missing thanks to the Galaxy S7 April 28, 2016 Samsung and Apple have just demonstrated exactly how important the cycle of mobile phone production now is to their bottom line. Without the hype of a new device for Apple (the iPhone SE doesn't count), the tech giant experienced its first slowdown in more than a decade. Over at Samsung, it's a different story. Sales in the first quarter surged [...]
Peer-to-peer mortgage company LendInvest announces £40m warehouse funding line from Macquarie April 28, 2016 A peer-to-peer (P2P) mortgage lender has announced a new funding round worth £40m. The firm has signed a warehouse financing deal with investment bank Macquarie. LendInvest said the £40m, used to fund mortgages via its website, will allow it to grow and consolidate its position in the UK short-term mortgage market. Read more: Skype's founder just invested £17m in this [...]
The nine things scientists believe could cause the apocalypse (soon), from artificial intelligence and pandemics to asteroids and supervolcanos April 28, 2016 Time to hide behind the sofa. Scientists have looked at the biggest risks facing the world and ranked them according to how likely they are to bring about the apocalypse. Imminent threats to the world as we know it include the rise of artificial intelligence, pandemics – both natural and man-made – and even an [...]
International Girls in ICT day: What lego can tell us about gender equality April 28, 2016 Let’s hear it for Lego. Long criticised for introducing gender stereotypical brick sets, the Danish company unveiled three new Lego science figures last year: a palaeontologist, an astronomer and a chemist. The surprise? All three scientists were female. The plastic brick has suddenly become a symbol of gender equality. It comes at the right time: [...]
How alternative finance is making supply chain finance sexy – a Q&A with C2FO’s Colin Sharp April 28, 2016 The world of alternative finance is increasingly varied. There are property equity crowdfunding platforms, remittance firms with Wikipedia payment models. Specialist lending products are growing in popularity and some firms are looking at blockchain technology. Platform C2FO is focused on helping to bring liquidity to business supply chains. It gives companies visibility of their entire [...]
Facebook’s share price jumps after it beats expectations April 27, 2016 Facebook's share price has jumped after the social network announced results that topped already high expectations. The social media giant's share price jumped over 8.8 per cent in after hours trading. Facebook, which expected to report strong, steady growth, reported revenue of $5.4bn (£3.7bn) in the three months ending 31 March. That's against the average analyst estimate of $5.3bn, and [...]
Star Fox Zero review: a multi-screen mess that asks too much and gives too little April 27, 2016 Star Fox Zero is a game about a cool fox who flies around in space shooting bad guys with his animal friends: a hateful bird, some kind of terrible frog and an incompetent rabbit. The game is largely similar to the Star Fox games of old – the 1993 SNES classic Starwing and its 1997 [...]
Twitter shares just plummeted after earnings miss. And it got a downgrade too April 27, 2016 Shares in Twitter have plummeted after another tough quarter, opening more than 15 per cent lower after missing estimates for revenue and cutting forecasts for the next three months. Shares fell under $15 for the first time since February. Twitter failed to shake off concerns that it has trouble with growth. The social network did increase [...]