Blockchain: The president of the San Francisco Fed tells City A.M. why he’s excited about the distributed ledger technology April 12, 2016 RSCoin is the bitcoin alternative the Bank of England proposed to launch last month. Having its own digital currency would give the central bank a faster payments system, and more of an idea of what’s happening when and where within that system. Speaking to the president of the San Francisco Fed, John C Williams, at [...]
UK space sector enters orbit with a 250 per cent increase in registered jobs year on year April 12, 2016 The UK's space industry is fast climbing into orbit with a huge leap in the number of jobs being advertised by recruiters. The sector has seen a 250 per cent jump in registered jobs in the first quarter of 2016, compared to the year before, according to specialist recruiters Huxley Engineering. Huxley reckons the space sector in the [...]
Facebook F8: How and when to watch Mark Zuckerberg’s live developer conference keynote – and what to expect April 12, 2016 Prepare yourself for Facebook chatbots, Live Video and more about Messenger from F8, the social network's annual developer conference. Kicking off in San Francisco at 6pm GMT, Mark Zuckerberg is expected to reveal new details of the company's plans – and if you really want, you can watch it all as it happens, here. After the [...]
Is it a boat? Is it a wardrobe? No, it’s Toyota’s latest concept car, the Setsuna April 12, 2016 Forget Tesla and its fancy pants technology – Toyota’s gone back to basics with its latest prototype. Who needs plastic and metal when the natural world provides its very own materials? Yes, wood is the main component of the Setsuna car, which goes on show at the Milan Design Week this week. It has not just [...]
The new HTC 10 smartphone is trying to beat Apple and Samsung with selfies April 12, 2016 HTC has unveiled its newest flagship phone which it hopes can rival the likes of Apple and Samsung – and it's betting on selfies to do that. The HTC 10 boasts a camera which can steady your selfie-taking wobbles, with technology called Optical Image Stabilisation. The android-based smartphone brand has fallen out of favour in recent [...]
Cheese power: Plant in the lake district to generate green energy from Cumbrian cheese April 12, 2016 A British company has come up with the un-brie-leavable idea of generating green energy from old cheese making waste. The £10m project in Cumbria, commissioned by British company Clearfleau and built for Lake District Biogas, will operate for 20 years, using waste from dairy company First Milk's nearby Aspatria creamery site. Read more: Brits are obsessed with cheddar while [...]
Netflix and bill: You’re probably about to pay more to watch House of Cards April 12, 2016 If you like settling down in front of House of Cards and other must-see shows from Netflix, you'll soon have to pay more for the privilege. The movie and TV streaming service is raising its subscription prices and anyone who signed up in Netflix's early days faces a decision. Early adopters currently pay £5.99 per month and [...]
One of the UK’s biggest tech venture capital investors Accel Partners now has $500m more to play with April 12, 2016 The venture capital firm which was an early backer of Facebook, bet on start startup Slack, and most recently invested in Deliveroo and Funding Circle in the UK, has raised $500m (£351m) for a new fund to invest in startups across Europe and Israel. “Entrepreneurship is flourishing everywhere across Europe and Israel; we’ve never seen so many great founders, both gritty and [...]
Videogames simulate everything from bus driving to long haul trucking, but what exactly is the appeal of this esoteric genre of mundane job simulators? April 11, 2016 Some seven miles outside of sleepy Folkestone, a Volvo FH16 Globetrotter thunders along the M20 like an angry metal brick on wheels, the piercing beams of its powerful headlights carving through the darkness like the reaper’s flashing scythe. Its 16 litre, 750 horsepower engine roaring like a hungry princess ready for her next meal. The [...]
EU referendum: One way Brexit could actually be good for UK fintech April 11, 2016 The UK's prospering fintech sector has been urged to speak up in favour of remaining in Europe ahead of June's referendum and largely backs staying. But, there could be one serious advantage to leaving the union, some experts suggest If Britain were to leave, there would be a greater opportunity for innovative technology startups to disrupt the world of [...]