Davos 2016: Why London fintech can transform the 21st century January 20, 2016 In recent years, there has been cynicism about the objectives of the World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos, with reports of parties, private jets and closed-door discussions. However, the core purpose of the forum should not be dismissed in an era of global upheaval, tensions and economic uncertainty for billions across the developed and [...]
As challenger banks, fintech and digital payments take off, here are four reasons why 2016 will be the year banks are on the run January 20, 2016 Until recently, managing your money meant dealing with a bank. For both businesses and individuals they were pretty much the only game in town. But that’s no longer the case. Thanks to digital challengers, tech startups and the ongoing fallout from the financial crisis, banks face huge competition in all areas of their business. Each [...]
Go on a virtual reality tour inside Buckingham Palace with Google Expeditions January 20, 2016 Ever wanted to see inside the Queen’s official residence? Now you can do it without having to be hassled by the throngs of other tourists, or having to leave your home at all for that matter. Buckingham Palace has become the first UK landmark to feature on Google Expeditions as the tech giant has teamed [...]
Spotify buys up Cord Project and Soundwave startups for product innovation in fight against Apple as Deezer raises $100m January 20, 2016 Spotify has acquired two startups, one specialising in voice messaging and the other in music discovery, in the fight against new rival Apple Music. New York-based Cord Project, founded in 2014 by two former Google employees, has one million users of its flagship app Cord. Soundwave is a Dublin-based startup founded in 2012. It boasts 1.5m downloads in [...]
Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk win 2015 Luddite Award for their “alarmist” warnings about artificial intelligence January 20, 2016 Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have just “won” the 2015 Luddite Award for their warnings about artificial intelligence. A world-renowned physicist and the entrepreneur behind ventures like Tesla and SpaceX, neither of the two are exactly what you might call afraid of technology. But the worries the two have expressed on the future of AI [...]
Apple iOS versus Google Play Store: Here’s the winner in each country according to downloads and revenue in 2015 January 20, 2016 In the ongoing battle of Apple versus Google, there's a surprising winner across the world – both of them. More people are downloading apps from Google's Play Store than Apple in most major countries. Only three of the top 20 countries – Britain, Canada and Japan – buck this trend, with iOS more popular than Google Play in [...]
“Password”, “123456” and “qwerty”: These are the world’s 25 worst passwords of 2015 January 20, 2016 If you thought we might have stepped up our collective password game in the light of a slew of high-profile cyber attacks… think again. Amazingly, “123456” is still the world’s most popular password, followed by meta favourite “password”. The unfortunate passwords most loved by public and cyber crooks have been uncovered by SplashData’s annual ranking [...]
How to see five planets in one go: Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter can be seen all at once for the first time in a decade January 20, 2016 Clear skies might make it feel extra cold, but for the next month they will offer us a rare chance to see five planets lined up in the sky at once. Starting early this morning (20 January) and continuing until the same date in February, budding astronomers will be able to see Mercury, Venus, Saturn, [...]
Twitter down: Web, app and mobile site are still experiencing outages January 19, 2016 Twitter is still experiencing problems this afternoon following an outage this morning. Users worldwide were prevented from logging into the site on web and mobile browsers for several hours. The site's app also appeared to be hit. The outage meant people were met with a "something went wrong" message. Halfway through the morning, Twitter returned for many users, though with [...]
Fintech revolution? Banks will survive disruption from new technology January 19, 2016 Last week, yet another report was published suggesting banking has reached its digital tipping point. Figures from Javelin Strategy & Research suggest that for the first time ever, US consumers banked on their mobiles more than in branches last year. We’re seeing a similar picture in the UK, as the large banks increase their technology spend [...]