Firewatch day one review: a spectacular, touching and innovative game February 9, 2016 Firewatch | PC, PS4 | ★★★★☆ There’s a paradox at the heart of Firewatch. It’s about the epic, unfathomably massive, dangerously potent world of nature. And it’s also about the tiny, dark, often unbearably sad world inside our heads, a place even the most gloriously saturated of sunsets can’t always illuminate. These twin factors, two sides of [...]
Insurance tech startup Lemonade backed by reinsurers Lloyd’s of London, Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity, Hiscox and more February 9, 2016 A soon-to-launch tech startup with millions in venture capital investment and plans to disrupt the insurance industry has been backed by leading insurers Lloyd's of London and Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity. Lemonade, a New York-based peer-to-peer insurance firm which recently picked up $13m from Sequoia Capital among others, will be reinsured by the firms, along with Hiscox, Everest, Munich, Transatlantic and [...]
London Fintech startup Digital Shadows raises $14m from Trinity Ventures, Paladin Capital and existing investors February 9, 2016 One of London's up and coming fintech startups Digital Shadows has landed $14m of new funding from venture capital investors. The cyber security firm which counts the Bank of England among its clients, raised the series B round from Trinity Ventures and Paladin Capital as well as existing investors Storm Ventures, TenEleven and Passion Capital. "Given Trinity's long and [...]
Men in their 40s and 50s value their health over leisure time, career and wealth, but they’re not doing very much to look after their hearts February 9, 2016 If you're desperately hoping to stay healthy well into your golden years but still spend most weekends watching football rather than playing it, take heart. You're not alone. A survey released today by Public Health England in honour of National Heart Month discovered that three-quarters (74 per cent) of men aged 40 to 60 rank [...]
Mayoral Tech Manifesto 2016: We must liberalise skilled visa policy to ensure the success of London’s tech sector February 9, 2016 The new Mayoral Tech Manifesto 2016 outlines the bold steps the next mayor must take to maintain London’s position as the digital capital of Europe, and make it a truly digital city for businesses and citizens. But can it be done? In theory, it can. If the infrastructure, investment and government decision-making aligns, the opportunity is there for [...]
Deleting Facebook iPhone iOS app could save 15% battery life February 9, 2016 Tired of your battery life running out half way through the day (and always at the worst moment, naturally)? There might be one simple solution to stretching that phone juice further if you're an iPhone user, and it doesn't even involve a scientific breakthrough – simply delete the Facebook app. Yes, it might be your go to [...]
Setting bank data free with open APIs is just the start for consumer choice February 9, 2016 Today’s report from the UK Open Banking Working Group has recommended the creation of an Open Banking Standard that will make it possible for banking data to be shared and used securely. But what does this actually mean? In layman’s terms, it means data that banks hold on their customer base – balances, transaction history [...]
Whether London’s next mayor is Zac Goldsmith or Sadiq Khan, they must pay attention to the tech sector February 9, 2016 A mayoral election campaign can be a strange thing. Without the national media attention of a General Election one can be forgiven for sometimes thinking that the candidates have gone quiet. But they're out there. From Orpington's church halls to Barking's pub function rooms, the candidates know that victory is secured one local paper at a [...]
Banking data to become open by the end of the year as industry and regulators work on ambitious banking standards and open API plans February 9, 2016 Banking could be made simpler for customers – from comparing mortgages to switching accounts – with ambitious plans for banks and regulators to streamline the sharing of data as soon as the end of the year that would establish the UK as a world leader in financial technology and banking innovation. A group of leading experts appointed by the Treasury [...]
Cheers for that, Storm Imogen: Scientists have found winter can reduce your concentration span February 8, 2016 You might have thought all the hours whiled away gazing wistfully out of the window in the summertime would dent your performance at work – but it turns out we're actually sharper during the summer. A new study by a team at the University of Liege has found people's brains are sharper and attention spans higher around [...]