Volkswagen scandal: The European parliament has passed watered-down emissions testing legislation which could contribute to thousands of deaths in London February 3, 2016 This year London exceeded one of its annual pollution quotas in just one week – but MEPs have now voted for legislation which could cause London to become even more polluted. This morning the European parliament passed controversial plans to water down standards in new real-world driving emissions tests. Even before Volkswagen was caught out [...]
Index Ventures has a new $550m VC investment fund and its eye on London tech startups February 3, 2016 Europe's biggest venture capital investor and the backer of star startups such as Just Eat, Asos and Transferwise has raised millions of pounds in new funds to invest in tech startups across Europe, the US and Israel. Index Ventures has raised a new $550m (£377m) fund from its existing long-standing investor base which includes endowments, pensions and insurance funds, among [...]
What will the mobile world look like in 2020? Predictions suggest smart devices, mobile video and connections skyrocketing February 3, 2016 There’s going to be three times more mobile connections than people in the UK by 2020. Thought we’d reached peak smartphone? Think again: the number of mobile connections is going to keep soaring, and are set to double in the UK over the next five years, from today’s 1.5 per person to three. Globally, there [...]
Spotify down: Now the music streaming service is having technical issues across Europe with track skipping February 3, 2016 Spotify is down for some users across Europe. Users of the music streaming service have reported that it is down completely, while others said there were issues with tracks skipping. Spotify is down…………………… pic.twitter.com/CYW4jvxKcw — Rob🏌️♂️ (@rbrtmcmxcii) February 3, 2016 For every minute Spotify is down in our office our collective productivity drops by 10%. Exhibit [...]
Cyber crime’s new target: Fisher-Price smart toy and Here0 gps watch allowed children’s data to be hacked exposing vulnerability of Internet of Things February 3, 2016 A smart teddy bear left children’s personal data exposed to hackers, revealing security lagging behind as more and more of our household products are brought online through the rapidly growing Internet of Things. Vulnerabilities have been discovered in Mattel’s Fisher-Price Smart Toy, a stuffed bear that learns your child’s name, and gps watch Here0 that [...]
Microsoft’s just bought successful London-based startup Swiftkey February 3, 2016 One of London's most successful startups is being acquired by Microsoft for a multi-million pound sum. Swiftkey, a keyboard app for Android and iOS smartphones powered by artificial intelligence, has been snapped up by the US tech giant for as much as $250m (£174m), reports suggest. Co-founders Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock said in a blog post: [...]
Tech startups have transformed the UK: Backing Britain’s scale-ups is the next challenge February 3, 2016 The growth of the UK’s digital industries has been nothing short of extraordinary, and it has had a profound effect on the wider economy. Statistics from last year’s Tech Nation report show that more than 1.46m people are currently employed within the sector. The UK is increasingly underlining its digital credentials on the global stage. [...]
BT down: Internet broadband and phone services across the UK return February 2, 2016 BT has said that customers' internet and phone services have been restored after they went down yesterday afternoon. The telecoms firm had major issues with thousands of people across the UK reporting their broadband was down. According to downdetector.co.uk, problems were reported across the country from around 2.30pm. Around 70 per cent of the issues were internet related but 12 [...]
US and EU reach a deal on new Safe Harbour agreement to govern data transfers between the regions, naming the deal the EU-US Privacy Shield February 2, 2016 The EU and the US have reached an agreement over the framework governing data transfers between the two regions. The new agreement, which has previously been called "Safe Harbour" but has now been renamed the "EU-US Privacy Shield", was announced today and places stronger obligations on the US to better protect the data of European citizens. "We [...]
It’s official: Google’s Alphabet has overtaken Apple as the most valuable company in the world February 2, 2016 Google is now worth more than Apple, becoming the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. A set of stellar results from Google parent company Alphabet after hours on Monday evening sent shares soaring. Now that market's are back open, Google has taken its official place at the top of the pile with a $541.81bn market cap. [...]