Death of cash: What does a cashless society mean for your children? December 11, 2015 Within a generation terms like cheque book and piggy bank may sound as archaic to young people as the threepenny bit and halfpenny are now. From mobile payments to bitcoin, money is constantly evolving. Last month the UK Payments Council revealed that for the first time ever, non-cash payments had overtaken cash payments in [...]
Scientists have taught robots to learn as quickly and easily as humans December 11, 2015 Until now, robots have taken a lot longer than humans to remember things. Typically, they have to be exposed to an object or event hundreds or even thousands of times before it sticks in their computerised minds, whereas in the case of humans just a couple of encounters tends to do the trick. So while [...]
More than half of Asian millionaire business-owners are women – so why can’t we do the same thing here? December 11, 2015 Earlier this week a report suggested that the UK is actually struggling when it comes to supporting its female entrepreneurs. Just over a quarter (28 per cent) of owners of businesses worth more than $1m (£635,000) are women, compared with 38 per cent in the US. In fact, out of seven countries featured in the [...]
GoPro share price jumps by over 12 per cent after it announces Apple Watch launch December 10, 2015 Shares in camera manufacturer GoPro have jumped by over 12.6 per cent after the company announced a new release for Apple Watch users. The point of view camera firm has launched Apple Watch features in its GoPro App. According to the company, “this new app allows users to preview their shot, toggle between capture modes, [...]
Which countries are London companies hiring tech talent from? San Francisco, even with the capital’s 37 per cent smaller salaries December 10, 2015 London's search for the top tech talent goes beyond the capital, and even the country, with a quarter of jobs filled by someone from outside the UK. Candidates in San Francisco, the epicentre of technology and home to Silicon Valley giants such as Google and Facebook, received more offers from London companies than those in any other location. [...]
The best games of 2015: The year’s Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC video games rated December 9, 2015 Game of the Year: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Under normal circumstances a game with as many glaring problems as Metal Gear Solid V wouldn’t get anywhere near our year-end list. There’s its hastily tied-up storyline, dubious representation of female characters (boobs!), underwhelming multiplayer element. But this isn’t an ordinary game. Its beautifully [...]
Forget “unicorns” and “disruption”? New tool PitchGlitch hopes to banish tech buzzwords and jargon from startup pitches December 9, 2015 If you’re sick of hearing about “disruption”, “game-changing” or “unicorns”, there’s a new tech jargon-busting tool for you. Just type the offending sentences into PitchGlitch’s online tool and press the big pink “disrupt” button, and the banned jargon will be struck through with a red pen, tallying up the total number of “glitches” or buzzwords [...]
Three ways Tech City can help close the gender gap in 2016 December 9, 2015 The UK tech industry is a shining example of all that is good about British business in the 21st century: lean and hungry companies full of smart, hard-working people geared up for success. But when it comes to gender equality, tech is failing to move with the times. While the number of women founding businesses [...]
Goldman Sachs leads $45m investment in travel website startup GoEuro December 9, 2015 Goldman Sachs is among several investors to plough millions into a travel website which compares plane, train, bus and car rental across Europe. The $45m (£30m) series B investment round for three-year-old Berlin-founded startup GoEuro was lead by the Goldman's Investment Partners arm, with further cash coming from venture capital firms and entrepreneurs. That includes London headquartered Atomico, Russian billionaire Yuri [...]
How banks can defeat tomorrow’s cyber villains today December 9, 2015 If a bunch of crooks in masks were picking their way into your bank vault most days, would you wait another couple of years before considering a new kind of lock? The threat to our banks from cyber crime intensifies every month. Yet the UK banking sector continues as if firewalls, email scanning and web controls are all [...]