UK information requests from Facebook rise 16pc to 4,416 March 16, 2015 Whitehall is making more requests for citizens’ personal information, Facebook reported yesterday. The social media giant’s Global Government Requests Report for the second half of 2014 said: “The vast majority of these requests relate to criminal cases, such as robberies or kidnappings.” Requested data ranged from “basic subscriber information, such as name and length of [...]
Uber’s finance chief Brent Callinicos is leaving the taxi startup March 16, 2015 Uber’s finance chief Brent Callinicos is driving off into the sunset and leaving one of the most highly valued tech startups in the world in the rear-view mirror. The former Google executive who has been with Uber for less than two years will stay on as an advisor, chief executive Travis Kalanick told investors. “Almost [...]
No sunglasses, selfies or staring: How to look at the solar eclipse on March 20 without getting a “solar burn” March 16, 2015 You might be tempted to line up a solar eclipse selfie this week – but experts have warned that doing so could put you at risk of causing serious damage to your eyes. On the morning of March 20, we will see a near total eclipse – the best places to see it in the [...]
Rosetta mission: The European Space Agency is hoping comet lander Philae is about to wake up March 16, 2015 The European Space Agency is eagerly awaiting signs that the Rosetta probe Philae – which successfully landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November – is about to wake up. It was an historic moment last autumn when the signal was received in ESA's German mission centre that the probe had landed on the comet's surface. But [...]
Boutique tech bank Restoration Partners backed by ex King.com chair Mel Morris March 16, 2015 Boutique merchant bank Restoration Partners announced that technology entrepreneur Mel Morris has made “a significant investment” in the firm and joined its advisory board. The company, which works alongside visionary entrepreneurs in the technology sector, refused to reveal how much Morris had invested, but said it was looking forward to working with him. “In the [...]
Uber rival Lyft valued over £1.5bn after £353m funding round March 12, 2015 Taxi app Lyft has raised $530m (£353.6m) from a new funding round, softening the blow dealt by a US judges’ ruling against the ride-sharing service. Lyft is now valued at more than $2.5bn (£1.67bn) after a funding round led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten closed this week. Rakuten now owns an 11.9 [...]
Jay Z’s £37m offer for loss-making Swedish streaming service accepted March 12, 2015 Jay Z has paid $56.2m (£37.5m) for Swedish media technology company Aspiro, according to local news reports. Aspiro, which reported an operating loss of SEK41.5m (£3.23m) last year, has accepted the offer from S. Carter Enterprises’ Project Panther Bidco, despite opposition from minority shareholders. The Swedish company owns music streaming services WiMP and [...]
PayPal sets up cyber security centre in Israel and buys startup CyActive March 11, 2015 Online payments company PayPal yesterday announced it was establishing a cyber security centre in Beersheba, Israel, and has bought local startup CyActive to help to launch the development. PayPal, which is due to be spun off from eBay later this year, did not disclose financial details, but Israeli media have said the purchase was worth [...]
Human to superhuman: Time to upgrade yourself March 11, 2015 If you could use biotechnology to upgrade yourself, would you? Perhaps you’ve always despaired at your numerical illiteracy, or maybe you have trouble remembering things. A branch of science is looking beyond mere wearable tech toward a future of devices that you actually add to your body to make it better. From hearing aids to [...]
It’s proven: Autism and high intelligence are genetically linked March 11, 2015 For years, evidence has pointed towards a connection between autism and extreme intelligence. Einstein, Mozart and Newton are among those researchers believe suffered from the disorder. But a direct link between the two has been difficult to find, since there are many types of autism and in some cases it has the exact opposite impact [...]