FriendlyScore: This FinTech startup can analyse social media activity to prove creditworthiness August 26, 2015 When you're sharing a selfie at dinner or updating LinkedIn with your latest promotion, you're giving away more than you might think. A London-based startup has taken the huge amount of data we share every day on social media to come up with a way of assessing whether we can be trusted with a loan or [...]
Selfie sticks and adult colouring books: Here’s what Londoners buy the most, and where, according to Amazon August 26, 2015 True to form, west Londoners are knocking back the Bolly – while south of the river, residents are sitting back and relaxing with an on-trend adult colouring-in book. These are just some of the most popular items people pop in their shopping baskets across the four corners of the capital – and if you've always [...]
Back to school: Gadgets in kids’ back packs are worth £270 as total value more than triples to £3.2bn August 25, 2015 Parents will be sending their kids off to school in September with more tech gadgets than ever before. Each child's back pack will be filled with tech worth on average an astonishing £270, bringing the total value of British school kids' satchels to £3.2bn, more than triple this time last year. Just under a quarter of [...]
Self-driving cars: This is why they won’t reach our roads for a long time August 25, 2015 There’s much excitement about the future of the self-driving car. We've heard endless discussions about Google's version ever since it was first launched in 2010, and now Apple has jumped on the bandwagon, too. Read more: Driverless car technology to get £20m UK government funding and testing guidelines introduced In fact, earlier this year [...]
Alibaba’s cloud computing arm Aliyun launches “China’s first” artificial intelligence service August 25, 2015 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s cloud computing arm is breaking into the artificial intelligence market, launching what the company is proclaiming to be “China’s first AI platform”, which will give developers the capacity to analyse large amounts of data. Cloud computing division Aliyun is Alibaba’s fastest-growing division, and although the company still gets most of its [...]
Uber trials bus-route style pick-ups in San Francisco August 25, 2015 Uber's not content with just offering rides on-demand in hundreds of cities around the world. Now the startup is trialing a new feature that offers bus-style pick-ups along certain routes. The so-called "smart routes" are being tested out on the streets of San Francisco and build upon its existing Uber Pool service that lets you [...]
Sony unveils Aerosense drone: Watch the drone prototype take flight for the first time August 25, 2015 The world has been given a first glimpse of Sony’s future drone completing a vertical take-off, as Sony’s Aerosense unveils a prototype that shows the company’s shift from consumer to enterprise tech. The drone looks cool, but this is no toy. Moving away from the consumer sphere, these plane-shaped drones are aimed at business use. [...]
Markit expands fintech service with acquisition August 25, 2015 Financial data supplier Markit is expanding its reach in the global financial industry, as it announced yesterday it has agreed to purchase foreign exchange trading service DealHub for an undisclosed sum. Markit said the acquisition will allow the group to expand its service, offering a one-stop shop for banks, brokers and asset managers. Jeff Maron, [...]
UK researchers have developed Moo-Q, an app that knows when you’re most productive August 24, 2015 When are you at your most productive? Is it just after a good night’s sleep, or after that third cup of coffee kicks in mid-morning? Perhaps you’re not really sure: In that case, there is now an app for that (of course there is). UK psychologists have developed an app to help us figure out [...]
New flu vaccine could give humans life-long immunity August 24, 2015 A new vaccine created by scientists in the US could give humans life-long immunity to influenza and help prevent future pandemics. Read more: Yorkshire duck farm bird flu outbreak: How is the disease transmitted and can it affect humans? Vaccines are already available for preventing the illness, but as soon as the virus mutates [...]