Bill-paying app Velocity raises $12m in venture funding June 28, 2015 A smartphone app which lets diners pay for their meal and drinks without requesting the bill has raised $12m (£7.6m) in one of the largest first funding rounds for a tech business in the UK. Velocity, which was founded by two childhood friends in March 2014, has already signed 300 high end restaurants to [...]
Elon Musks’ SpaceX resupply rocket explodes just few minutes after take-off June 28, 2015 SpaceX's latest mission didn't last long – its Falcon 9 rocket exploded just a few minutes after being launched from a base in Florida this morning. Read more: SpaceX launch Q&A: Expert explains the science behind landing a reusable rocket The company, which was set up by entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2002, said the [...]
The second machine age is coming, and it’ll be bigger than the industrial revolution, says AI boss June 26, 2015 Before the industrial revolution, work was a very different experience for most humans. We were on our feet, working in the fields and interacting with people rather than technology – a world away from the desk-based computer jobs we have now. Read more: Darpa invents technology to let humans see beyond reality And once [...]
This computer game claims to make you stop snacking and lose weight June 26, 2015 Most of us associate playing computer games with being couch potatoes, but this doesn't have to be the case, according to a study published in the journal Appetite. Read more: Everyone's talking about spiralizing and banting: Ways to lose weight and get healthy in 2015 Scientists in the UK were sponsored by the Wellcome Trust to [...]
Amazon wants to make talking to robots an everyday event with Echo June 25, 2015 Amazon is aiming to make talking to robots as normal an event as turning on the TV or checking your phone. The company has ambitious plans to make voice control ubiquitous in households and has started by launching the Amazon Echo, a wireless speaker you can control through voice commands by saying “Alexa”. Alexa is [...]
Men should freeze their sperm now if they plan to have children later in life, says scientist June 25, 2015 Men ought to freeze their sperm as young as 18 if they want to ensure having healthy children, according to a British bioethicist. Writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Dr Kevin Smith from Abertay University in Dundee said although men are able to have children well into old age, leaving it too late [...]
Ocean London: An ocean of possibilities for the city’s event scene June 24, 2015 It seems there is such a thing as too much choice. Even deciding where to see a film on a roof is a headache when you live in a city as large and diverse as London. This predicament has given rise to a number of event planning apps that aim to make your leisure time, [...]
Best of the rest: five event planning apps June 24, 2015 Culture Key This picture-heavy app basically turns Time Out into Tinder. Leisurely swipe through beautiful, full-screen pictures of all the art, music, theatre, festivals and walks currently happening in London, all hand-picked by its discovery team. Free for iPhone Frugl If you normally stay in at the end of the month because your bank account [...]
New York provides a better environment than London to foster innovation June 24, 2015 New York is the city that best fosters innovation and entrepreneurship, closely followed by London, according to a report that has just been launched. The city initiatives for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship (CITE) report analysed 40 world cities to see where policy has created the best environment for entrepreneurship and disruption. The cities were tested [...]
Boris Johnson says Uber drivers must pass black cab style Knowledge test June 24, 2015 Fresh from his expletive-ridden verbal tussle with a cabbie, the Mayor of London has come out on the side of London's black cab drivers in their rivalry with Uber. Boris Johnson has promised Knowledge style tests and language requirements for Uber drivers who London's traditional taxi drivers believe should be better regulated. Speaking at the [...]