What can science fiction tell us about the future? August 3, 2016 A recent book on the future of warfare warned that Britain’s pristine new aircraft carriers will be vulnerable to swarms of small, semi-autonomous drones that could not be stopped by conventional protective weaponry. Another looked at whether mass online gaming might be used to recruit networks to attack military or commercial targets. A third raised the [...]
Silicon Valley star gets green light for moon landing mission August 3, 2016 The US government has given a Silicon Valley-based company permission to send a robotic lander to the moon next year for a two-week mission. This is the first time a private space mission has been cleared to fly beyond Earth’s orbit, almost half a century since Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon’s surface. Moon Express is [...]
A Bank of England interest rate cut is almost inevitable: It’s a shame it’ll prove ineffective August 3, 2016 In all likelihood, today will see the most predictable yet most ineffective policy move from the Bank of England in its 19 years of monetary policy independence. We should be concerned, especially on the second point, because at a time when the economy is slowing, the limited ability of the Bank to lend a helping hand should [...]
Crocs’ revenue fall leads to share sell-off August 3, 2016 Crocs – the US maker of lightweight clogs – left investors wrong-footed yesterday after reporting a slide in sales and a disappointing outlook. Revenue fell six per cent to $324m (£243m) from $345m a year ago, below the consensus estimate of $348m. Net income came in at $15.5m, or 13 cents a share, slightly higher [...]
Game Digital expects revenues to be down but earnings on track with expectations August 3, 2016 Retailer Game Digital was unable to claw back the ground lost in the first half of the year according to a pre-close annual trading announcement released today. The update revealed that revenues are expected to be £815m for the 12 months to July 2016, down from £867m in the previous year. And while Gross Transactional [...]
July traffic numbers set a world record for Ryanair August 3, 2016 Ryanair said it had broken the world record for the most passengers carried by an airline during one month. “July was a record month for Ryanair as our traffic grew by 12% to 11.3m customers and we became the first airline in the world to carry over 11m international passengers in one month, with a [...]
Twitter’s share price takes flight on buyout rumours August 3, 2016 Shares in micro-blogging site Twitter have jumped today on rumours former Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer and Saudi investor Prince Al-Waleed Bin-Talal could make a buyout offer for the company. Shares are up by over eight per cent in New York, climbing to $17.72 after falling as low as $15.77 in July. Twitter shares hit an all time low of [...]
Here’s how much Sir Philip Green’s BHS pension bill has risen due to Brexit August 3, 2016 Sir Philip Green recently described negotiations with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) over plugging BHS' pension deficit as "cumbersome and slow" – after the Brexit vote, an agreement will also be expensive. After the Brexit vote, falling yields have led to the aggregate deficit of pensions schemes in the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) rising by more than 18 per cent since the BHS [...]
Major fine wine marketplace Liv-ex traded the first box of English sparkling wine from Nyetimber this week August 3, 2016 The first bottles of English sparkling wine joined the major fine wine marketplace Liv-ex this week. On Monday, a six-bottle case of the Sussex-based Nyetimber's 2010 vintage Classic Cuvee traded for £120 in bond. This represented a wholesale price of £20 a bottle, without tax. Read more: How Nyetimber put English wines on the map French wines [...]
Here’s everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 August 3, 2016 Announced earlier this week, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 is a big old betsy of a phablet, a 5.7-inch monsterphone that brings the super-powered performance of its existing S7 Edge device to its Note range. The Android powerhouse that giant-handed fans have been waiting all year for – and the biggest rival to Apple’s iPhone – [...]