Can Amazon really be a climate change champion? June 12, 2019 | City Talk Amazon is not a company normally associated with meaningful strides towards a low carbon future. Although e-commerce is typically better for the environment than heavily air-conditioned, high street stores, speedy deliveries carry a high carbon cost. Any Amazon shopper may feel a pang of guilt – as I have – at using the one day delivery [...]
Amazon overtakes Apple and Google as world’s most valuable brand June 11, 2019 Amazon has surged past tech rivals Apple and Google to be crowned the world’s most valuable brand. The e-commerce giant jumped in brand value by 52 per cent over the last year to reach $315.5bn (£405.9bn), according to the latest figures from WPP and Kantar. Read more: Amazon to deliver packages by drone ‘within months’ [...]
Amazon to deliver packages by drone ‘within months’ June 6, 2019 Amazon will begin delivering packages by drone within months, fulfilling a goal that has eluded the world’s biggest online retailer for years. The new fully-electric drones take off and land vertically like a helicopter. They use visual, thermal and ultrasonic sensors to fly themselves and can avoid objects in the air and on the ground. [...]
Microsoft and Oracle team up to take on Amazon Web Services June 5, 2019 Microsoft and Oracle will connect their cloud services in an effort to woo big businesses and take on market leader Amazon Web Services (AWS). The combined service will enable users to connect Oracle’s autonomous databases with Microsoft services, such as Azure analytics and artificial intelligence. The new high-speed link between the two company’s data centres [...]
Global video-on-demand subscriptions set to near 1bn by 2024 June 3, 2019 Global subscriptions of on-demand video platforms are set to surge towards 1bn over the next five years, new figures have revealed. The total number of subscriptions will soar 86 per cent from 439m last year to 947m in 2024, according to London-based firm Digital TV Research. Read more: Live TV still holds top spot despite [...]
Amazon hits back at Hammond’s digital tax with high street venture June 2, 2019 Amazon is launching a programme to help digital businesses find success on the high street, with a series of pop-up stores across the UK. The move follows comments from chancellor Philip Hammond that the tech giant and other online behemoths hold a “near-monopoly” over physical stores, contributing to retail's economic downturn. The e-commerce giant will open [...]
Notifications to EU Commission about unlawful tax breaks rocket in state aid crackdown May 30, 2019 The number of notifications to the EU Commission about potentially unlawful tax breaks has rocketed as countries take a tougher stance on state aid. In the last five years the Commission was notified about 385 potentially unlawful tax breaks, compared to just 80 between 2007 and 2013. Over the 12 months to 31 March the [...]
Netflix raises prices by 20 per cent as it blames $15bn production budget May 30, 2019 Netflix is raising the prices of some of its subscriptions by as much as 20 per cent as it prepares to ramp up investment in new TV shows and films. The streaming service is increasing the cost of its standard plan, which allows users to watch on two screens, by £1 to £8.99, while the [...]
Netflix and Amazon cash in on British streaming market with double the revenue of UK services May 29, 2019 Netflix and Amazon’s revenues from UK streaming customers last year was £1.1bn, twice the amount the Britain’s biggest broadcasters made from their own streaming platforms. Netflix made around £693m in revenues from its UK subscriber base of 10m people last year, while Amazon generated £400m from 7.7m subscribers to its Prime Video platform. The figures, [...]
Live TV still the top choice for Brits despite rise of on-demand viewing May 28, 2019 Broadcast live TV is still the go-to option for Brits when deciding what to watch, despite the surge in popularity of on-demand services, a new survey has revealed. More than two-fifths of the UK population still always turn to live TV in the first instance, making traditional broadcasters the most popular choice, according to research [...]