Obama attacks Europe over tech protectionism against Google February 16, 2015 US President Barack Obama hit out at the EU for its scrutiny of companies like Google and Facebook, which he believes is driven by a desire to protect European tech companies. Search giant Google is currently embroiled in a four-year probe into its dominant position in Europe’s search engine market. “Sometimes the European response here [...]
Institute of Directors labels Google Tax a government about-face February 15, 2015 The Institute of Directors (IoD) has criticised the Diverted Profits Tax, known as the Google Tax, being introduced by the government. The law aims to gain revenue from some profits that multi-national companies register abroad. Firms will be legally obliged to notify HMRC, and pay a 25 per cent tax on identified earnings. Stephen Herring, [...]
Treasury group warns new Google tax could jeopardise efforts to deal with tax avoidance February 12, 2015 The Treasury Committee has slammed the proposed diverted profits tax and warned that it could derail international efforts to address tax avoidance. In its report on the 2014 Autumn Statement, the committee said an international response to the issue is currently taking place in the form of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting project, [...]
Tech firms’ confidence will help us build a UK Facebook or Google February 4, 2015 Tech City’s UK’s Tech Nation report today confirms what many of us in the tech sector have long known to be true: the UK’s digital businesses are flourishing and are set to become even more vital to our economy in the next few years. Fortune favours the brave, and we have the potential in this [...]
Project Tango: Google’s 3D mapping camera is one step closer February 4, 2015 Google's much-hyped 3D printing camera is one step closer to being unveiled to the world, after the company ramped its so-called Project Tango up a notch. The tech giant has announced Project Tango will move out of its Advanced Technology and Projects Group (ATAP) – suggesting it is now thinking about future marketability and real-world [...]
Uber and Google rivalry heating up as both target driverless cars February 3, 2015 Controversial ride-hire app Uber is planning to research self-driving cars by partnering with a leading US university, a move that could put it in competition with its shareholder Google. Google has been exploring driverless cars since 2010 and now has a fully functioning prototype that it plans to begin testing on San Francisco roads this [...]
Google’s results: Here’s what you need to know January 29, 2015 Google has reported its results for the fourth quarter and its worse than expected. Earnings per share were 20 cents below analysts' estimates at $6.88 while revenue came in $100m short at $14.5bn. On the upside profits were $4.76bn – 30 per cent up from the same period the year before. Analysts' forecast compiled by [...]
OnTheMarket will need to win the Google battle before it can really challenge Zoopla and Rightmove January 28, 2015 OnTheMarket.com, the new property website from the Agents’ Mutual group of estate agents, launched with much fanfare this week with an apparent threat to the “duopoly” enjoyed by Rightmove and Zoopla. Zoopla, as the less well-visited of the two property portal giants, seemed in particular danger as one of the requirements of OnTheMarket.com meant [...]
Video: Google’s Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella at Davos 2015 January 22, 2015 On day two of this year's biggest gathering of world leaders, the focus moved to tech. During one session Google chairman Eric Schmidt joined Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella to discuss the future of the digital economy, and whether we have what is needed to ensure a thriving, open [...]
SpaceX lands $1bn investment from Google and Fidelity January 20, 2015 SpaceX, the California-based rocket company, said it received a $1bn investment from Google and Fidelity. Google and Fidelity will together own just under 10 per cent of the company, which gives SpaceX a total valuation of $10bn. SpaceX, which is based by Tesla founder Elon Musk, said it will use the funding for innovation in [...]