Audioboom books first profit as podcast downloads grow April 14, 2021 Podcast platform Audioboom has booked its first ever profit for the first quarter after cashing in on continued growth in on-demand audio. The Aim-listed firm posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $30,000 (£22,000) in the first three months of the year, up from a $500,000 loss the previous year. The maiden [...]
FTSE 250 bests main market after postive GDP data fails to move the dial April 13, 2021 FTSE 250 bests main market after postive GDP data fails to move the dial
UK must make tech firms pay for news, says competition watchdog April 13, 2021 The UK must introduce a new code to ensure news publishers are fairly compensated for the use of their stories on tech platforms, the competition watchdog has said. Daniel Gordon, senior director of markets at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said his organisation agreed with the principles behind a new Australian law requiring tech [...]
London investor Tej Kohli on chasing the ‘second wave’ of CRISPR-Cas9 April 13, 2021 “The only thing worse than losing money on an investment is having to watch the value of something that you didn’t back grow beyond all expectations” says London-based technologist and investor Tej Kohli. Kohli is talking into a laptop with the team of experts that he has assembled to spearhead a new initiative for his [...]
Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong jailed as media tycoon Jimmy Lai writes from prison April 13, 2021 Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been jailed for four months today for ‘unauthorised assembly’ and breaching an anti-mask law during a demonstration in October 2019. Among 47 others charged under a national security law, Wong is currently serving a separate 13.5-month jail term for organising an unauthorised assembly outside police headquarters in June [...]
Microsoft buys AI firm Nuance for $19.7bn in healthcare push April 12, 2021 Microsoft today said it will buy AI health firm Nuance Communications in a $19.7bn (£14.3bn) deal as it looks to bolster its healthcare offering. Massachusetts-based Nuance offers artificial intelligence and speech technology services designed to automate clinical administrative work and reduce the burden of paperwork on doctors. Microsoft said its offer of $56 per share [...]
NHS Covid-19 app update blocked for privacy breaches April 12, 2021 An update to the NHS Covid-19 app has been blocked by Apple and Google for breaking the companies’ privacy terms. The app was due for a fresh reboot from today to coincide with the reopening of pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops, which would have allowed users to log venues they had checked into via a [...]
Johanna Kyrklund: the FOMO market is over – so, what’s next? April 12, 2021 Maybe lockdown has made me more middle aged and boring. I’m just not as interested in trendy stuff any more, both in my personal life (I opted for a VW ID3, not a Tesla, after all) and now in investing. But in today’s markets a more boring approach – favouring diversification and judiciousness over more [...]
Elon Musk claims Neuralink could ‘enable paraplegics to walk again’ April 9, 2021 Elon Musk has shared a video of a monkey using his Neuralink this morning, which showed it playing a video game with computer chips in its mind. Neuralink has begun developing an implanted, wireless brain-machine interface (BMI) which could aid people with paralysis to use their brain activity to operate computers. “First Neuralink product will [...]
Apple’s China dilemma: as the tech giant cracks down on privacy, Beijing finds a workaround April 9, 2021 China’s tech companies have long lived in a parallel universe to their western rivals. But the news that a number of them are testing a tool to bypass Apple’s new privacy rules raises a number of questions about the future of privacy – and perhaps the internet in general. In short, app developers have long [...]