Lenovo sued over patent infringement August 28, 2019 A US-based company is taking Chinese computer-maker Lenovo to court over allegations it infringed on a series of 4G patents. Interdigital has filed papers in Britain’s high court as it tries to protect four patents, the company said today. Read more: Vectura shares get a shot in the arm after drug maker wins GSK patent [...]
Hey up, Siri: BBC to launch ‘Beeb’ voice assistant that recognises regional accents August 27, 2019 The BBC is preparing to launch a digital voice assistant next year that will be trained to recognise different regional accents from across the UK. The new assistant will not be a hardware device, but will be built into the BBC’s website and will also work across smart speakers, TVs and mobile phones. Read more: [...]
Facing the heat: Trump warns of tariffs on French wine ahead of digital tax talks August 26, 2019 France’s vineyards have become the latest battleground in Donald Trump’s global trade wars, with the US President threatening to slap a tariff on French wines in retaliation to a planned tax on large multinational tech firms. Trump has threatened winemakers with high tariffs ahead of talks today over France’s plans to tax the revenues of [...]
‘Feel the pain’: China set to retaliate on US tariffs, says state newspaper August 23, 2019 China will soon unveil plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on certain goods, the editor of a Chinese state-backed newspaper has said. Read more: Chinese renminbi set for another weekly fall on trade tensions Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, tweeted: “Based on what I know, China will take further countermeasures in response to US [...]
US manufacturing sector contracts for first time since 2009, survey says August 22, 2019 The US manufacturing sector contracted for the first time since the financial crisis in August, survey data showed today, in a sign that a global slowdown and trade tensions are damaging producers. Read more: Apple’s Tim Cook cautions Donald Trump over China tariffs A preliminary reading of the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a closely-watched [...]
Dutch fintech Adyen sees core profit jump 79 per cent August 22, 2019 Adyen, the Dutch fintech company that processes payments for companies including Facebook and Netflix, has reported a jump in first-half core profit, helped by an increased volume of transactions. The figures Adyen said its core earnings (EBITDA) for the first half of the year were up 79 per cent to €125.8m (£115m), up from €70.3m [...]
Apple reportedly hikes streaming budget as it eyes November launch date August 20, 2019 Apple is said to be planning a November launch date for its eagerly-awaited streaming service, as it ramps up its spending on new films and TV shows. Apple TV Plus is considering a monthly subscription fee of $9.99 (£8.25) following a free trial period, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Read more: Apple’s [...]
Whatsapp in talks to launch mobile payments service in Indonesia August 20, 2019 Whatsapp is said to be in discussions with several digital payments firms in Indonesia over plans to offer mobile transactions over its platform. If a deal were reached, it would make Indonesia only the second country worldwide where Whatsapp offers the service. Read more: NSO denies Whatsapp spyware can hack data The firm is currently [...]
How useful are passwords for keeping our data secure? August 19, 2019 Every year, new research and new articles appear telling us that the most popular passwords are still things like “password1” and “qwerty123”. This “big” reveal is then followed up by a lecture on the importance of protecting yourself online. But we’ve been using passwords as digital identification tools for as long as we’ve had technology, [...]
Top US business bosses abandon shareholder-first principle August 19, 2019 The age-old principle that shareholders come first has been ditched by an influential lobbying group representing some of the world’s most senior business bosses. Maximising profits for investors should no longer be the main priority for firms, an organisation called The Business Roundtable concluded today, as it signalled a major corporate shift towards achieving wider [...]