Audit Straight to (Blockchain) Video September 11, 2018 Audit is about to change – so is regulation. While regulators around the globe grapple with Blockchain technology and its implications, including tokenisation of securities, fractionalisation of assets and ICOs, others – including at least one of the co-inventors of the technology – are working on a quiet revolution they believe is destined to transform [...]
Plastic packaging giant RPC confirms buyout talks and shares soar September 10, 2018 Plastic packaging giant RPC has confirmed talks with private equity firms over a potential takeover, sending its shares soaring by more than 20 per cent. The company's board said this morning that “preliminary discussions” were being held with Apollo Global and Bain Capital over a possible takeover and said they had until 8 October to [...]
Shares in Apple’s Asian suppliers tumble after Trump calls for iPhone to be made in the US September 10, 2018 Shares in Apple's Asian suppliers have slumped this morning after Donald Trump suggested the iPhone maker should move its production to the US to avoid proposed tariffs on Chinese products. Suppliers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have seen their shares tumbles after the US President offered the tech giant a tax incentive to produce in America. [...]
iPhone XS, Apple Watch 4, Mac Mini: Everything you need to know about Wednesday’s Apple event September 7, 2018 Apple is set to announce a whole new slate of products on Wednesday, including updates to the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac lines. Here's a roundup of what we've heard might come across the Steve Jobs Theatre stage this year. Three new iPhones Yes, you read that right. This year, Apple is slated to [...]
Editor’s notes: Jeff Bezos should look closer to home for ideas on where to spend his fortune, new peer Bethell is a Lord to applaud, and the Economist shows how to stand up to social media bullies September 7, 2018 Amazon has joined Apple in the ranks of $1 trillion companies based on market capitalisation. Shortly before his company hit this massive (but meaningless) valuation, founder Jeff Bezos was pondering how to spend his vast wealth. Bezos is estimated to be sitting on a $130bn (£100bn) fortune – and earlier this summer he was asked [...]
Magic Leap taps Andy Serkis’ CGI studio to power content for its new VR headset September 6, 2018 Virtual reality startup Magic Leap has teamed up with The Imaginarium Studios, a London firm founded by actor Andy Serkis to power additional CGI content for its latest headset, which it raised $2.4bn to develop. Imaginarium, which has worked on films such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, uses performance capture technology with actors to build [...]
Shazam! EU gives Apple go-ahead for music app takeover September 6, 2018 Apple was given the green light for its planned takeover of popular song-recognition app Shazam by the European Union today. The tech giant got the go-ahead to acquire Shazam, which identifies songs played within range of a smartphone, from an EU antitrust investigation that said the takeover would not harm competition in the bloc. A full-scale [...]
Amazon hits a trillion-dollar valuation September 4, 2018 Amazon has become the second ever US publicly-listed company to hit a $1 trillion market valuation. Amazon shares briefly passed over the $2,050.27 mark needed to break the milestone earlier this afternoon, before dropping back down to $2,035.56. It crossed the $2,000 per share threshold last Thursday, amid doubts from Wall Street that placed it [...]
Mobile payments platform Boku sees users and profits soar after strengthening links with digital giants September 4, 2018 Mobile payments platform Boku has seen a surge in users and profit after strengthening links with the world's largest digital companies. The company said its total payment volume (TPV) was up 153 per cent to $1.5bn (£1.17bn) and that its monthly active users grew to 10.3 million – a 117 per cent increase on the [...]
Halfords sales speed up as servicing business benefits from drop in car sales September 4, 2018 Halfords Group reported sales growth this morning against a tough backdrop, but profits are still expected to remain flat on last year. The update came ahead of new chief executive Graham Stapleton's strategy update at the end of this month, though analysts do not expect any radical changes at the business. The figures Total revenue in [...]