EU regulators to probe Apple’s acquisition of music app Shazam April 23, 2018 EU antitrust regulators today opened an investigation into Apple’s bid for British music app Shazam over fears it could restrict competition in the music streaming market. Shazam allows smartphone users to identify a song by pointing their phones at it. Regulators fear Apple Music could use data from the app to poach users from rival [...]
Facebook, Google and Twitter warned of new government legislation on child protection April 22, 2018 Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has written to social media giants including Facebook and Google telling them to explain what they will do to improve the protection of children. The firms have until next week, the end of April, to tell ministers how they will cut underage use and clamp down on bullying and overuse. Hunt [...]
Apple to offer free replacement batteries after glitch in some MacBook Pros April 21, 2018 Apple is to offer replacement batteries for some MacBook Pros fitted with batteries that have swollen due to a component failure. The tech giant said on its website a “limited number” of 13-inch MacBook Pro laptops sold between October 2016 and October 2017 had been fitted with a faulty component that causes the battery to [...]
Santander is launching blockchain-based international transfers for UK customers on Friday 13 April 2018 April 12, 2018 Santander is launching a blockchain-based international money transfer system that personal customers in the UK can use starting Friday. The Ripple-based service lets people complete international transfers within the same or next day — it’s dubbed Santander One Pay FX. “Blockchain technology offers tremendous opportunities to improve the services we offer our customers, and the [...]
How to bring the UK’s 1.5m unbanked into the digital economy before cash is displaced | City A.M. April 12, 2018 Last month’s inaugural Spring Statement had everything one might expect from a chancellor more renowned for fiscal prudence than visionary reform. Philip Hammond did, however, acknowledge the rapid pace of change in financial technology, launching a consultation to ensure “our economy is fit for the future and keeps pace with changes in the ways that [...]
Apple launches red iPhone 8 to support fight against AIDS April 9, 2018 American tech giant Apple today announced it is launching a new red version of its iPhone 8. The red phone will be available in both the standard iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models. Proceeds from the sale of the phone will support Product (RED), an organisation that supports the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. [...]
Facebook’s Icarus needs to come down to earth before it’s too late April 9, 2018 Mark Zuckerberg is facing his Icarus moment. The tale of the boy who flew too close to the sun would make uncomfortable reading for the Facebook founder. “Move fast and break things” was the mantra that made Zuckerberg such a totem of sky-high success. But lax privacy controls and the leaking of the information of [...]
Crypto-phobia risks tarnishing blockchain with the bitcoin brush April 9, 2018 Bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency, has been associated with dark and unsavoury topics such as human trafficking, money laundering, and most recently indecent image transfer. As such, cryptocurrencies, and their foundational technology blockchain, have been negatively tainted in the public eye. While we cannot shy away from confronting this dark side of cryptocurrency, there remains [...]
Millennials are killing the TV licence April 6, 2018 Millennials are constantly being accused of “killing” things. Not people, thankfully, but the auto industry, lunch, marriage. Here’s another for the ever-growing list: in between never owning a home, avocados on rye, and leeching off my parents, somehow I find time to not watch the BBC. An Ipsos MORI poll for the Beeb warns that [...]
Facebook may shared personal data of 87m people with Cambridge Analytica – not the 50m previously thought April 4, 2018 Facebook today admitted almost 30m more people than previously thought may have had their personal data handed over to Cambridge Analytica. Some 87m, most of which were from the US, may have had information improperly shared. Previously, the social media giant estimated a figure of 50m. Chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer revealed the increased numbers [...]