iPhones, oil and active investing: seven best investment charts of the month October 6, 2017 Taiwan tech tied to iPhone launch If history has taught investors anything, it is that the hype surrounding the latest iPhone launch by Apple usually ends up falling short of expectations. And this extends to the share prices of the many components suppliers involved in the giant’s supply chain too. In Asia, many Taiwanese technology [...]
Why cinema is doomed: The picture house may think it has weathered the storms of piracy and streaming, but the real cliff edge is still to come October 5, 2017 In April of last year, AMC, on the verge of buying out Odeon and becoming the largest cinema chain in the world, announced it was considering allowing people to use their phones during screenings. Its CEO, Adam Aron, justified this by saying, “When you tell a 22- year-old to turn off their phone, they hear [...]
Why cinema is doomed: The picture house has weathered the storm of piracy, but the real cliff edge is still to come October 5, 2017 In April of last year, AMC, on the verge of buying out Odeon and becoming the largest cinema chain in the world, announced it was considering allowing people to use their phones during screenings. Its CEO, Adam Aron, justified this by saying, “When you tell a 22- year-old to turn off their phone, they hear [...]
Dialog Semiconductor, the UK-based German chipmaker and supplier to Apple, has acquired US tech firm Silego for $306m October 5, 2017 A UK-based German chipmaker which supplies Apple has snapped up a US tech firm in a deal worth up to $306m. Dialog Semiconductor will buy California’s Silego Technology in a $276m cash deal with a further consideration of $30.4m it announced on Thursday morning. Silego makes Configurable Mixed-signal ICs (CMIC) – that is, chips which [...]
Unhappy Valley: Europe gets tough on tech giants Amazon and Apple as Margrethe Vestager sets sights on US firms’ tax deals in Europe October 5, 2017 Brussels is cracking down on Silicon Valley tech giants and their tax arrangements in Europe, leaving the door open to further action after fresh rulings against Amazon and Apple. Competition chief Margrethe Vestager indicated the European Commission (EC) will likely scrutinise more so-called sweetheart tax deals as she slapped the online retailer with a €250m [...]
DEBATE: Should we be worried about facial recognition? October 5, 2017 Should we be worried about facial recognition? Dr Tom Chatfield, and tech philosopher and author of Critical Thinking, says YES. Imagine. A super-high resolution drone camera captures ten thousand faces from a crowd in one shot; an algorithm processes and identifies over ninety per cent of them within moments; the results are cross-referenced with billions [...]
The EU is taking Ireland to court over Apple’s €13bn tax bill October 4, 2017 Brussels is taking further action in a landmark tax case involving Apple and Ireland. Europe’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager today said the European Commission is taking Ireland to court over its failure to collect a record €13bn (£11.5bn) in back taxes from Apple. The EC last year ruled that a favourable “sweetheart” deal over tax [...]
Addison Lee is on the hunt for hundreds more drivers in London after Uber’s licence loss September 29, 2017 With Uber battling to secure a change of mind from Transport for London over the loss of its London licence, other taxi rivals have been quick to report rising app downloads and increased interest. And today, Addison Lee announced it is on the hunt for 1,000 extra drivers due to a rise in demand. The [...]
Toshiba finally signs £13bn deal to sell chips unit to Bain Capital-led consortium, but signs of discord emerge as press conference cancelled September 28, 2017 Toshiba Corp has finally signed a ¥2 trillion (£13bn) deal to sell its prized chips unit, Toshiba Memory Company (TMC), to a consortium led by private equity giant Bain Capital. The consortium, which also consists of tech names such as Apple and Dell, staved off competition from bidders including Western Digital, Toshiba’s chips partner which [...]
iPhone 8 review: Eclipsed by the iPhone X, is Apple’s “other” iPhone at risk of being forgotten about? September 27, 2017 The iPhone 8 is a conundrum: it’s an excellent phone, a hero handset, but one that’s destined to be the bridesmaid and never the bride. Launched on the same day as the all-new, all-singing, all-dancing iPhone X, the iPhone 8, which looks virtually identical to every premium Apple handset since 2014, is the plain sibling, [...]