The chancellor faces four daunting tasks in preparing his Autumn Statement September 14, 2016 Say your prayers for the chancellor of the exchequer. Most people think David Davis and Liam Fox have a tough enough job over the coming months, but Philip Hammond also faces a daunting challenge. Consider some of the questions in his in-tray: Question One: Is the UK economy slowing down? The received wisdom is that [...]
Oh my god, I can’t believe it: Spotify has 40m paid subscribers, its founder said today September 14, 2016 It seems Spotify founder Daniel Ek has taken a leaf out of Elon Musk's book: the Tesla tycoon is fond of using Twitter to make market-moving musings. And today Ek did just that: 40 is the new 30.Million. 😄 — Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) September 14, 2016 He was, of course, referring to the number of paid [...]
Now you can get Twitter on your TV screen September 14, 2016 Twitter may have helped create the idea of the second screen, as fans tweeted along to their favourite TV shows from their phones, but now the troubled social network wants to be centre stage on the main screen. It has signed a new deal with Apple, Amazon and Microsoft to appear on their TV services as it expands [...]
Amazon’s virtual home assistant Echo comes to the UK September 14, 2016 Amazon has launched its virtual home assistant Echo in the UK and Germany, its first markets for the device outside the US, which lets users control their home and do tasks online via simple voice commands. The device, priced at £149.99 or £99.99 for Prime members, is powered by Amazon's Alexa, an artificial intelligence voice assistant similar to [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 14, 2016 US seeds company Monsanto has accepted a takeover offer from German chemicals company Bayer, marking the biggest deal of 2016. Meanwhile, stocks are floating on a sea of green. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US stocks are pointing higher in the pre-market. The S&P is up by 0.2 per [...]
Just Eat delivers new chatbot “coach” to advise customers on takeaways September 14, 2016 Takeaway giant Just Eat will launch a Facebook Messenger chatbot food "coach" as part of an ambitious, tech-focused rebrand in which it is attempting to create "the world's greatest food community". Just Eat's chatbot will be on hand to customers to "bring food discovery to life by engaging with customers to coach and inspire their food choices", the company announced [...]
In pictures: Check out James Dyson’s new £250m answer to the Googleplex September 14, 2016 Google may have its Googleplex and Apple may shortly have its Doughnut – but now one of the UK's most innovative companies has launched its new, £250m version. And it's very shiny. Dyson's £250m, 56 acre technology campus in Malmesbury was officially completed today, the company said. Designed by James Dyson (latterly of the Leave campaign) and Chris Wilkinson over the [...]
iOS 10: Apple software update glitch causes iPhones to crash September 13, 2016 Apple is used to clean, crisp and perfectly stage-managed product launches. Unfortunately, this evening's unveiling of its all-singing iOS 10 software update didn't quite go as smoothly as the tech giant would have liked. The new operating system, which includes a new home screen and a much smarter Siri, went live at 6pm this evening, but users instantly [...]
Sterling still drifting on weak inflation figures September 13, 2016 The pound has slumped this afternoon on the back of weak inflation figures, taking the currency to a two-week low against both the dollar and the euro. Sterling drifted by one per cent against both the major currencies after inflation came in at a weaker-than-forecast 0.6 per cent in official figures out this morning. Economists [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 13, 2016 The chances of the Fed raising rates for the second time since the financial crisis next week are fading but it hasn't entirely put the brakes on the global stock sell off. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing down despite getting a [...]