Business must embrace voice assistants – or be left screaming July 11, 2016 During its recent Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced that its voice-activated assistant, Siri, has been seriously turbo-charged and is to be migrated to the Mac itself. Since then, a lot has been written about how this will improve the consumer experience. But what has been covered far less, if at all, is the impact the [...]
Uber Technologies has raised $1.15bn from a high-yield loan July 8, 2016 Uber Technologies has raised over a billion dollars to add to its arsenal in its bid to extend its operations across the world. The taxi-hailing app has finalised a $1.15bn (£889m) high-yield loan. The unleveraged loan, which is Uber's first, takes the total amount raised in debt and equity to more than $15bn and helps its [...]
Nintendo share price jumps on release of new Pokemon game July 8, 2016 Shares in video game giant Nintendo soared in early trading this morning, after the release of its new Pokemon game. The Japanese firm's stock was up 10 per cent at one point, to their highest level in more than two months. Pokemon GO, a new smartphone game, was released on Wednesday, and shot to the [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on Britain’s recent drinks upheaval and why should all be cheering on our distillers July 5, 2016 I love the way the British drinks revolution is going. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating when I call it a revolution, but there’s certainly been a huge increase in the production of distilled drinks, especially gin. A new gin is landing on my desk almost weekly, which is great news for bars, mixologists and, of course, [...]
iPhone builder plans float for cloud unit that could raise $1bn as demand for data transfer products soars July 5, 2016 The builder of Apple's iPhone has filed to float its cable and connector unit in Hong Kong in a deal that's thought could raise as much as $1bn (£765m). Taiwanese firm Hon Hai Precision Industry – known as Foxconn Technology Group – assembles most of Apple's iPhones and many of the other smartphones in use around the world. The planned initial public offering [...]
Apple supplier Imagination Technologies swings to biggest ever loss July 5, 2016 The shine has worn off Imagination Technologies after swinging to its biggest ever loss in a tough market just months after being courted by tech giant Apple. The figures The chip maker swung to an pre-tax loss of £61.5m for the year to the end of April, down from a £5.7m loss the previous year. Revenue slipped 23 per cent to £120m [...]
Tech overtakes finance among top global companies July 4, 2016 Technology has stolen a march on finance, with the success of companies such as Alphabet and Microsoft helping the innovative sector surpass the traditional world of financial services among the world's top 100 companies over the past year. Technology firms in the list notched up a combined value of $3bn compared to financial firms' $2.7bn and the $2.6bn [...]
Making tech human: The Memo’s Alex Wood on why there’s more value in a smaller audience July 4, 2016 "Apple announcements aren’t exciting anymore,” says Alex Wood, the journalist and entrepreneur behind tech website The Memo. Not only is the tech titan failing to launch products and software which are more eye-catching than those which preceded them, Wood thinks that consumers are tired of technology being presented to them as an endless chronicling of operating [...]
Imagination Technologies set to post biggest ever loss as costs soar July 3, 2016 Investors are braced for UK chip maker Imagination Technologies to report a slump in earnings this week. The Hertfordshire-based tech firm will post its full year results tomorrow and analysts have pencilled in a £20m loss, the worst in its 30-year history. Imagination is heavily exposed to its main customer iPhone maker Apple, and has [...]
US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launches investigation after Tesla driverless car death July 1, 2016 A preliminary investigation has been launched after the death of a man in Florida who was driving a Tesla Model S car on autopilot mode. The crash with a tractor occurred on 7 May and is the first known fatality in more than 130m miles where Tesla's autopilot setting has been activated, the electric car maker said [...]