A foldable smartphone that fits in your pocket? Samsung’s working on it June 1, 2016 As smartphone screens get bigger, the size of our pockets do not, resulting in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to carrying the thing around (when it' not glued to our palm, at least). Samsung is working on it, however, with plans for a device that simply folds in half and a new patent [...]
Trump, Thiel and space travel: Three things we learned from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos June 1, 2016 One of the most successful entrepreneurs of the modern world, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has spoken candidly on pressing issues such as Donald Trump, Peter Thiel versus Gawker and freedom of speech, as well as his childhood passion for space travel. Here are the three things we learned from his talk at Recode's Code Conference in California… [...]
2016 set to be year of retail failures as number of shoppers on Britain’s high streets in “terminal decline” June 1, 2016 The number of consumers on Britain’s high streets is in “terminal decline” as shopping habits change fundamentally, raising the prospect of more retail failures this year. Speaking to City A.M. after the demise of suits-specialist Austin Reed was confirmed yesterday, Diane Wehrle from top retail analyst Springboard said: “We’re no longer going to see increases in footfall [...]
Meet the crazy secure luxury £10k Solarin smartphone May 31, 2016 If the smartphone had been around in the 80s, Patrick Bateman and Gordon Gekko would have been showing off a Solarin. Forget Apple. When you make a smartphone with no constraint on price and mass market production, you get the Solarin – a 10k super luxury smartphone from stealth startup Sirin Labs, designed to keep [...]
Meet Zenbo, Asus’s Wall.E style home robot May 30, 2016 A Wall.E style robot that can help around the home has been launched by Taiwan electronics firm Asus. “For decades, humans have dreamed of owning such a companion: one that is smart, dear to our hearts, and always at our disposal. Our ambition is to enable robotic computing for every household," said Asus chairman Jonney [...]
Trials and tribulations: As Three announces a controversial ad-blocking experiment on some customers’ devices, is the technology gaining acceptance? May 29, 2016 In June, mobile carrier Three is to conduct an ad-blocking trial on the devices of some of its UK customers. Of course, it's only a trial. Three will invite 500,000 customers to partake for 24 hours. But Three's project could set a precedent which could threaten the revenue streams of online publishers and broadcasters which [...]
Food is the megatrend of the future and investing in meat, pork, health foods and grains is making investors money May 26, 2016 Doom-mongers often talk of the impending explosion in the human population. There will be 9bn people on the planet by 2050, and one of the big problems will be how to feed so many mouths. “Global supply and demand is out of balance, and in a state of flux,” says Hugo Rogers of the Liontrust [...]
Buy to let investors are feeling the heat: What are the alternatives for gaining exposure to residential property? May 26, 2016 The buy-to-let boom of recent years has fed the stereotype that Brits are uniquely obsessed with property. Yet statistically this appears to be little more than a myth. The latest data from Eurostat show that 64.8 per cent of the UK adult population lives in a property they own compared to an EU average of [...]
Samsung’s Apple and Android Pay rival will launch in Europe next week May 25, 2016 Samsung is heading into battle with Apple and Google in the war for mobile tap and pay users by focusing on extras such as membership and loyalty schemes as it launches Samsung Pay in Europe for the first time. The Korean smartphone maker is facing stiff competition from Apple Pay which launched last year and Google’s Android Pay [...]
Microsoft is axing jobs in the aftermath of its Nokia sale May 25, 2016 Microsoft has announced it will slash 1,850 jobs as it moves to "streamline" its smartphone hardware business. Earlier this month the Redmond, Washington based software giant announced it would sell the Nokia handset business for a measly $350m (£238m) to FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Taiwanese gadget maker Foxconn. Microsoft acquired it business in 2014 for $7.2bn. Last year the company cut 7,800 jobs [...]