How traditional banks can keep ahead of their fintech noisy neighbours in innovation race May 16, 2016 There have been plenty of reports about fintechs being bad news for banks, but in actual fact they may be the best thing to happen to traditional banks and the banking sector for a long time. No, really. Many have warned that the introduction of digitally savvy options into the retail banking sector will prove [...]
Google could face the EU’s biggest ever antitrust fine May 15, 2016 Google could be facing a multi-billion pound fine over its dominance of internet search in Europe just weeks after it was charged in relation to similar claims over its Android operating system The fine, due to be handed out by competition chief Margrethe Vestager in the coming weeks according to the Telegraph, would finally wrap up a six year antitrust investigation into Google's powers [...]
Apple just ploughed $1bn into this Chinese taxi startup May 13, 2016 So now we've found out exactly what Apple was planning to do with (some of) the vast amount of cash it has sloshing around its bank account. Overnight Didi Chuxing, a Chinese rival to Uber, which describes itself as "the world's leading one-stop mobile transportation platform", issued a rather gleeful statement overnight saying it had made [...]
Pharma is failing to spread the word about the millions of lives it saves May 13, 2016 Traders and canny investors take a keen interest in spread – the difference between the buy and sell price on any given market. They know that whatever they buy must bridge this gap before they can make a penny. Spreads are wider on stocks that are infrequently traded and, if they get too wide, traders [...]
Google’s just overtaken Apple as the world’s most valuable company (again) May 12, 2016 Google parent company Alphabet has surpassed Apple to become the biggest publicly traded company in the world in terms of market capitalisation after Apple shares fell below $90 for the first time since 2014. The under pressure iPhone maker and the search giant have been vying to be crowned the most valuable company in the world [...]
Barclays rules out Android Pay, going it alone with own mobile pay app May 12, 2016 Barclays is going it alone when it comes to mobile pay, rolling out its own contactless payment app on Android to all its customers, eschewing Google's own soon to launch Android Pay service. The bank's customers will be able to pay with just a swipe of their debit card from June with Barclays' Contactless Mobile [...]
These are the top 10 most valuable brands in the world May 11, 2016 Half of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world are technology ones, with tech titan Apple topping the list. The Cupertino-based iPhone maker may have suffered a dip in fortunes recently (compared to a decade-long streak of constant growth, at least), but it's still generating cash on the back of its reputation among consumers. [...]
Apple’s just patented a second screen for your iPad with smart cover display May 11, 2016 As if we aren't already assaulted by screen after screen on a daily basis – such is modern life – Apple wants to give you another one. The iPad helped create the concept of "second screening", but Apple thinks you need a second screen for your second screen, raising the prospect of third screening as an actual thing [...]
WhatsApp’s new desktop app is about to ruin workplace productivity May 11, 2016 As if an Internet full of listicles, cat videos, Twitter storms (and perhaps the odd bit of news) weren't enough of a distraction while you're trying to get some work done, there's a new diversion from the daily grind coming to your desktop. Messaging app WhatsApp is escaping the confines of your smartphone and has now arrived on Windows PCs and Apple Macs [...]
UK security services fail in legal bid to get hacker Lauri Love to hand over passwords for encrypted device via “back door” May 10, 2016 The UK's security services have failed in their bid to force a hacker to hand over passwords which would give them access to encrypted information held on his computer, in what's been called a landmark case. A judge has ruled today against the National Crime Agency (NCA), which was seeking the passwords as part of a civil case brought by [...]