The new HTC 10 smartphone is trying to beat Apple and Samsung with selfies April 12, 2016 HTC has unveiled its newest flagship phone which it hopes can rival the likes of Apple and Samsung – and it's betting on selfies to do that. The HTC 10 boasts a camera which can steady your selfie-taking wobbles, with technology called Optical Image Stabilisation. The android-based smartphone brand has fallen out of favour in recent [...]
Multinationals including Facebook, Google, and Amazon could be forced to make their EU tax documents public April 12, 2016 Multinationals such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook are in danger of being forced by the European Commission to disclose in exactly which European Union countries they pay tax and how much. Under the proposals, announced this afternoon by EU Financial Services Commissioner Jonathan Hill, all multinational companies with a turnover greater than €750m (£600m) would have to comply [...]
One in 10 say they’re addicted to “freemium” game apps such as Candy Crush and Game of War according to research from Go Compare Money April 12, 2016 Chances are, at some point, you've been that person avidly playing Candy Crush on the tube. Or, if you haven't, you've probably sat mesmerised watching someone else play it over their shoulder. The addictive nature of "freemium" games like Candy Crush, which are free to initially download but encourage in-app purchases, is well-known to commuters, but [...]
Death knell for physical music as digital sales overtake for the first time April 12, 2016 The global music market hailed its first significant year-on-year growth in nearly two decades, as booming digital music sales overtook physical formats for the time. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) annual report reveals that digital revenues now account for 45 per cent of the market after a 10.2 per cent jump to $6.7bn (£4.7bn) last [...]
Beware fintech’s pivot to China April 12, 2016 Ever since former Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins declared an ”Uber moment” for banks, the powers that be from the Square Mile to Canary Wharf have rushed to defend themselves against a herd of ambitious fintech unicorns. But if recent collaborations between financial titans and spritely startups are anything to go by, it appears the [...]
The definitive ranking of the cities where bankers are paid the most (spoiler: London isn’t at the top) April 11, 2016 Looking for a payrise? You could do much worse than moving to New York, according to new findings, which showed bankers in the big apple earn almost as much from their salary alone as those in London do from their salary and bonus combined. Salary benchmarking site Emolument.com compared the salaries of bankers at analyst and [...]
Here’s what the Galaxy S7 has done for Samsung’s profits April 7, 2016 Samsung's flagship Galaxy S7 smartphone is already paying off. The South Korean firm expects a 10 per cent rise in sales for the first three months to March of 6.6 trillion won (£3.9bn), ahead of analyst estimates of around 5.5 trillion won. Revenues meanwhile were up four per cent to 49 trillion won for the same period [...]
Huawei has thrown itself full tilt into the global consumer phone market with its P9 and P9 Plus, featuring Leica lenses April 6, 2016 Chinese telecoms group Huawei has unveiled its latest handset, meant be its flagship device in a push into the European market currently dominated by Samsung and Apple. Huawei has has teamed up with German camera maker Leica for its new P9 model that uses duel lenses, a feature though to be included in Apple's upcoming iPhone 7. [...]
Digital challenger bank Atom is open for business and the Neil Woodford-backed bank uses innovative face and voice recognition technology April 6, 2016 A digital challenger bank which uses face and voice recognition instead of passwords and is trying to give the big four banks a run for their money is now open for business. Atom Bank, which is backed by top investors including Neil Woodford, has launched today on Apple iOS for pre-registered users. It believes being digital first and innovative [...]
Fintech helps London to keep global finance title – but concerns about Brexit, housing and airport capacity must be addressed April 6, 2016 London has retained its title as the financial centre of the world, according to a global study published today –but second-placed New York is keeping up the pressure. The City wrested the Global Financial Centres Index title back from the big apple in September last year after receiving a boost from the Conservative party’s General Election victory. This time round, the capital’s booming financial technology [...]