CES 2016: General Motors is investing $500m in Uber rival Lyft and is making driverless car plans January 4, 2016 The US carmaker General Motors has revealed it is investing $500m (£339m) in Lyft, a cab-hailing app which rivals Uber, with plans to work on the development of driverless cars together. That investment also comes with a seat on the board. “We see the future of personal mobility as connected, seamless and autonomous. With GM and Lyft working [...]
Flickr and Slack founder Stewart Butterfield on starting one of the fastest growing startups ever January 4, 2016 "I lived in Cambridge in the late 1990s, and even then they were working on Silicon Fen,” says Stewart Butterfield. We’re talking about replicating Silicon Valley because, as the founder of Flickr and now team collaboration tool Slack, he’s well placed to comment. And it’s not that he’s picking on Cambridge; the point is that [...]
CES 2016 preview: What to expect from the biggest tech show on earth – from virtual reality and wearables to drones and driverless cars January 3, 2016 No sooner has the new year arrived than the annual CES event is upon us, the biggest show of technology and electronics which are soon likely to change our lives. This year, there may be less focus on the headline-grabbing devices that have become familiar in recent years, according to Accenture, as the less glamorous technology [...]
iPhone 6, 5s and 6s: Best-selling UK phones of 2015 reveals Britain’s love affair with Apple continues with Samsung Galaxy S6 slipping behind January 3, 2016 The UK’s best-selling mobile phones of 2015 have been revealed, and the top of the list is all Apple, Apple, Apple. Tim Cook will be pleased to learn that the country’s love affair with his company’s products shows no sign of letting up, as different versions of the iPhone make up no fewer than six [...]
2015 in review: The best crowdfunded projects, gadgets, investments and companies of the year include beer, burritos, gifs and Greece December 31, 2015 2015 was the year that crowdfunding really took off. Whether it was serious equity funding for a slice of the business or a kickstarter for the latest gadget giving people a reward in return, there were plenty of options. Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favourites this year, including beer, burritos, gifs and more. 1. The [...]
The payment buzzwords to expect in 2016: Wearables, biometrics and banking APIs December 30, 2015 As the new year approaches and the retro reviews for 2015 and predictions for next year start to fill my Twitter feed. I take a look back at the year and put out my early calls on what 2016 will have on the books (or is that on your device, or is that in your Virtual Reality [...]
Boxing day sales 2015: UK shoppers expected to spend over £3bn as John Lewis and Selfridges enjoy strong starts December 26, 2015 British shoppers are expected to spend heavily in this year's Christmas sales, with stores such as John Lewis already boasting of strong trading figures. According to figures from the Centre for Retail Research and vouchercodes.co.uk, around 22m shoppers will spend £3.74bn in sales this festive period – a six per cent increase on last year. Department [...]
All I want for Christmas is…: Christmas gift requests on Twitter reveal Apple, Nike and Victoria’s Secret as most popular brands December 24, 2015 What did you put on your wishlist this year? Thanks to the wonders of technology, we may be able to guess. Santa may be making his list and checking it twice, but as for the rest of us, we seem to be making our lists and then tweeting them twice. As social media analytics firm [...]
Beatles back catalogue confirmed for music streaming from midnight on Christmas Eve on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon, Google December 23, 2015 The back catalogue of hit songs from the Beatles such as Hey Jude will be available on music streaming service for the first time, giving a Christmas treat to music fans. The fab four's music will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal, Groove and Rhapsody. On Spotify, both free and premium users will be able to [...]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully returns its Falcon 9 rocket after sending it to space in breakthrough for reusable rockets December 22, 2015 Activist billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has sent its Falcon 9 rocket into space and back again – an important breakthrough for reusable rockets in space exploration. The first stage of the Falcon 9 gently touched down at Cape Canaveral 10 minutes after lift-off, to employees’ cheers. This was SpaceX’s first flight since June, when one of its rockets exploded [...]