Samsung reassures customers after hack of Samsung Pay provider LoopPay is uncovered October 8, 2015 Samsung has reassured customers after it was revealed that the company’s new mobile payment system’s provider was hacked for months. LoopPay, the company that provides integral technology to Samsung’s mobile payment system, was infiltrated by Chinese hackers in February, the New York Times revealed yesterday. The hackers had access to the network since at least [...]
The Earth Index: How much does nature add to the global economy? October 8, 2015 The Earth's natural resources are a crucial part of the world's economy, helping to drive agriculture, tourism and the production of man-made objects. Today, BBC published its “Earth Index”, which shows how the contribution of these vital resources compares to other parts of the economy. It turns out the financial value of nature is huge, [...]
Google AMP, Facebook Instant Articles, Apple News, Medium API: Is this the end of news websites as we know them? October 8, 2015 News publishers could be forgiven for thinking it’s all very end-of-days at the moment. On one side, ad-blockers may be about to strangle a primitive monetisation model and, on the other, Silicon Valley giants seem intent on controlling the distribution of content, arguably calling the very existence of individual news websites into question. Apple upped [...]
Rise of mobile ad blockers has advertising industry worried October 8, 2015 Digital advertising is the industry’s fastest growth area, but it’s threatened by a rapid rise of ad blockers that has industry experts worried. The advertising industry is struggling to handle new options for users to filter out unwanted content online, and publishers have just been dealt a hard blow, as Apple has approved the first-ever [...]
Google AMP: “Instant Articles”-style mobile news plans unveiled – an open source standard for publishers’ content to be immediately in search October 7, 2015 Google has unveiled ambitious plans for the mobile web which will show readers news articles from the world's top publishers in an instant. The search giant said it wants to "make the web great again" with an open source project called AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) that will bring together publishers and technology companies to collaborate on [...]
Samsung’s share price leaps as it unveils profit boost October 7, 2015 Korean electronics giant and Apple arch-nemesis Samsung said today that it expects sales of 50-52 trillion won (£28.1bn-£29.2bn) in the third quarter of this year. Shareholders reacted with enthusiasm to the trading update, pushing the company's Korean-listed shares up 8.7 per cent. The company added that it expects operating profit for the quarter to be in the [...]
Microsoft mega launch: Where to watch the live-stream as three new Lumia phones, Surface Pro 4 tablet and new Microsoft Band to launch – plus more details on Windows 10 October 6, 2015 Microsoft is planning a raft of announcements today in what it describes as “our next chapter”. “We have some exciting news to share about Windows 10 devices,” the group has said. The firm is live-streaming the event from 10am EDT (4pm in the UK) and users will be able to watch it here. As [...]
US multinationals are keeping $2.1 trillion in tax havens, says new report October 6, 2015 US multinational companies are holding over $2.1 trillion (£1.4 trillion) in accumulated profits in tax havens, two left-wing think tanks said today. The report, by the Citizens for Tax Justice and US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, accuses the companies of ripping off the US Treasury and operating in a way that puts them at an [...]
EU migrant crisis: How technology could help solve the refugee crisis October 5, 2015 The migrant crisis has thrown up a challenge of vast proportions, affecting countries and aid organisations around the world. It is a global problem that requires a global solution. Technology must be at the heart of our response. Over 350,000 asylum seekers are displaced and heading towards Europe and more than 2,500 have already died [...]
These are the world’s most valuable brands: Apple and Google winners in ranking dominated by tech industry October 5, 2015 Apple has been named the world’s most valuable brand, followed by Google and Coca-Cola, once more topping Interbrand’s annual ranking. The tech industry dominates the ranking, as more than half of the world’s top ten brands are technology companies, according to the Best Global Brands report published today. Bullish earnings and record-breaking sales of the [...]