Retail veteran Browett joining Octopus board as non-executive July 19, 2015 Retail guru John Browett has been appointed to the board of fund manager Octopus Investments as non-executive director. Browett, best known for heading Dixons Retail for five years between 2007 and 2012, is currently the boss of homewares store Dunelm. He also had stints as chief executive of Monsoon Accessorize, boss of Tesco’s online arm [...]
US investors awaiting slew of tech results – New York Report July 19, 2015 GOOGLE’S strong quarterly results, which unleashed a massive surge in its shares on Friday, has investors feeling upbeat heading into this week’s tech-heavy slate of earnings reports. Among the numerous tech companies releasing earnings next week are International Business Machines, Microsoft and Apple, all of which are expected to show growth. Wall Street analysts expect [...]
From Sir Mike Rake, John Dixon and Martin Wheatley’s shock departures to Apple Pay: Here’s what got us talking this week July 17, 2015 There was some golf. There was cheese (with our burgers) in London. And throughout the country's railway stations, there was a quiz that got us scratching our heads. Here's what got us talking this week 1. The City was overrun with ejecting chairs Fresh from Antony Jenkins' sacking last week, this week it was the [...]
Apple Pay fail: If your iPhone or Apple Watch battery dies on the Tube, TfL says you’ll have to stump up the maximum fare July 16, 2015 The cracks in Apple's new contactless system (or perhaps, more specifically, the lifetime of its devices' batteries) are starting to show. As part of a detailed set of advice for commuters using their iPhones and Apple Watches to effortlessly waft through ticket barriers on the Tube, TfL has warned of the very real possibility [...]
Apple Pay in the UK: Like not laughing at a Michael Mcintyre gag, resistance is futile July 16, 2015 When Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook revealed its physical wallet-replacement service last September, I recall a tut and an eye roll at yet another Apple product announcement. A form of contactless payment, re-marketed as a physical wallet-replacement service, would be with us this summer. Where's the innovation in that? In many ways Apple [...]
Apple Pay: How does it work and is it any quicker? A guide for the new contactless payment system July 15, 2015 Apple Pay has finally arrived in the UK. Well, sort of. If you have the right iPhone and the right bank and you shop in the right place and if the sun is shining at just the right angle – then you can use Apple Pay (okay, we made the bit about the sun up). [...]
5 the war on cash July 15, 2015 Transport With apps like Uber, cashless buses and contactless payments on the Tube, public transport is practically a note-free zone already. The London Underground has had NFC technology since the introduction of the Oyster card, which means it’s Apple Pay ready. Retail Many high street retailers have jumped onto the contactless bandwagon in recent years, [...]
Apple’s new iPod Touch has a better eight megapixel camera and the processing power of an iPhone 6 July 15, 2015 Apple has revealed a new range of iPods, including an updated iPod Touch and new colour options for the iPod Nano, Shuffle and Touch. The refreshed iPod Touch, a device first released in 2009, now comes with the processing power of an iPhone 6, an eight-megapixel camera with features such slo-mo and burst, fitness tracking [...]
Facebook Messenger plans digital assistant like Apple’s Siri to help us shop July 15, 2015 It looks like Facebook is working on developing a digital assistant, modeled after a certain secretary in James Bond. This new feature won’t have much in common with Apple’s Siri or Google Now, though. Instead, Facebook just wants to help us shop more. According to a report in The Information, developers are currently calling the [...]
HSBC talks sweet amid rumours of a soured Apple July 14, 2015 SORTING out who’s in and who’s out on the first day of the launch of Apple’s contactless payment system proved a tricky business. On Apple’s website recently, seven companies were trumpeted as launch partners, among them banking giant HSBC. But fast-forward to the official launch day yesterday and it would appear everyone on the original [...]