What you need to know before the US open April 3, 2014 US futures suggest a mixed open for markets, which will have the latest jobs report to digest, with numbers from Markit indicating the health of the services sector later on. Stocks were left little changed today by the announcement by the ECB that it has, as expected, opted to keep rates on hold, despite falling inflation [...]
Amazon to challenge Apple with $99 fire TV April 2, 2014 AMAZON will enter the living room with a video streaming set top box called Fire TV. Chief executive Jeff Bezos described the rival to Apple TV as a: “Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible price”. It will pipe movies and TV shows directly from Amazon’s video service onto TV. No UK release date [...]
Microsoft to offer Windows free on phones April 2, 2014 MICROSOFT said yesterday it will give away its Windows operating system to makers of smartphones and small tablets as it seeks to grab a toehold in the fast-growing markets. It comes a week after new boss Satya Nadella unveiled new versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel for Apple’s iPad.
Why Amazon is about to become a first class citizen in the living room April 2, 2014 At 4pm this afternoon Amazon is set to launch its own mystery TV box to finally elevate the retail giant to more than a second class citizen in the video streaming space. During its “update to our video business” Amazon is expected to reveal a way for its users to access Prime Instant Video, formerly [...]
Foster + Partners building up its order book after a tough year March 31, 2014 ARCHITECTURE group Foster + Partners has said business is picking up after a tough year in which earnings fell by almost a fifth. Norman Foster’s practice is hiring staff worldwide as it anticipates “record levels of new work” in the coming year, with an order book now totalling £270m. Foster + Partners is currently working [...]
Office dilemma: The golden rules for sacking staff March 31, 2014 The experience is never pleasant, but there are ways to soften the blow IT TURNED out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me,” Steve Jobs once remarked. Unfortunately, not all employees will put Jobs’ positive spin on getting the sack. And the experience is little better [...]
Why the NHS now needs a radical strategy for survival March 31, 2014 THERE’S a new boss at the NHS. Today, Simon Stevens takes up the reins as chief executive of NHS England, the quango now responsible for the vast majority of the health service’s £100bn budget. Back in October, many welcomed his appointment to the top job in the NHS. After working for Tony Blair and Alan [...]
Motorola nabs more phone sales March 31, 2014 MOTOROLA, the smartphone firm that Lenovo is taking over, has seen its UK sales explode following the launch of the low-cost Moto G in November. Currently owned by Google, Motorola had a mere 0.9 per cent share of UK smartphone sales in September, but has now grown to six per cent, according to figures from [...]
Microsoft’s new boss moves beyond Windows with Office for iPad March 28, 2014 MICROSOFT’S new chief executive Satya Nadella revealed his first big strategic play for the software giant yesterday by releasing its Office suite of apps on Apple’s rival iPad mobile platform. “A billion people rely on Office every day, and we’ve worked diligently to create a version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint that delivers the best [...]
Microsoft’s new CEO has revealed his first big strategic play: Office for mobile March 27, 2014 Microsoft is finally bringing its Office suite to Apple's App Store, with support for devices including the iPad and iPhone. It's a same day launch, and you can already find the Excel, Word, and PowerPoint apps online. The reveal from the tech giant's new CEO, Satya Nadella, is his first since he took the company's [...]