Apple’s Jony Ive disappears from executives list February 17, 2014 Design guru Sir Jonathan Paul "Jony" Ive has disappeared from the tech giant's list of executives profiles. But don't worry too soon Apple afficionados – we suspect it's just a bug. The London-born designer has been responsible for the company's design team since 1996, and is widely thought to be one of the best minds [...]
Record number of applications for tech patents February 17, 2014 THE number of patent applications for computer products and software has soared by more than a fifth in the last year as tech startups join the big names in developing products. International patent applications for computer products rose 21 per cent to a record high of 17,324 in 2013 from 14,265 in 2012, according to [...]
Capital opportunity for new spreadbetting boss February 17, 2014 London Capital Group chief executive Kevin Ashby WHEN former Saxo Bank Asia chief executive Kevin Ashby first stepped foot inside the Devonshire Square headquarters of spreadbetting firm Capital Spreads last March, there was little to suggest he would later be installed as the boss of its parent company London Capital Group. “It only became apparent [...]
Time to worry: The Iranian nuclear crisis still threatens global stability February 16, 2014 ONE OF the areas of overlap between the business and political worlds concerns negotiation; any businessman or government-type worth their salt surely loves the chance to play at being that master actor-negotiator Peter O’Toole, if only for a limited audience. Some of my fondest memories of my decade in Washington involve behaving outrageously – asking [...]
The Digital Effect February 16, 2014 Annabel Palmer discusses trends with Gwyn Jones, BBH’s group chief executive BRITISH advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has been Agency of the Year twice at the Cannes Lions Festival, and has created notable campaigns including “Vorsprung durch Technik” for Audi and “The Lynx Effect” for Unilever. Group chief executive Gwyn Jones tells City A.M. [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 14 February 2014 February 13, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Apple to cut use of ‘conflict minerals’ Apple is extending its supply chain clean up beyond Chinese factories and into African mines, using name-and-shame tactics to cut the amount of “conflict minerals” that end up in its iPhones and iPads. As it touts fresh improvements to working conditions in the factories that produce [...]
How wearable band shipments will hit 17m this year February 12, 2014 If you’re not one of the people who got a wearable band last year, you might well order one this year, as numbers look set to skyrocket. According to research firm Canalys, not only did basic and smart band shipments grow dramatically in the second half of 2013 to 1.6m, but 2014 will be the [...]
Flappy Bird’s earnings pale in comparison with these big players February 12, 2014 When Flappy Bird creator Nguyen Ha Dong revealed he was making over $50,000 (£30,250) a day from the game, before he removed it from distribution, pundits were certainly shocked. But the smartphone App Store gold rush, those are rookie numbers compared to some larger game makers. Supercell, behind both Hay Day (the eighth highest grossing [...]
Google overtakes Exxon to become US’ second biggest firm February 10, 2014 Tech giant Google has overtaken the world's No1 oil producer, Exxon, to rank as the US' second largest company by market capitalisation. On Friday Google closed with a cap of $395.42bn (£240.96bn), versus Exxon's $392.66bn, according to FactSet data. The shift marks the changing landscape of the US economy, as more of its capital shifts [...]
Carl Icahn drops $50bn Apple buyback proposal February 10, 2014 News in this afternoon that Carl Icahn has discarded his Apple buyback proposal. Icahn, who is one of Apple’s biggest shareholders, was pushing for the tech giant to repurchase $50bn more of its shares this year. Apple shareholders were due to vote on the non-binding plan on 28 February. But in a letter to fellow shareholders, [...]