The rumour mill | Other gadgets at MWC February 19, 2014 A new operating system for Samsung Samsung is kicking off the Mobile World Congress with a major event, Unpacked 5, taking place on the first day. Previously, the Korean tech giant has used these events to announce new smartphones, so we shouldn’t be too surprised if the Galaxy S5 is the thing that ends up [...]
Ferrari keeps a lid on sales but profit still soars February 18, 2014 FERRARI’S plan to cut the number of cars it sells in order to maintain its exclusive image has paid off, with revenue and profits both rising in 2013. The Italian marque sold 6,922 of its high-end cars last year, down 5.4 per cent. However, rising revenues from custom-made vehicles and Ferrari-branded souvenirs helped push turnover [...]
First Bitcoin shop opens its doors here in the City February 18, 2014 BITCOIN, Bitcoin, Bitcoin – not a day goes by when the pioneering cryptocurrency isn’t dominating headlines, but actually getting hold of the virtual coinage is still relatively difficult for most people (The Capitalist included). But that might be about to change. There’s now a Bitcoin shop (Europe’s first). And it’s in the City – [...]
Video: We take a look around Europe’s first Bitcoin shop February 18, 2014 Bitcoin had a pretty rough time of it last week. The Apple app store banned it, so did Russia, $2.7m worth of the cryptocurrency was nicked from Silk Road 2 and its value fell to half of what it was two weeks before. But here’s some good Bitcoin news. Europe’s first physical Bitcoin [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 18 February 2014 February 17, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Goldman retreats from bond platform Goldman Sachs has retreated from its electronic bond trading platform, in a move that highlights the challenges investment banks face in revamping their struggling fixed-income trading businesses. Banks including Goldman, Morgan Stanley and UBS had developed their own electronic corporate bond trading platforms in an effort to more efficiently [...]
Where’s Jony? Apple designer Ive goes offline February 17, 2014 APPLE’S chief design wizard Sir Jony Ive sent the tech world into a spin yesterday when he disappeared from the company’s online list of executives. The Apple rumour mill went into overdrive: “Has he been poached by Microsoft?” “Has he quit over the Flappy Bird clone ban?” “Has he moved back to the UK to [...]
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 [...]