Watchdog forces capital rules on crowdfunding loan websites October 24, 2013 PEOPLE using peer-to-peer (P2P) lending sites will have more protection from being ripped off next year under plans unveiled by the city watchdog yesterday. P2P companies, a form of crowd funding linking savers and borrowers, will be forced to hold a percentage of their loaned funds or £20,000 – whichever amount is higher – as [...]
Five facts about the modern world that will make you think October 23, 2013 1 IN the US, over 8,000 waiters have PhDs or equivalent qualifications, as have 5,057 cleaners. Roughly 317,000 waiters have university degrees, as have 80,000 bartenders and 18,000 parking attendants. These figures have been highlighted by Richard Vedder of the University of Ohio, and are based on official statistics from 2010; today’s situation is unlikely [...]
Birds eat berries as BlackBerry app takes flight October 23, 2013 IT’S OFFICIAL. BlackBerry, once the giant of the smartphone world and the nemesis of every holidaying chief executive, is now little more than an app developer – albeit a very successful one. As its updated BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app for Android and iPhone finally went live (a month after leaked software botched the original launch), some [...]
HTC scales back production as smartphone sales start to slow October 23, 2013 TAIWANESE smartphone maker HTC has halted at least one of its four main manufacturing lines, accounting for at least a fifth of total capacity, and is outsourcing production as a sales slump puts pressure on its cash flow, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation. A Reuters reporter who visited an HTC factory [...]
There’s something in the Air October 23, 2013 Apple’s updated devices are slimmer and faster than ever. Here’s what to expect from this year’s Christmas essential BEZEL The first thing you notice about the new iPad Air is the size of the bezel surrounding the screen. It is far smaller (43 per cent) than the previous models, which makes it less intrusive when [...]
And a few more things we learned from Apple’s launch October 23, 2013 THE MAC PRO IS A BEAST Mac’s oddly-shaped new desktop computer (pictured right) is a powerhouse. If you’ve got cash to spend (the lowest-priced version will cost £2,499), it will make video editing, heavy Photoshop use or intensive design programs run like a breeze. The cylindrical casing is just an eighth of the volume of [...]
BBM sees over 10m downloads for Android and iPhone in first 24 hours October 23, 2013 In less than 24 hours over 10m customers have downloaded Blackberry's instant messaging app – BBM – now available on Android and iOS platforms, making it one of the best single-day openings for a mobile app. Whether many will use the service is another matter. Rival messenger WhatsApp has a pretty entrenched position as its [...]
Apple shows off new iPad lineup as tablets boom October 22, 2013 APPLE revealed a host of new iPads last night as the company arranges its lineup ahead of the holiday season. The technology giant offered audiences a look at its new iPad Air, a premium £399 tablet that is 20 per cent thinner than the 9.7in iPad it replaces, and its iPad Mini with retina display [...]
Apple launches a barrage of new hardware products while offering a host of free software updates October 22, 2013 Tech giant Apple is launching a stream of new products and boasts that its users are taking to its recent releases. 64 per cent of customers are now using the latest operating system for mobile devices – iOS7 – and a new update to its desktop software OS X – OS X Mavericks – will [...]
Desktop users fall as shoppers move to mobile October 21, 2013 THE NUMBER of Britons searching for goods on their desktops has dwindled in the past year as tablet ownership booms and more consumers shop from the comfort of their sofa. Retail searches on desktop computers were down by 10 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same time last year, according to data [...]