Bank of the year September 9, 2013 2013 may be remembered as the year the banking sector shook off the shadow of the financial crisis and really came back into its own. Profitability is up, lenders are at last overcoming tough new regulatory hurdles and a stable future could be just around the corner. Here is our pick of the top five [...]
CNBC Comment: Banks face an IT Wonga challenge September 9, 2013 The market may not be factoring in the cost of new technologies THERE is a shadow looming over the world’s retail banks, which many believe the market is not factoring in. For much of the past few years, the focus has been on the fallout from the higher-stakes poker games played before the financial crisis. [...]
The Lexus LF-NX concept is a muscular, angular beast; a vision we hope will become a reality September 9, 2013 The Japanese carmaker is known for its stunning concept designs. Here is one from the top draw. LEXUS will today unveil its latest striking concept vehicle in the muscular LF-NX mid-sized crossover. The car, which will be displayed at the Frankfurt motor show, combines Tron-like styling with the latest hybrid technology. It adheres to Lexus’s [...]
Activist investor Icahn uses Twitter to announce new letter to Dell shareholders September 9, 2013 Activist investor Carl Icahn still hasn't got bored of Twitter. After adding $14bn to Apple's value with a single Tweet he's back on old ground, talking Dell. We intend to release a letter to all Dell shareholders shortly. — Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) September 9, 2013 That's Icahn's 17th Tweet, and follows multiple takeover rejections [...]
Chinese mobile networks ready for new iPhone September 8, 2013 TELECOM carriers China Unicom and China Telecom will carry Apple’s newest iPhone models within days of their launch in Beijing this week as the US technology giant tries to regain lost ground in its second biggest market by releasing the phones faster. Apple said last week it was holding a satellite event in Beijing on [...]
Undergo a cava conversion in rural Catalunya September 8, 2013 Are you a snob about Spanish bubbly? Penedès will change your mind I ALWAYS thought of cava as Champagne’s poorer cousin – something one takes to parties when the French stuff seems a little dear. You turn up, sheepishly handing the sparkling Spaniard to your host, with the caveat that you would have bought France’s [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 06 September 2013 September 5, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Acxiom under transparency fire An effort to bring transparency to the shadowy world of consumer data brokers has backfired, as privacy advocates slam industry leader Acxiom for a new service that for the first time lets consumers glimpse what it knows about them. “Secrecy is never a good strategy,” Scott Howe, chief executive [...]
French grape growers gripe at new iPhone September 5, 2013 INTERNET giant Google may have called the next version of its mobile operating system Android KitKat, but grape-growers in France don’t seem too keen for Apple to name the new iPhone model after Champagne, as it has apparently planned. A spokesperson for the governing body of the bubbly, Comite Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 05 September 2013 September 4, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Dyson to hire hundreds of recruits Dyson has launched its biggest recruitment drive yet with plans to triple the number of engineers taken on this year in the latest sign of a rebounding British economy. The maker of bagless vacuum cleaners, which employs almost 4,500 across three sites in the UK and Asia, [...]
Mobile devices and wearables take centre stage in Berlin show September 4, 2013 NEW MOBILE products from Sony and Samsung were the stars of the show yesterday at Berlin’s IFA, Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show, as the two technology giants unveiled their lineup of devices to compete with Apple’s offerings next week. Samsung showed off its entry into so-called wearables with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The smartwatch works [...]