STK does a belter of a rib eye – if you can stand the club atmosphere February 6, 2013 Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie once said: “All vowels are fascist, man, everyone knows that”. It’s a sentiment that obviously chimed with the owners of US steakhouse chain STK, which has just arrived at the ME London hotel. This isn’t just any old steakhouse, though. Oh no, this is a “female friendly” steakhouse. Female friendly. [...]
HTC to focus on China as revenues fall February 4, 2013 SMARTPHONE manufacturer HTC said yesterday it planned to focus on emerging markets, having been squeezed out of the US and western Europe by Samsung and Apple. The Taiwanese firm has seen its market share plummet in the last two years. The Taiwanese firm’s chief Peter Chou (pictured) warned of a 17 per cent revenue fall [...]
Avoid getting in a spin about the great rotation February 4, 2013 AS THE equity markets surge onwards, many are calling the beginning of the great rotation – the point when retail investors finally rotate out of the perceived safety of cash and bonds, and back into the stock market. Talk of the great rotation has occasionally made it into analyst notes over the last couple of [...]
Apple’s slice of the tablet pie shrinks in the fourth quarter January 31, 2013 APPLE’S share of the tablet market fell over the Christmas period, even as it sold record numbers of iPads, according to research. Figures from market analysts IDC claim that the iPad and iPad mini accounted for 43.6 per cent of worldwide sales in the fourth quarter of 2012. This was down from 51.7 per cent [...]
The Debate: After a rebrand and new product launch, can BlackBerry save itself from decline? January 31, 2013 YES Jeff Kagan BlackBerry can be saved, but it won’t reclaim its position as a market leader. The question is who is going to be the third player in the market behind Apple and Google: Microsoft, Nokia, or BlackBerry? BlackBerry still has a sizeable customer base – especially corporate users. Its brand was looking tired, [...]
BlackBerry unveils long-awaited facelift with revamped handsets January 30, 2013 THE NEXT generation of BlackBerry phones was finally revealed yesterday, kicking off a make-or-break period for Research in Motion. The Canadian firm revealed a radical overhaul of its ageing mobile software and two new smartphones, which it hopes will be able to compete with the dominant Samsung and Apple. The new operating system, BlackBerry 10, [...]
Apple loses attempt to triple Samsung’s $1bn patent charge January 30, 2013 APPLE has seen its request to increase its rival Samsung’s $1.05bn (£665m) copyright fine rejected in US courts. The Korean company was ordered to pay Apple the sum in August after it was found to have used patented iPhone designs in its Galaxy handsets. Apple had attempted to up the fine, claiming Samsung purposefully infringed [...]
Asian tech firms bring life to smartphone race January 30, 2013 THREE Asian companies injected fresh competition into the smartphone industry yesterday, boosting British chip firms Imagination Technologies and ARM Holdings. LG, ZTE and Lenovo all outlined a focus on competing with the likes of Apple and Samsung, and said they anticipate better sales of high-end devices this year. China’s Lenovo, which is likely to become [...]
BlackBerry in last chance saloon… January 30, 2013 Blackberry – the company formally known as RIM – yesterday unveiled the handsets it hopes will help keep it in the smartphone space. The new devices, the touchscreen Z10 (out today) and the physical keyboard Q10 (expected in April), are also loaded with BlackBerry’s new operating system, BB10, in the biggest shake-up at the firm [...]
FTSE 100 rally continues January 30, 2013 The FTSE 100 rally showed signs of continuing this morning, as the blue chip index edged up 0.1 per cent, despite a slew of weak trading statements from large-cap companies. Oil and gas services firm Petrofac topped the blue chip loser board, shedding more than seven per cent. Other large-cap fallers dropped on the back [...]