MasterChef confessions: Why creativity kicked me out the kitchen January 13, 2013 IT COULD’VE been the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done, but I decided to do it anyway. The offer was to appear on the TV series Celebrity MasterChef, and the main problem was that I could cook about as well as I can speak Swahili. But that oft-repeated mantra of “take yourself out of your [...]
Amazon offers CD downloads January 10, 2013 AMAZON has upped its battle with Apple’s iTunes by offering free music downloads to customers that buy CDs on the website. The service, called AutoRip, will cover tracks on CDs bought directly from Amazon, including purchases dating back 15 years. Amazon has aimed to step up its digital entertainment offering in recent months as its [...]
Apple says no cheap iPhone January 10, 2013 A SENIOR Apple executive has shot down suggestions that the company is looking to build a cheaper version of the iPhone, saying Apple would be unwilling to sacrifice its high profit margins to gain greater market share. “Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones [in China], this will never be the future of Apple’s products,” marketing [...]
Profit-taking cannot halt FTSE as it hits highest close since May 2008 January 10, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index closed above the 6,100 resistance level for the first time since 22 May 2008, yesterday, recovering from a late wobble after a choppy trading session. The FTSE 100 index was up 2.86 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 6,101,51, having seen some late profit-taking erased in the closing auction, but the [...]
Facebook shares hit six-month high on rumours of smartphone January 9, 2013 SHARES in Facebook reached their highest level in six months yesterday as speculation mounted that Mark Zuckerberg’s company is set to unveil its own smartphone. Facebook sent out invitations to a special event scheduled for next week, encouraging guests to “come and see what we’re building”. The news reignited rumours that the company will look [...]
Cheap iPhone in the works January 8, 2013 A CHEAPER, lower-end iPhone could reportedly go on sale as early as this year, as Apple looks to expand its market share in the face of increasing competition. The company is working on a device that would look the same as current models, but with a less-expensive, plastic body that could appeal to those unwilling [...]
Samsung sees fifth successive record quarter January 8, 2013 KOREAN electronics giant Samsung, the world leader in mobiles and memory chips, said it had earned a quarterly profit of $8.3bn (£5.2bn), as it sold close to 500 handsets a minute and as demand picked up for the flat screens it makes for mobile devices, including those for rival Apple products. That run of five [...]
App Store has made $10bn in sales for Apple January 7, 2013 APPLE has seen more than $10bn (£6.2bn) spent on apps since it launched its App Store four and a half years ago. The iPad and iPhone maker said that more than 40bn apps have been downloaded since July 2008, and that the rate is increasing, with nearly 20bn of those downloads occurring in 2012 alone. [...]
TV makers battle for survival in Las Vegas January 7, 2013 THE WORLD’S biggest TV manufacturers yesterday staked their claims for dominance of the next generation of sets, unveiling a host of super-detailed and internet-connected sets they hope will revitalise a struggling market. Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and LG all used yesterday’s curtain-raiser to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to debut bigger and brighter [...]
Tesco attracts investor support as it defends use of private planes January 7, 2013 TESCO’s fleet of private jets, used to ferry its executives around the globe, has been laid bare for the first time as a leading City figure sprang to defend the firm over the use of the planes. The supermarket giant, which reveals its much-anticipated Christmas trading figures on Thursday, operates a subsidiary, Kansas Transportation, to [...]