Apple’s Jobs struts the stage for the first time since his liver transplant September 9, 2009 STEVE Jobs, the Apple chief executive, stepped back into the spotlight for the first time in a year yesterday, unveiling new iPods and drawing a standing ovation. It was his first public appearance since returning to work in June after six months of leave, during which the charismatic corporate showman underwent a liver transplant. Dressed [...]
When pearls have to pay for house tax September 8, 2009 DEAR VEXED: Dear Vexed, I’m moving house but we’re a little short of money. Should I pawn my jewels to pay for stamp duty? Millie, 31, banker OH dear, things have come to a sad pass, haven’t they? I’m not talking about the fact that money is so scarce you can’t just pay for stamp [...]
T-Mobile and Orange plan tie-up in UK September 8, 2009 DEUTSCHE Telekom and France Telecom yesterday confirmed that they plan to merge their UK operations in a venture that will grab the top spot in the UK mobile market. The operators said they were in exclusive negotiations over the 50:50 merger between German-owned T-Mobile UK and France Telecom’s Orange UK business, and that they hope [...]
Spotify goes mobile with new iPhone agreement September 7, 2009 SPOTIFY, the digital music firm, has secured a deal to launch a mobile offering on Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and phones using the Android platform. The Swedish firm said yesterday that a mobile application is now available for its premium subscribers in the UK, Sweden, Spain, France and Norway on the three devices, and in [...]
TRAVEL NOTES September 6, 2009 Ultimate Alpine luxury for the ski seasonIf you really want to do it in style this winter, look no further than VIP Chalets and its all-new Platinum Collection of super-chalets. Want your personal chef to agree bespoke menus before you go? Done. Personal Alpine chauffeur? No problem. Private cinema to go with your hot tub [...]
Mobile phone operators eye T-Mobile UK September 6, 2009 VODAFONE and Spain’s Telefonica, the owner of O2, are understood to have tabled conditional offers of around £3.5bn to buy T-Mobile UK. The sale of the Deutsche Telekom unit to either party would create the UK’s largest mobile operator – once its 16.6m customers were added to theirs – and both offers are believed to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES OCH-ZIFF SET TO EARN PERFORMANCE FEES AGAINOch-Ziff, one of the largest hedge fund managers in the world, is set to start earning performance fees again across its $21.7bn (£13.3bn) of funds. The flagship Och-Ziff master fund is up 17.6 per cent this year, meaning it has almost completely recovered from losses incurred in [...]
Apple’s store on Regent St bears fruit September 1, 2009 APPLE’S flagship store in London is so successful that it rakes in more than double the amount of cash per square foot than most of its rivals. The Regent Street store took £60m for the year ending September 2008, giving it a sales density of £2,000 per square foot. In comparison, the average Currys store [...]
Vivendi books higher profits despite slump September 1, 2009 ENTERTAINMENT giant Vivendi yesterday said consumers were staying at home in the recession, boosting sales of its pay-TV packages and video games, and helping it to report expectation-beating profits for its second quarter. The Paris-listed firm, which makes smash hit video games such as Guitar Hero, also said its French telecoms business was performing well, [...]
Wall St boosted by upbeat retail giants August 18, 2009 US stocks rose yesterday, rebounding after sharp losses in the previous session, as better-than-expected results from big retailers encouraged investors to get back into the market. Results at consumer giants Home Depot, Target and department store operator Saks were helped by cost-cutting as revenue growth remained slack. The trend has dominated earnings season, but investors [...]