US corporate news continues to rule July 19, 2009 BEN Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, will make his semi-annual report on monetary policy tomorrow at 2pm London time. It’s expected to take a fairly upbeat overall tone on the state of the economy, but the markets will be focussing on the implications of his thoughts on inflation, and the merest hint of [...]
Nokia cuts its profit forecast July 16, 2009 THE world’s top mobile phone maker Nokia yesterday cut its forecast for second half profit and 2009 market share, sending its shares sharply lower. Nokia, which is facing tough competition from the likes of Apple, Samsung and RIM, scaled back its second-half underlying operating profit margin forecast for its key phone unit to the first-half [...]
SLICE OF OLD-BOY STYLE HITS CITY FINE WINING AND DINING CIRCUIT July 8, 2009 NOT so long ago, City types were busy bemoaning the lack of decent restaurants on their patch. But now, just weeks after the Galvin brothers announced they were opening a new pad near Spitalfields market, I hear there’s a new eatery coming to town, courtesy of Simon Parker Bowles, former brother-in-law to Camilla, Duchess of [...]
Telefonica connects with Palm’s rival to the iPhone July 7, 2009 TELEFONICA’S O2 and Movistar said yesterday that they have won an exclusive deal to sell Palm’s new Pre smartphone – regarded as the closest rival to Apple’s iPhone – in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Palm said that O2 would have initial exclusivity in the UK, Ireland and Germany, while Movistar would have an exclusive deal [...]
DoJ mulling telecom probe July 6, 2009 The US Justice Department is looking at big telecom firms like AT&T and Verizon Communications to see if they have abused their market power by entering into exclusive agreements with the makers of popular phones like the Apple iPhone.
OUT OF OFFICE July 6, 2009 SMIRNOFF BLACK SCREENINGSAnyone who fancies a cocktail with their classic film should head along to the Smirnoff Black Screenings at Chelsea’s Bluebird, which returns after a sell-out 1950s Hollywood series last year. The series offers 9pm big-screen showings of classic films – including Alfie and Casino Royale – in celebration of the silver screen’s most [...]
It’s vulgar and brash but perfect for a big old all-American blowout July 6, 2009 PLANET HOLLYWOOD60HAYMARKET, SW1Y 4QXTel: 020 7437 7639www.planethollywoodlondon.com FOODSERVICEATMOSPHERECost per person without wine: £20 WHEN I think of Planet Hollywood, I think of family-themed nights – sticky floors, screaming babies, hassled staff. But London’s new PH, a revamped affair just down the road from the old one, is trying to go for a different demographic. “Our [...]
JOBS BACK AT APPLE June 29, 2009 APPLE chief executive Steve Jobs is back at work after nearly six months of medical leave. His return follows months of speculation about the health of Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor who underwent a liver transplant while on leave, and his future with the company he co-founded over 30 years ago.
Bad shops are to blame for our withering High St June 24, 2009 THIS week a rare opportunity to watch television saw me glued to a programme presented by the self-styled “Queen of Shops” Mary Portas. Focusing on the death of that great British institution the High Street, Portas probed the decline of traditional retailers and voiced her fears for the future of our nation of shopkeepers and [...]
Apple’s Jobs had a liver transplant June 24, 2009 APPLE chief executive Steve Jobs underwent a liver transplant at a Tennessee hospital and has “an excellent prognosis”, the hospital that performed the operation has confirmed. Jobs, 54, received the transplant because he was “the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available,” the Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute [...]