Here’s a closer look at Google’s new budget Pixel phones, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL May 7, 2019 Google has just announced two new additions to its lineup of Pixel phones at its annual Google I/O event in California. The Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL will start at the relatively piddling sum of £399 (compared to £739 for the Pixel 3) and are positioned as a pair of wallet-friendly, value-for-money alternatives [...]
London startup Checkout.com raises $230m in Europe’s largest ever fintech series A May 2, 2019 London-based fintech firm Checkout.com has raised $230m (£176.6m) from investors Insight Partners and DST Global, marking the largest European early-stage fintech raise to date. It is also the largest series A fintech fundraise globally of all time. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Blossom Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and other strategic investors also participated in the round. With [...]
Game of phones: Apple predicts iPhone rebound as Samsung tanks April 30, 2019 Apple beat Wall Street estimates on both revenue and profit last night, as the tech giant forecast a comeback in iPhone sales later this year. The move followed rival Samsung reporting its worst profit drop in two years, falling 63 per cent year-on-year to 6.2 trillion won (£4bn). Smartphone companies worldwide have been hurt by [...]
CryptoCompare market view: The alleged $850m ‘cover-up’ April 30, 2019 The Crypto world was rocked last week by the announcement from New York Attorney General Letitia James of a court order against the operators of the Bitfinex exchange and Tether – issuers of the stablecoin of the same name. The Attorney General alleges that the operators of Bitfinex and Tether engaged in fraud to hide [...]
Samsung to invest £89bn in logic chip business as it looks to take on rivals April 24, 2019 Samsung will invest 133 trillion won (£89bn) in its logic chip business over the next decade as it looks to counteract a decline in memory chip prices and take on rivals. The South Korean tech giant today said it will invest roughly 11 trillion won per year until 2030 in its divisions that manufacture logic chips, [...]
Samsung Galaxy Fold: Tech giant delays launch date after review issues for foldable phone April 23, 2019 Samsung is reportedly recovering all review samples of its latest smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, after complaints of faulty screens led it to postpone the device’s launch. The foldable phone’s offficial release was due on 26 April in the US but some journalists who received the device to review said it showed evidence of breaks, broken [...]
Volkswagen to build Tesla-style gigafactories as it ramps up electric car production April 15, 2019 Volkswagen is pushing its electric battery suppliers to build factories with at least one Gigawatt manufacturing capacity, according to its chief executive. Read more: Panasonic reviews plans for expansion of Tesla Gigafactory Joint venture partners such as South Korean firm SK Innovation (SKI) would need to build a so-called gigafactory because “anything below that amount [...]
Smartphone sales to fall in 2019 as foldable phones fail to spark interest April 8, 2019 Global smartphone sales are set to fall again this year as consumers shun upgrades and hold on to their devices for longer. Shipments of mobile phones are expected to slip 0.5 per cent to 1.8bn in 2019, according to data published by research firm Gartner. Read more: Samsung warns of 60 per cent drop in [...]
London tech startup Attest closes $16m from Groupon investor NEA April 8, 2019 Consumer growth platform Attest has secured a $16m (£12.3m) series A funding round from Silicon Valley-based investment firm NEA. Existing investors Oxford Capital and Episode 1 Ventures also participated in the round. London Bridge-based Attest said it would use the fresh funding to expand its technology platform, which is used by businesses to learn, measure [...]
Samsung warns of 60 per cent drop in quarterly profits as smartphone sales slide April 5, 2019 Samsung Electronics has warned its first quarter profits are likely to plunge 60 per cent compared to the same period last year. The South Korean tech firm said its profit for the first three months of the year was likely to be between 6.1 trillion and 6.2 trillion won (£4.1bn), down from 13.6 trillion won [...]