Samsung partners with magician Dynamo, adding smoke and mirrors to its lower spec S7 smartphone March 9, 2016 News of street magician Dynamo's talent travels far; korean firm Samsung has hired him to show off the powerful technology behind firm's new S7 smartphone, despite UK consumers only being able to buy the lower spec model. Samsung has struck an advertising deal with the star to promote the mobile provider's new S7 smartphone to be released on 11 March 2016 and its powerful [...]
MWC 2016 roundup: the biggest new phones announced at this year’s Mobile World Congress February 24, 2016 LG G5 LG’s new flagship handset is one of the first modular designs to market, allowing you to remove part of the phone to snap on new accessories to upgrade or add functionality. So far LG has shown the G5 customised with a camera grip – which adds additional battery capacity as well as shutter [...]
The Oscars 2016 by numbers: The cost of the Academy Awards in advertising, security and bling February 24, 2016 Oscars season is here again. But how much cash is shelled out – and by whom? Here’s everything you need to know. Oscar statuette: between $500 and $900 each The estimated cost of the famous Oscar statuette is a closely-guarded secret. “We have agreed with the Academy to never discuss [cost of] producing the statuettes,” [...]
Why taking a selfie is going to start costing you money as MasterCard brings “selfie pay”, its facial recognition payment software, to the UK February 22, 2016 Now there's a less vain reason to take a selfie: MasterCard is bringing facial recognition payment services, dubbed "selfie pay", to the UK. The company has already trialled the technology in pilot schemes in the US and Netherlands, ahead of a launch in 14 other countries this summer. (Rumours Kim Kardashian was the first person [...]
Apple iPhone sales fell for the first time in history, Gartner figures reveal February 18, 2016 Sales of Apple's iconic iPhones have fallen for the first time in history, analysts say. Global sales of the device declined 4.4 per cent at the end of last year, with 71.5m handsets sold in the last quarter of 2015. Apple sparked fears that the world has reached "peak Apple" in January when it revealed sales had fallen to [...]
Mobile World Congress 2016: What to expect – biometrics, virtual and augmented reality and Chinese smartphone brands February 16, 2016 Mobile World Congress 2016 always brings with it a flurry of new mobile gadget announcements – here are some of the trends to expect. The smartphone is quickly becoming an integral part of a bigger continuum of devices and smart objects as users increasingly live their lives in a "device mesh." This is an environment, [...]
Underwater cities and 3D printed homes – Here’s how houses of the future will look in 100 years’ time February 15, 2016 Prepare yourself for underwater cities, super-tall skyscrapers – and homes simply printed out on-demand thanks to 3D printing technology: these are just some of the ways we will live in a century's time. There'll also be colonies on the moon and eventually Mars and beyond, while personal drones will let us transport our home to any holiday spot. The [...]
Storm Imogen is playing havoc with drivers – but companies like Samsung, Google and Bosch are showing how technology can make roads safer February 8, 2016 Storm Imogen has landed and, as with the other storms this winter, is already causing problems for many road users, with strong winds hitting London and the rest of the UK. When the weather’s harsh, conditions for pedestrians and cyclists get worse and there’s no let-up in particular for those whose job depends on being on the [...]
Warren Buffett values companies with strong brands: Should you? February 5, 2016 Coca-Cola, American Express, Heinz, Warren Buffett is a well-known advocate of buying and holding familiar companies with strong brands. “The dynamics of capitalism guarantee that competitors will repeatedly assault any business ‘castle’ that is earning high returns,” he wrote in 2007. “Therefore a formidable barrier such as a company being the low-cost producer or possessing [...]
Nokia’s fall after the patent license arbitration with Samsung shows investors overreact wildly to intellectual property news February 4, 2016 When Nokia released information about the outcome of its patent licensing arbitration with Samsung, its share price fell by over 10 per cent within hours. This is not the first time that stock prices have reacted in an unpredictable fashion to intellectual property (IP) news. The poster child for this mispricing was when GoPro stock [...]