Apple’s new iOS will be good for consumers but a headache for advertisers August 28, 2020 In weeks to come, Apple will update all its platforms to iOS 14, impacting its apps, home screen and the IDFA (identifier for advertisers). The changes to the IDFA, in particular, has caused uproar among marketers, with commentators claiming that Apple has crippled an $80bn industry. But what are these changes, and what does it [...]
Tech brands must embrace ethics to build trust with customers August 28, 2020 Have you ever read the entire terms and conditions from an online brand before clicking acceptance? My guess is the answer is no. But why do normal people abjectly hand over their most personal data, and their families and business relations to a business to profit from? The answer is trust. We trust these firms [...]
Klarna sales rise as lockdown sends shoppers online August 27, 2020 Payments provider Klarna said strong demand in the US and UK helped the value of transactions carried out via its payment platform grow in the first half of the year. The figures Klarna reported growth in total net operating income of 36 per cent year-on-year, as demand grew. The value of transactions carried out via [...]
Tiktok boss Kevin Mayer quits over looming Trump ban August 27, 2020 Tiktok chief executive Kevin Mayer has quit the hit video-sharing app over a looming ban rolled out by US President Donald Trump. In a note to employees Mayer said political pressure from the White House had changed the global nature of his role. “In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have [...]
VC valuations resilient in the face of coronavirus pandemic August 27, 2020 Venture capital pre-money valuations across all financing stages remained resilient during lockdown, according to new research. VC deal sizes remained healthy during the second quarter even as business optimism waned in the face of the pandemic. Pre-pandemic deals that remain to filter through have helped, as well as rising valuations tied to software and late-stage [...]
Alibaba’s Ant Group files for dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai August 25, 2020 Alibaba’s fintech arm Ant Group has filed for a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in what could become the world’s largest ever IPO. Ant’s float would be the first simultaneous listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star market, in a listing which could raise as much as $30bn. Ant Group, which made [...]
Software giant Aveva buys OSIsoft in $5bn mega-merger August 25, 2020 Industrial software giant Aveva today said it has agreed to acquire US tech firm OSIsoft in a $5bn (£3.8bn) deal. Aveva said the tie-up would bring together the two companies’ “complementary product offerings” in industrial software and data management. The FTSE-listed firm said it will fund the takeover through a combination of rights issues and [...]
DEBATE: Will cyber attacks increase as we return to the office? August 25, 2020 Will we see an increase in cyber attacks as more businesses return to the office? Chris Hodson, CISO at Tanium, says YES Cyber criminals exploited business disruption in the rush to get workers set up from home in March. Our research saw a 92 per cent spike in attacks targeted at companies in the first [...]
Zoom down: Thousands of users unable to make calls as video app crashes August 24, 2020 Thousands of people in the UK and US were left unable to access work calls this afternoon after video conferencing app Zoom suffered a partial outage. Outage tracking website Down Detector showed there were nearly 15,000 reports of outages on the platform. These were concentrated on the east coast of the US, but also impacted [...]
A-levels are the tip of the iceberg — biased algorithms are running our lives August 24, 2020 The A-levels debacle has laid bare the stark reality of relying on algorithms to make important decisions. Between the results being announced and the government’s U-turn four days later, public outrage had reached a fever pitch at the idea that an individual could have their life chances limited because of the results other people had [...]
