Airbnb ‘plots direct listing’ instead of traditional IPO for hotly-anticipated float October 1, 2019 Airbnb is said to be shunning a traditional initial public offering (IPO) in favour of a less conventional direct listing when it floats on the public market next year. The San Francisco-based tech giant is currently making preparations for a listing that would not involve creating any new shares, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with [...]
Ranked: The best and worst London boroughs for broadband October 1, 2019 Broadband speeds in the City are the lowest of any London borough, according to new data on internet speeds across the capital. The data, compiled by Broadband Choices, shows massive disparities in average download speeds, with the fastest borough clocking up an average speed over three times quicker than the slowest. Read more: Boris Johnson [...]
Mobile shopping platform Rezolve secures bumper deal with Samsung September 30, 2019 Mobile shopping platform Rezolve has secured a deal with Samsung to make its technology available on the South Korean firm’s smartphones. The London-based tech startup said its product will be embedded directly into Samsung’s Bixby Vision software and will be available in the US later this year. Read more: Samsung prepares to release new foldable [...]
Uncanny valley: Explaining the rise of virtual influencers September 30, 2019 I have fallen down a social media rabbit hole. I’ve been scrolling through the feed of an online influencer called “Lil Miquela”, and watching her videos on YouTube. Her Instagram is just like any other influencer account. There are pictures of her on nights out with friends, several of her posing in trendy clothes, even [...]
Trying to spot phishing emails ‘like gambling on roulette’, report finds September 30, 2019 Fraudulent emails pose the greatest cyber threat to businesses, as the chances of an employee spotting one are extremely slim, according to a report published today. Cybersecurity wonks said that employees’ inability to identify malicious messages rendered email the most vulnerable access point for most companies. Read more: Hackers ‘tried to steal Airbus secrets’ in [...]
Authorities continue to question Airbnb as UK tax bill shrinks September 30, 2019 Enquiries into Airbnb’s UK tax structure have continued to plague the short-term holiday rental giant, even as its payouts to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have decreased. Airbnb said it remains subject to “tax enquiries and proceedings concerning its operations and intracompany transactions”, filings seen by City PM reveal. It has also been contacted regarding [...]
Funding Circle investors face four month wait to withdraw cash September 28, 2019 Funding Circle is conducting an internal review after it was revealed investors are having to wait more than 16 weeks to withdraw cash. The peer-to-peer platform told The Times it was “exploring a range of options” to tackle the problem delaying investors from selling their loans in its secondary market. Funding Circle has around 80,000 [...]
Google turns 21: US tech giant is now old enough to drink September 27, 2019 As Google turns 21 today, there can be no better time to review the last 21 years of the all-powerful search engine. On 27 September 1998, Sergey Brin and Larry Page launched an early prototype of what they called a ‘large scale search engine’ while studying for their PhDs at Stanford University. Read more: Google [...]
Ex-communication: Pope warns Silicon Valley against ‘barbarous’ AI September 27, 2019 Monks worried about losing their jobs to robots got a new champion today as the pope urged tech giants to ensure they do not lead the world into a new “form of barbarism” when developing artificial intelligence. Francis called for “open and concrete” discussions on the future of technology. Read more: Two thirds of adults [...]
Huawei is already making equipment without US parts, says founder September 26, 2019 Chinese tech firm Huawei is already producing 5G base stations that do not use any US components, the company’s founder said today. Read more: US proposes $1bn fund to replace Huawei network equipment Ren Zhengfei said his company is making 5,000 base stations per month and plans to ramp up production to make 1.5m of [...]
