One huge hint that Snapchat’s working on a VR device September 5, 2016 Nobody asked for it, but Snapchat messages might soon be coming to you in a virtual world. The messaging startup, which has been flirting with an IPO for some time, has inadvertently dropped the biggest hint yet that it is delving into virtual reality technology – and specifically, into the hardware side of things. Read more: [...]
London fintech star Transferwise doubles revenue as losses grow September 5, 2016 Fintech unicorn Transferwise has revealed revenue tripled last year but losses grew as it continues to plough cash into global growth. Revenue came in at £28m in 2015, up from £10m the previous year, while pre-tax losses grew to £17m from £11m a year earlier. The payments firm transfered more than £800m a month for customers, which now number one million. The number of transactions has also [...]
The Juno probe has begun its scientific orbit around Jupiter: We speak to the man who helped build it about the challenges of reaching the red giant September 5, 2016 As the Juno space probe approached Jupiter, the massive gravitational pull of our solar system’s largest planet accelerated the craft to a speed of 265,000km/h. That made it the fastest man-made object in history. At its top speed, Juno could travel from Brighton to Aberdeen in under ten seconds. Juno gathered speed by slingshotting around the [...]
This satellite firm wants millions from SpaceX after rocket explosion September 5, 2016 It's not great when your experimental rocket ship explodes. It's even less great when said rocket is carrying some rather expensive equipment. The owner of the satellite on board the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket which was last week destroyed by an unexpected and fiery explosion has now demanded $50m (£38m) from Elon Musk's company – or a free ride [...]
Now you can open a HSBC account with a selfie September 5, 2016 Forget passwords and pins, but now its not even fingerprints or eye scanning that is replacing these traditional security measures — it's selfies. HSBC will now let its business customers open an account simply using a selfie thanks to facial tracking technology, a type of biometrics which is becoming increasingly popular among firms as a way of making [...]
The reason for Britain’s dearth of digital media unicorns – the funding gap September 5, 2016 Much has been written in these pages about the dearth of British start-up success stories in comparison to our US cousins. Digital media companies are no exception. But what is causing this discrepancy? Perhaps most significant is the funding gap. In the UK, there is a strong angel investment culture thanks to seed enterprise investment [...]
Northzone raises €300m fund and is eyeing London fintech startups September 5, 2016 A European venture capital firm which has previously backed Spotify, iZettle and London fintech startup MarketInvoice, has launched a new multi-million pound fund to plough into tech startups across Europe, including the UK in another vote of confidence in the country after Brexit. Northzone has closed a €300m (£252m) fund to invest in early stage companies from global institutional investors and is eyeing up tech [...]
Jaguar powers up electric racing team September 4, 2016 Jaguar will lift the lid on plans for its electric Formula E racing team this week. The car, team, and sponsors are set to be unveiled on Thursday and will compete in the opening race of the Formula E season in Hong Kong next month. Jaguar Land Rover – owned by the Indian industrial giant [...]
EU takes closer look at more Irish tax deals, as Apple decision fallout rumbles on September 4, 2016 The European Commission is closely scrutinising a slew of Irish tax opinions, less than a week after its competition division decided its dealings with Apple amounted to illegal state aid. The European Competition Commission hit the tech giant with a bill for €13bn (£10.9bn) last week following a two-year investigation into the company's tax affairs in Ireland. [...]
“No security issues” surrounding billion-pound data centre deal with China September 4, 2016 The company run by the billionaire Reuben brothers has denied there are security concerns around a potential sale of a stake in its data centre company Global Switch to Chinese investors. The former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind has called on the Prime Minister Theresa May to vet the potential multi-billion pound deal over concerns around access to data. Read [...]
