Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra impressions: A groundbreaking camera with a 100x zoom lens February 12, 2020 Cameras have long been the battleground on which top phones have proven themselves. Just look at how the advertising has evolved over the years: televisions and billboards are now plastered with video and photographs shot on Apple, Google and Samsung phones. The physical devices themselves? Almost an afterthought by comparison. Where manufacturers once fought to [...]
Business groups blast new Ofcom powers to police social media February 12, 2020 Business groups have hit out at Nicky Morgan’s plans to give Ofcom an expanded role in regulating the internet, calling the plan “unrealistic” and saying it would create “uncertainty”. The culture secretary announced that the broadcast regulator would be beefed up to tackle social media firms over “online harms”. Ofcom’s new role, first mooted in [...]
Angry Birds maker Rovio sees profit collapse in final quarter February 12, 2020 Rovio, the games firm behind Angry Birds saw quarterly profit plummet 96 per cent after its new 5G platform Hatch failed to take flight. Rovio, which saw its shares fall 15 per cent this morning, said that the roll out of 5G networks had been slower than expected and had had a knock-on effect on [...]
Softbank profit plunges 99 per cent on heavy Vision Fund losses February 12, 2020 Softbank’s quarterly profit has been almost entirely wiped out after heavy losses from its Vision Fund hit the technology investor for the second consecutive quarter. The Japanese conglomerate’s operating profit from October to December plummeted 99 per cent to just ¥2.59bn (£18.2m) after its Vision Fund and a related vehicle recorded a $2bn loss. Softbank [...]
Ofcom set for role as ‘online harms’ regulator February 12, 2020 A beefed-up Ofcom will be responsible for tackling social media firms over “online harms”, culture secretary Nicky Morgan will announce later today. The broadcasting regulator will become Britain’s first internet watchdog, the Financial Times reported, as the UK attempts to crack down on illegal material on sites such as Youtube and Facebook. Ofcom’s new role, [...]
Let the Iowa fiasco serve as a warning — new technology isn’t always the answer February 12, 2020 Last week, the entire world witnessed the shambles of the vote counting in the Iowa Democratic caucus. It should have been straightforward — but adding all the votes up in a consistent way took a whole week. The list of errors is as long as your arm. In some precincts, for example, the total number [...]
Western governments should have been ready for Huawei February 12, 2020 In the late 1990s, I represented Lucent Technologies, a firm focused on delivering telecommunications equipment which had been spun out of AT&T. At the time, in addition to the more familiar competitors such as Nortel Networks and Alcatel, we faced an additional threat — a relatively new Chinese competitor called Huawei. Huawei was able to [...]
If artificial intelligence is going to revolutionise the NHS, people need to be educated on its uses February 12, 2020 As Boris Johnson tries to reposition the Tories as the party of the NHS, with a £34bn-a-year long-term funding bill, the health service’s future will be in the minds of many. Its workforce is under relentless strain as it seeks to deliver world-class healthcare to the population, and many staff are overwhelmed. As the debate [...]
MWC 2020: BT and Nokia join exodus of companies over coronavirus fears February 12, 2020 BT is pulling out of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) because of the coronavirus outbreak, becoming the latest in a string of telecoms firms to say they will not attend the event in Barcelona later this month. Earlier today, Nokia and and Deutsche Telekom both said they would not be attending MWC, increasing the likelihood [...]
Airbnb set to swing to a loss ahead of 2020 market debut February 11, 2020 Holiday letting platform Airbnb reportedly swung to a loss last year, raising concerns ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO) later this year. The tech giant reported a $322m (£248.65m) net loss in the nine months to September as costs spiked, down from $200m profit the previous year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Airbnb [...]