This consulting firm has created an “editable” blockchain and people are puzzled September 20, 2016 Blockchain, heralded in part for keeping an immutable record of transactions, could soon become editable. Accenture has patented a prototype for making changes to it in "exceptional circumstances" to take into account errors recorded such as so-called fat finger moments, or, human error. “As we focus on new uses for blockchain technology beyond the realm of cryptocurrency, absolute immutability will become both [...]
Musical match: Now you can add Spotify songs to your Tinder profile September 20, 2016 Daters rejoice: one of the most important elements of a relationship (musical taste, fyi) can now help you find a match on Tinder. The dating app has partnered with Spotify to integrate your listening habits into your profile, meaning you can now find that perfect partner based on a shared love of bands or singers. Read more: [...]
Destiny: Rise of Iron news – Gjallarhorn returns in an update that gives the fans what they’ve been waiting for September 20, 2016 Destiny's previous expansion, The Taken King, was a bit of a relief. It helped to simplify the more frustrating progression elements, meaning, for example, that when you finally obtained a much-sought after piece of gear (one that you had killed countless sentient beings for) you could start using it right away, rather than having to collect [...]
Bank of England’s Andrew Hauser: Don’t expect blockchain to revolutionise finance any time soon September 20, 2016 Much heralded blockchain technology will not create a revolutionary shake up in the financial sector anytime soon, a top Bank of England official has declared. The distributed ledger technology has a way to go to become to be as revolutionary as some are predicting, according to Andrew Hauser, the executive director of banking, payments and financial resilience [...]
Dixons Carphone has created an Amazon Dash style button prototype September 20, 2016 Dixons Carphone is experimenting with the Internet of Things (IoT) to create an Amazon Dash style button that can be used to provide customer support when their devices go wrong. Like a "panic button on a submarine", if your washing machine starts leaking, simply pressing the button will trigger a call back from Dixon's call [...]
EU competition chief defends Apple tax ruling on visit to Washington September 20, 2016 Margrethe Vestager, the EU chief who presided over the decision to slap Apple with a €13bn tax bill has met with counterparts in Washington in an attempt to smooth over relations on the issue of tax. Vestager said she had a "good, frank discussion" with US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew about state aid and taxation but fired [...]
Twitter’s new character limit: Here’s everything we know about the new rules September 20, 2016 Purists will be horrified – but for the rest of us, life is about to get a little bit easier. Yes: Twitter has relaxed its 140 character limit. Well, slightly. Naturally, the company announced the changes via tweet (and jazzy video) overnight: https://twitter.com/twitter/status/777915304261193728 Here's what you need to know. What is included in the new rules? [...]
Barack Obama just welcomed driverless cars September 20, 2016 The US President Barack Obama is on board with driverless cars, welcoming the technology's potential for increasing safety and reducing pollution on roads across the US as the country announces new rules for the vehicles. "In the seven-and-a-half years of my presidency, self-driving cars have gone from sci-fi fantasy to an emerging reality with the [...]
Fraudsters hit Brits with a financial scam every 15 seconds September 20, 2016 The UK suffered an incident of financial fraud ever 15 seconds in the first six months of the year, as the rise of scams to obtain passwords, bank details and cash shows no sign of abating. Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA) found more than one million separate accounts of people handing over personal details between January [...]
As Neil Woodford criticises its attitude to funding startups, is the UK capable of producing the first trillion-dollar company? September 20, 2016 Luke Hakes, investment director at Octopus Ventures, says Yes. You have to believe the UK is capable of building the world’s first trillion-dollar company. Historically, the UK ecosystem lacked the weight of capital required to take startups to the next level, especially when compared to Silicon Valley. But that’s been changing and the UK has made [...]