BBC to send vans to flush out illegal iPlayer users August 6, 2016 The BBC is planning to catch out people illegally using its iPlayer service by sending out vans equipped with WiFi detection devices, the Telegraph reported today. From the 1 September people watching the BBC using its iPlayer catch-up site will need to have a TV licence. The BBC's vans will be looking to find those who are dodging the £145.50 [...]
Deliveroo just raised $275m to fend off Uber August 5, 2016 Deliveroo, the London-based food delivery startup whose bikes are swarming the capital, has just raised another $275m (£209m) in an effort to ward off a growing threat from Uber. The company said the Series E investment round was led by Bridgepoint, existing investor DST Global and General Catalyst, with participation from Greenoaks Capital. The company said [...]
Canadian tech unicorn Hootsuite just came a step closer to an IPO – but would consider further private fundraising too August 4, 2016 Hootsuite, one of only two so-called tech unicorns in Canada, has revealed that it's generating cash for the first time, bringing it a step closer to going public. A social media tool which lets users, including businesses such as Virgin and Accor Hotels, manage accounts as well as social ad campaigns from a single dashboard, Hootsuite has passed the milestone which chief executive Ryan [...]
One boost Olympic host cities do get (and it’s not an economic one) August 4, 2016 With Rio 2016 just days away, forget the much-disputed economic boost to London and other cities hosting an Olympic Games can bring – are there other benefits to hosting the biggest sporting event in the world? Anecdotal evidence might suggest that even the grumpiest cynics raised a smile at the stunning opening ceremony of London 2012 and the record medal [...]
Losses mount for one-time mobile king Nokia August 4, 2016 Finnish telecoms hardware builder Nokia – once a name synonymous with the lucrative mobile phone market – has posted a net loss of €665m (£555m) for its latest quarter. In the same period last year it posted net profit of €347m before it acquired rival hardware supplier Alcatel-Lucent SA. This is Nokia's second quarterly loss in a row, and it has vowed it will now step up cost [...]
Three top tips for a reluctant digital detox August 4, 2016 That's it – switch off your phone, close your laptop… maybe even unplug the telly? Ok – perhaps wait until you've finished reading this, but a third of the country has considered taking just such drastic action in an effort to detox from the digital devices littering our lives. More than half of us consider ourselves hooked and a third of [...]
This was the biggest City office deal in the last quarter August 4, 2016 Amazon made the biggest office deal in the City in the last quarter, taking 47,101 sq ft of space in Beaufort House. Research from BNP Paribas Real Estate showed Amazon made the biggest City move in a period when lease length fell from 9.5 years to 7.8 years as occupiers sought more flexibility. Read more: Westfield Stratford set [...]
The way we message now: Text and email decline with the rise of WhatsApp August 4, 2016 The nation is ditching email and text messaging in favour of instant messenger services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, the use of which has surged over the last two years. IM is the fastest growing form of digital communication in the UK, with 43 per cent of people in Britain now using it at least once [...]
The UK has just experienced the highest jump in card fraud in Europe. Here’s why August 4, 2016 Card fraud is regarded as an unpleasant fact of life by many – but it turns out things are looking worse in the UK than anywhere else in Europe. According to research by software analytics firm Fico, the UK experienced an 18 per cent jump in card fraud losses in 2015 – the highest of any [...]
We’re a nation of “digital detoxers” August 4, 2016 Feel like you're suffering online overload? You're not alone. Some 15m Britons – a third of the country – say they have gone on a so-called digital detox to escape their connected devices, according to a comprehensive new survey of the nation's digital habits. A quarter of digital detoxers said they did it for a day, while [...]