E3 Round-up: All the top announcements from PlayStation VR and Xbox One S price and release date to Arkham VR, Death Standing and The Last Guardian news June 15, 2016 Every year, the world’s gaming press jets off to Los Angeles to be wowed by Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and all the top games developers, who lay out their plans for the future of the industry. This year there was a big push for virtual reality, with the big players throwing their weight behind the nascent [...]
Tech titans rule 2016 with $268bn of M&A activity June 15, 2016 Technology is leading the global mergers and acquisitions sector this year with $267.6bn worth of deals announced so far, according to new research by financial markets platform Dealogic. This is only the second time on record that technology deals accounted for the maximum number of M&A deals made in a year. The year 2000 saw [...]
Rarer than a unicorn? This venture capital firm just floated in London June 15, 2016 Draper Esprit, the European firm which has backed startups such as LoveFilm, Graze and Lyst has made its stock market debut in a rare move for a venture capital firm.. With a dual listing on Aim and Ireland's Enterprise Securities market (ESM), shares on London's junior market were up as much as four per cent on the [...]
Scientists have discovered a surprising new influence on happiness June 15, 2016 We're always looking for happiness in life, and scientists are always looking at ways to help us find it, but now they have identified a surprising new influence on how positive we're feeling. It's not just our own happiness that matters, but the fortunes of those around us, according to a new study by researchers from University [...]
Uber’s hungry for even more cash with plans for $2bn leveraged loan June 15, 2016 Thought the most highly valued private tech company in the world had enough money to throw around? Apparently, it doesn't. Uber is rounding up another $2bn (£1.4bn) to its already pretty huge cash mountain in its bid for world domination, but this time it's tapping the cash via a leveraged loan. Read more: Apple's favourite Chinese Uber rival [...]
Twitter has invested $70m in music streaming service SoundCloud June 14, 2016 Tech giant Twitter invested $70m in music streaming service SoundCloud earlier this year it has been revealed. The social media network bought the stake as part of a round that would value SoundCloud at about $700m, tech website Recode has reported. Twitter's newly returned CEO Jack Dorsey didn't reveal details of the deal but confirmed that the San Francisco-based company now owns a stake [...]
Creative and technology industries best served by Remain vote, warns law firm June 14, 2016 A Brexit would hamper the UK's creative and technological industries, a law firm specialising in intellectual property has today warned. EIP also noted that it was supporting the Remain campaign, adding that a vote to leave the EU would be bad for intellectual property (IP) rights holders in general. Read more: ECB to do "whatever it [...]
Five implications for the app economy after Apple’s WWDC June 14, 2016 Monday's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) found Apple announcing a raft of updates set to overhaul the entire app economy. From MacOS and Apple Watch to iMessages, the changes Apple is planning opens up an entire new world for developers. The question is though, what do these changes mean for the app economy as a [...]
This ex-Googler’s “anti-Wonga” loans startup is moving into savings June 14, 2016 A fintech startup founded by a former Google boss which lets people pay off their debts via a single monthly payment direct from their salary is now planning to expand on its loans business with a move into savings. SalaryFinance was founded late last year by Dan Cobley, the former boss of Google in the UK, former banking consultant Ashesh Sarkar, and [...]
Fintech boom means Brexit won’t hurt exports June 14, 2016 Exporting can be a powerful driver of business growth, and small and medium-sized enterprises that sell overseas often find themselves more successful in their domestic market as a result of what they learn from exporting. So, I was disheartened to see at a recent seminar hosted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, that only around 20 per [...]