Google’s gearing up to spin off its self-driving cars business October 27, 2016 Google's self-driving cars are getting a life of their own. X lab, the autonomous vehicle project, is becoming a standalone unit of Google's parent company Alphabet; possibly the first step on its journey to becoming an independent company. The wheels were set in motion at the beginning of the year when Alphabet started separating the [...]
Inmarsat’s share price flies up 10 per cent after releasing starry-eyed results November 3, 2016 Shares in satellite group Inmarsat reached for skies today after revealing better than expected third quarter results. The group's aviation division grew revenues by 10 per cent to $36m (£29m) having been boosted by mopping up contracts with some of Europe's largest airlines. These included an agreement with British Airways to provide wifi on its short haul [...]
Uber is expanding its UberPool area just in time for Christmas December 2, 2016 Uber is more than doubling the area in London where its car-sharing option UberPool is available. From 4pm today, the service will cover all of zone three, including areas such as Streatham, Dulwich, Lewisham, Muswell Hill, Wimbledon and City Airport. The expansion comes one year after UberPool was launched in the capital. Uber's ride-sharing service allows users [...]
HP Elite X2 1012 review: An enterprise-level, two-in-one laptop that’s too business-minded to be much fun June 8, 2016 There’s a great deal to dislike about the HP Elite X2 1012, a business-level, tablet-laptop hybrid with a sleek and detachable aluminium keyboard and a surprisingly lovely iPhone 5 style chamfered finish. You’ve got ugly little grievances, like the default, HP-branded desktop wallpaper, which appears to be a picture of a petri dish filled with [...]
Government letter to Nissan reveals no extra spending says top civil servant December 13, 2016 Nissan will not receive any more public money to keep production of its new Qashqai and X-trail models in Sunderland after Brexit, according to a top civil servant. Amyas Morse, the head of the National Audit Office, said he had seen a government letter to Nissan, and that it contained no promises which would result [...]
Google Daydream View review: Potentially the coolest thing you’ll ever strap to your face November 23, 2016 Virtual reality headsets are about as fashionable as strapping a toaster to your face, so the fabric-coated Google Daydream View looks almost stylish by comparison. You still look like a bit of a tool while wearing one, obviously, but considerably less so than with other headsets. Slip in a compatible Android phone (currently only the [...]
Uber eyes even more expansion as it announces partnership with Indonesia’s second biggest taxi firm December 19, 2016 Uber's showing no sign of slowing up in its expansion. The ride-hailing app company has announced a partnership with Indonesia's Express Transindo Utama, the country's second biggest taxi operator. The deal will give Uber access to some of Express's 11,000-strong fleet of taxis and 17,000 drivers. It should also help the firm meet regulations on [...]
Google Pixel review: Quite comfortably the greatest Android phone ever made October 19, 2016 Every Android phone has come with some compromise built in. Whereas the iPhone owes much of its popularity to Apple’s ability to control every last design detail – creating software and hardware that works in perfect harmony – Google has always had to rely on third-party manufacturers to build its phones. Imperfection’s gnarled fingers tended [...]
Trek Super Commuter+ 8 review: An outstanding new electric bike that will turn heads and ruin pigeons April 5, 2017 There’s a word, “snarge”, which means the gunky pink residue deposited inside and around a jet engine in the aftermath of a bird strike. Aeroplanes are so massive and fast, and birds are so tiny and slow, that the most basic rule of physics transmutes the animal into a kind of blood mist. This transformation [...]
How inflation helps ‘value investing’ March 17, 2017 ‘Value investing’ has been resurgent since last summer, as explained here. Inflation can help this type of investing. Kevin Murphy, an author on The Value Perspective blog, explains why. At the very end of last year, in our post Three important investment lessons to take from 2016, we noted in passing that President Trump’s intention to [...]