What to Expect at Google I/O: Beyond mobile… and reality May 17, 2016 This week the eyes of the technology industry are all on Google’s annual developer conference – Google I/O occurring from 18-20 May. The first conference since the creation of Alphabet has a brand new outdoor home – Shoreline Amphitheatre in San Francisco. While tech blogs are already awash with rumours, I’d like to share some areas to look [...]
Tech stocks: Can the FANGs survive the bloodsuckers? February 2, 2016 January was a blood bath for technology stocks, and even the well regarded FANG stocks – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google – copped it sweet for most of the month. Investors have been skittish around highly anticipated results. Facebook, down about 10 per cent at one point last month, soared to a record high post [...]
Amazon Prime’s new Top Gear: “They’re worth a lot” Jeff Bezos says of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond August 16, 2015 Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has revealed what he thinks about Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond after signing the trio to star in a new car show on Amazon's Netflix-style Prime Video streaming service. The show, due to air next year, will be “very, very, very expensive,” Bezos said, speaking to [...]
UK set for take off in “drones for business” industry worth billions May 9, 2016 The market for drones in business – from transporting goods to servicing ships and filming TV shows – could be worth $127.3bn (£88bn) and the UK is destined to play a major part in that, new research reveals. Infrastructure, agriculture and transport are the areas where drone technology will have the greatest application, in terms of both labour and services, [...]
Amazon Prime Day is here: These are the best lightning deals – including PlayStation, Xbox, HDTVs, Kindles July 15, 2015 Amazon is attempting to recreate the shopping frenzy that was Black Friday with a bumper day of sales and promotions for Prime members. Amazon Prime Day has more deals up for grabs than the shopping day back in November which sparked fisticuffs in supermarkets and record sales. The online retailer is offering customers around the [...]
Four of the best: Investment opportunities from around the globe August 16, 2016 Markets have been turbulent this year and much talk has focused on potential risks. A smattering of uncertainties to consider include the ramifications of the Brexit vote and whether the UK will enter recession. Nor does anyone know how extraordinary monetary policy in Europe will pan out, or the ultimate impact there’ll be from the trillions [...]
Amazon Prime Day is not the new Black Friday as British retailers have little appetite for mega sales… yet July 15, 2015 Not content with helping bring the horror of shoppingeddon to the UK in the form of Black Friday, Amazon is now attempting to create its own, even bigger version, with Prime Day. Last year Black Friday went from being a US tradition us Brits mocked as the embodiment of America's tendency to take things to [...]
Netflix and kill: Digital movie sales overtake DVDs for the first time May 6, 2016 It's official: the DVD is dead. Ok, not quite yet, but we're about to pass a milestone that puts ye olde digital versatile disc firmly in the rear view mirror as the world drives towards a future filled with film streaming. Call it the Netflix effect, but consumers in Britain will spend more of their cash on streaming and downloading films and [...]
FTSE reshuffle: Who’s in and who’s out of the blue-chip index – Morrisons, Sports Direct, Aberdeen Asset Management, Paddy Power Betfair, Informa, Mediclinic International March 2, 2016 Supermarket Morrison's has stormed back into the FTSE 100, having only been given the boot in the index's last quarterly review. News of a tie up with Amazon gave the big four grocer the boost it needed, sending its share price to 205.4p, up around 10 per cent on the week. Morrison's will be joined in the blue-chip [...]
Netflix share price tumbles on subscription slowdown, sparking takeover speculation April 19, 2016 Shares in Netflix have tumbled like a house of cards, down more than 10 per cent after subscriber numbers failed to hit estimates – indicating a slowdown in growth. The streaming service forecast half a million new additions to its service in the US by June, and two million around the rest of the world, below [...]