Amazon wants to make talking to robots an everyday event with Echo June 25, 2015 Amazon is aiming to make talking to robots as normal an event as turning on the TV or checking your phone. The company has ambitious plans to make voice control ubiquitous in households and has started by launching the Amazon Echo, a wireless speaker you can control through voice commands by saying “Alexa”. Alexa is [...]
Flurry of economic data to shed light on British recovery – London Report May 17, 2015 A STEADY flow of economic data is expected this week, with figures on house prices, producer prices, retail sales and public sector borrowing all scheduled for release. Data out tomorrow is expected to show that the UK experienced unchanged consumer prices year-on-year in April, as was the case in both March and February – although [...]
Communities in the sky: Architects are embracing a very capitalist utopian dream June 25, 2015 Architects are returning to the utopian idea of housing projects as selfcontained communities where residents are able to interact in social spaces. Only this time it’s a very capitalist dream Here’s how most of us choose our homes: we pick an area we can afford, perhaps somewhere with a good school for the kids, [...]
UK property prices: House price growth still falling – but mortgage approvals are up April 9, 2015 Growth in house prices fell again in the three months to March, to 8.1 per cent, down from 8.5 per cent in January, research by Halifax suggested today. That puts growth at a "similar" rate to September 2014 – although it's now "significantly" below July's peak of 10.2 per cent, it added. Month on month, [...]
Chinese stock market crash 2015: Money has poured into Japan as Asian markets crumble over China woes August 25, 2015 Money has flowed into Japanese exchange traded funds (ETFs) this year as the market stands out as the last area of safety in Asia. So far this year, overseas investors have piled $16.4bn into ETFs tracking Japan’s stock markets – nearly quadruple last year’s total of $4.4bn, according to data from Markit. The [...]
Mike Ashley adds MegaValue.com high street store to Sports Direct business June 1, 2015 Mike Ashley rarely sits still. With his ownership of the beleaguered Newcastle United dominating the headlines, the Sports Direct owner has quietly added a new high street business to his interests. Read more: Rangers and Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley has too much power, says IoD The subtly-titled MegaValue.com is a new discount store that recently appeared [...]
UK housing recovery lifts Laura Ashley sales June 12, 2014 British fashion and homeware brand Laura Ashley posted a 0.7 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the first 19 weeks of the year to 8 June as customers kitting out their homes with the retailer’s floral accessories and furnishings. Total sales were down 0.9 per cent as the group closed three stores in the [...]
House of Fraser cannot cushion sofa chain’s fall March 23, 2015 SCS GROUP, the sofa chain that listed on the London stock market last month, reported widening losses in the first half of the year blaming costs relating to the launch of its House of Fraser concessions. Pre-tax losses for the 26 weeks to 24 January rose to £13.1m from a £2.54m loss the same time [...]
Top Nazi Joseph Goebbels’s estate sues Random House over quotes taken from his diary April 18, 2015 The estate of one of Hitler’s most trusted Nazi’s is suing publisher Random House for Royalties. Random House published a biography of Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s propaganda chief, which included extensive quotes from the Nazi’s diary, the copyright to which doesn’t expire until the end of this year. Although the publisher initially agreed to pay [...]
Inside the rock: Gibraltar’s strategic and military importance is complemented by financial and gaming leadership November 12, 2015 Covering an area of just 6.8 square kilometres, the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar punches well above its weight. At the last count, despite a population of only 32,000 people, it was home to 67 insurers with £9.95bn in total assets, 13 banks, 72 trust and company service providers, 14 pension fund administrators, and [...]