BMW was 100 years old last month. Despite such a momentous birthday from one of the world’s largest brands, the only car news story in town is Tesla’s new Model 3 launch. This California-cool car company isn’t a household name just yet, but looks set to become the next Google or Apple in its ubiquity […]
Reading the combative words of @LukeJohnsonRCP in the Sunday Times (paywall) today, I was struck by the juxtaposition of a free market capitalist championing some sort of nationalist government intervention to throttle enterprise and innovation. He writes, “We have a huge and successful creative industry, which is being gradually eviscerated by the depredations of parasites such as […]
The recent eBay hack has shown us yet again that we are on a hiding to nothing with our passwords. The clever spelling of your favourite band or that important date integrated with a loved one’s name really won’t cut it. Passwords are now recommended to be very long and contain upper and lower letters […]
Amazon have scored plenty of headlines with its drone delivery story, Prime Air. For the uninterested, Amazon have said they’ll be able to shorten delivery times by despatching your goods via drones rather than delivering via the postal system in the future. It’s not as fanciful as it might sound. Flirtey are set to pull […]
Health is universal and, perversely, so too is our deteriorating health problem. The developing world has obvious health shortfalls and problems but ‘Globesity’ has entered the developed world’s Zeitgeist as testimony that we’re killing ourselves through our own lifestyle choices. That’s one sound reason why health will be the next great tech revolution. Yahoo’s super-smart […]
There’s innovation from the private education sector as we’re seeing the first generation of online education. With such a low barrier of entry (anyone can join), take up is clearly growing but completion is thought to be around 9%. Presumably that’s people ducking out of course X as it wasn’t stimulating enough and switching to […]
Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google make up the five horsemen of the internet. I’ve written before about how they are both dominating their own and crossing each others’ fields at the same time. The media constantly frames a theory that all five are at war, each wanting to be the only tech company standing. […]
Microsoft is plagued by Google’s Android dominance in the mobile internet market so much so, that they’re leading a coalition of 17 companies called FairSearch who have launched a complaint to the European Competition Commission. Microsoft have also launched their third advert that tells users that Google is sharing some personal info when buying applications […]
Dido Harding, CEO of TalkTalk wrote a piece in the Telegraph recently that said, “To become a world leader in broadband, we must prioritise competition as much, if not more so, than infrastructure.” Surely he’s mistaken in thinking anyone believes these factors are isolated? It’s obvious that infrastructure without business, consumers, government and charities adopting […]
The F1 season begins with the Melbourne Grand Prix on March 17th. Like all season starts, the preamble and build-up contains huge excitement to pique a fan’s interest in the foreplay of this spectacular international road show. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes will, of course, finish victorious with both the drivers’ and the constructors’ titles returning to […]
Google search is trying to become ever better. Their standard 10 blue links are a thing of the past. Now it’s a more ‘augmented’ affair as they constantly try to improve the quality of their results. They genuinely want you to find what you want rather than becoming disenfranchised and switch to Bing. So obsessed […]
Apple have sold more iPhone 5s in the 3 days since launching, than they did in their whole first month of the iPhone 4S’ launch (i.e. x10 growth). How is that phenomenal growth possible given the current economic climate? Is the iPhone and other such tech a social leveller? Harrods is capitalising on its ‘brand’ […]
Someone asked me the other day who to look for online; who are the voices they could tap into outside of the usual channels? Here’s a dozen go-to folks @John Battelle – the web’s favourite professor-turned-entrepreneur. He penned one of the original books on Google and his Search Blog is just as worthy of your […]
Tech’s Big 4 want to own your digital life and this land grab has developed in recent years away from digesting lines of code (by browsing on Amazon, searching on Google etc) to a physical tie up via hardware. The old days were ruled by Gateway and Dell with their desktops and laptops. Now it’s […]
Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and other tech giants will have to reply to Google’s Glass project, but I shudder to think about the court cases over patents that’ll follow. The only folks wealthier than the company board members will be the lawyers that represent them. These glasses (and their many successors) won’t be for the nerds, […]
There’s no question that many supply chains are shrinking as manufacturers can become retailers, and retailers can increasingly become manufacturers. Plenty of retail sectors are feeling these waves in their ponds. It strikes me that cross-pollinating, and horizontal and vertical integration sound wonderfully simple growth strategies on paper, but in reality they involve emotion, history […]
Amazon in America is offering $5 off a purchase if the user orders via their mobile app. As of Saturday, if you go to Macy’s or Toys R Us and physically scan an item’s barcode with the Amazon App, Amazon will give you up to $5 off that item if you add it to your […]
Evan Davis on the brilliant Bottom Line asked his guests what the business world will look like in 2020. Justin King of Sainsbury’s commented that it’s difficult enough looking at 2013 and 2020 is impossible. Laura Tenison of JoJo Maman Bebe claimed M-commerce would be commonplace, and Michael Birch, co-founder of Bebo said connectivity to […]
The tablet isn’t a new invention but the iPad has created a phenomenally popular category that was a non-starter before Apple invested. A recent study by Google’s Admob services indicates tablet owners generally use them for more than an hour a day, usually at evenings. GQ editor, Dominic West, wrote in July’s magazine, “We’ve been […]
Silicon Valley can get carried away with the Angry Birds’ Series A round of investment and Apple’s iAds, but Denmark are giving us a great example of digital innovation helping the man on the street right now. From 1st April the Danes will be able to text a number that will reply to the phone […]
Two of the world’s top tech companies announced overhauls at the top this week. Sadly, Steve Jobs’ health will see him step aside for an as-yet unannounced successor at Apple (Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook will stand in at least in the short term). And Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, surprised most of us by tweeting, […]
A website isn’t a necessity for every single business in existence but few would argue it’s a massive opportunity. When business people ask my opinion about website designers or what type of site they should employ, I say 90% should use a blog. This will usually cause a lifted eyebrow or two as the word […]
Neil Thompson is the MD of Microsoft UK and Ireland and I recently saw him speak about his 18 years in innovation. He ran through his career in one of the world’s most influential companies; from exaggerating his skills at his job interview to today’s cutting edge. It was a walk down memory lane for […]
Hadfield Road in Cardiff is a haven for the car buyer. It’s just a mile long but straddling nearly every inch of it you’ll find over 20 car dealerships. This proximity to your competitors certainly isn’t unique – pub chains all gather together in city centres. So does the sex industry in London’s Soho, and […]