Globaldata Share Discussion Threads

[littleredrooster] 22/12/2017 13:49

Bitcoin price tumbles 20%

Crash caps volatile week of warnings from regulators and security problems at 2 exchanges

Emma Dunkley and Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong and Adam Samson in London

December 22, 2017

"The price of bitcoin tumbled 20 per cent on Friday, following a week marked by high-profile security problems at two exchanges and warnings from global regulators about the risks cryptocurrencies pose.

Bitcoin tumbled as low as $12,191.80, according to Bloomberg, leaving it more than 30 per cent down from a record high touched at the start of the week. Its crash caps a volatile week for the controversial cryptocyrrency that began the year at just $1,000, prompting some to question whether a bubble is bursting.

Other digital currencies also fell on Friday, according to OnChainFX which tracks them. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, was 26 per cent lower at $641.65, while bitcoin doppleganger “bitcoin cash” fell 38 per cent.

The moves reverse a surge in prices over the past month, fuelled by the launch of bitcoin futures on the US-based Cboe Global Markets exchange, as parts of mainstream Wall Street try to capitalse on the recent fervour. Rival exchange operator CME Group has also opened trading in bitcoin futures recently

The rise in bitcoin prices has evoked comparisons with the dotcom bubble, intensifying concerns about risks of speculating in the cryptocurrencies."

[littleredrooster] 16/12/2017 23:03

Brexit fears overblown as more tech workers come to UK from outside the EU

James Titcomb

15 December 2017 • 12:01am

More technology workers in the UK are coming from India, Australia and the US than from major EU countries, according to a study.

Research from Tech City, the Government-backed organisation for the technology industry, found that the biggest sources of technology workers were from outside the single market, rather than from France and Spain.

The figures go some way to soothing fears that Brexit will lead to a deficit of highly-skilled workers in the tech industry, despite warnings that leaving the EU will starve start-ups of talent.

The report used data from LinkedIn to analyse the spread of workers with technology skills that entered the UK last year. These included people working in aerospace, telecoms and healthcare, which the researchers said gave it a wider perspective than the cluster of internet start-ups that exists London.

It found that India provided the most technology workers arriving in the UK last year, at 12pc, followed by the US and Australia at 10pc and 7pc. Spain and France provided 6pc of workers, with Italy 5pc.

Previous figures have shown that more tech workers living in the UK come from outside the EU, but the latest numbers suggest the flow of new workers also largely comes from other countries.

The Government recently boosted the number of special visas made available to non-EU tech workers, which the industry says are likely to become more important after Brexit.

The researchers said that although technology workers are most highly-concentrated in London, just over half of those who arrived in the UK last year settled outside of the capital.

Ministers are attempting to boost technology companies in the regions. It recently funded Tech City, which was set up as a London-focused organisation, to set up a network of regional hubs and to rebrand itself as “Tech Nation”.

[littleredrooster] 14/12/2017 13:45

The saga continues. Market cap £8.35m.

hxxp://www.forbidden.co.uk/2017/12/14/looking-forward/

December 14, 2017 by Ian McDonough

Looking Forward

"Feedback from both existing and prospective customers is unanimous – Blackbird video technology should be a game changer within the industry – reaffirming my core reason for joining Forbidden as CEO and investing personally in the company. Throughout my media career, and especially in my time at Turner and BBC Worldwide, I developed a deep appreciation of the need to continuously improve speed and efficiency, which Blackbird is ideally positioned to do.

Our primary commercial objective is to integrate Blackbird as an infrastructure component in the media supply chain. These infrastructure sales have far more financial potential, although they have longer sale cycles. There is a lot of work to be done, to tackle both the lack of sales and the fact that Forbidden has been under-selling its technology, but I relish a challenge, and we are making good headway for the new year ahead."

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2018

[littleredrooster] 08/12/2017 13:58

GlobalData PLC Acquisition of MEED Media FZ LLC

08/12/2017 1:45pm

GlobalData Plc is pleased to announce its agreement to acquire MEED Media FZ LLC ("MEED") from Ascential PLC for a cash consideration of $17.5m. MEED provides premium business information content with an industry focus on infrastructure and projects in the Middle East. The business services its growing client base principally through annual subscription contracts.

Background to the Acquisition

The acquisition of MEED supports the Group's strategy of expanding its premium subscription based services into global markets and adds a further vertical industry to the Group's offering. MEED has quality proprietary content and brings deep regional and sector expertise to the Group.

For the financial year ended 31 December 2016, the revenues for MEED were $18.7m with an EBITDA of $1.7m and it had net liabilities of $1.7m, largely as a result of its deferred revenues. The cash consideration will be financed using the Group's existing bank facilities and the acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in the first year of ownership.

Commenting on the acquisition Bernard Cragg, Executive Chairman, said:

"MEED gives the Group the opportunity to further expand into a key region and adds an additional industry vertical to our offering whilst maintaining our disciplined investment criteria of premium proprietary content and strong renewable subscription based revenues.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new colleagues to the Group and wish them every success for the future within GlobalData."

About GlobalData Plc

4,000 of the world's largest companies make better and more timely decisions thanks to our unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions delivered through a single platform.

At GlobalData, our mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative.

We are now one of the largest data and insights solution providers in the world.

[littleredrooster] 07/12/2017 23:27

At present the only way to short is to sell your bitcoin and exit the market, a bias that favours bulls

hxxps://uk.webfg.com/news/international-economic/bitcoin-surges-past-15000-despite-news-of-60m-heist--3016455.html

07 Dec, 2017 17:08

Bitcoin surges past $16,500 despite news of $60m heist

"Neil Wilson at ETX Capital said he was running out of new things to say about bitcoin, only that the price action is exceptional and without any parallels. "It’s a bubble for sure in its dynamic, we just don’t know when or how it will collapse."

He highlighted a couple of factors that he felt could do with further expanding upon.

"Firstly, a regulatory crunch is coming. This is to be expected and the recent price action may in part be explained not just by the advent of regulated futures trading, but also bulls ramping up prices while the going is good.

"For example, in the US, Senate Bill 1241 would require anyone dealing in bitcoin, whether issuing, redeeming or cashing it in, to be classed as a financial institution. Once you start hammering not just the Bitcoin exchanges with AML, KYC and all the other regulation, but also every investor and user, the appeal of cryptos as an off-grid currency is destroyed. In this sense, mainstreaming Bitcoin makes it less valuable, not more."

Cryptocurrencies will not be regulated out of existence, as governments and central banks do not wish to stop blockchain technology, but Wilson said they can regulate "to a point where they destroy the value in any one version by taking control of it for themselves".

As a regulated market with futures it "ought to behave more normally than it has done" but is likely so some "pretty major spasms" on Sunday night and Monday morning as the contracts launch, Wilson said, and will be bearish for bitcoin overall as it will allow proper shorting and hedging strategies.

"At present the only way to short is to sell your bitcoin and exit the market, a bias that favours bulls. The ability to go short creates a new dynamic in the market and may result in a significant shock to prices. The problem is anyone shorting against this headwind of rapidly rising prices needs to be able to sweat out huge potential upside. As plenty before have noted, bitcoin might keep rising longer than shorts can stay solvent.”"

[littleredrooster] 30/11/2017 11:06

Naspers paid $34 million for its current stake .. that is now worth about $170 billion

hxxp://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/29/after-34-million-investment-in-tencent-africas-naspers-is-one-worlds-most-valuable.html

After $34 Million Investment in Tencent, Africa's Naspers Is One of World's Most Valuable

By Alexandra Wexler

Published November 29, 2017

JOHANNESBURG – Africa's most valuable company is now suddenly one of the world's most valuable companies, too.

On Wednesday, Naspers Ltd. -- a media and internet firm little known outside South Africa and Silicon Valley -- reported a surge in half-year earnings, bolstered by its 33.3% stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.

The performance sent shares up 0.8%, bringing its gains over the last year to 84%. That has suddenly made it the world's 65th largest listed company by market value among the Stoxx Global 3000 index. Last year, it wasn't close to breaking into the top 100, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

The stock market gains have been driven almost entirely by Tencent's own soaring share price. Back in 2001, Naspers paid $34 million for its current stake. Based on Tencent's current market capitalization, that is now worth about $170 billion. Investors have baked in a discount for Naspers shares, though, because of a dividend-withholding tax that would kick in should it ever sell out. Naspers market cap ended Wednesday at about $121 billion.

Apart from Tencent, Naspers holds stakes in a host of other portfolio companies, including Mail.ru Group, a Russian internet company that runs two of the country's three biggest social networks, Delivery Hero, a food delivery company in Germany, and Flipkart, India's biggest e-commerce site.

"The market is actually paying you to take on all these other great assets," said Philip Short, an analyst at Old Mutual Equities, in Cape Town.

Naspers said net profit for the six months ended Sept. 30 rose 98% to $1.1 billion, while revenue rose 5% to $3.1 billion. That came from dividends it receives from its Tencent Holdings and profits at its e-commerce businesses, especially its global digital classified businesses.

Its holdings in Tencent also gives Naspers an almost-unrivaled position as what has become essentially a silent partnership in some of the tech world's splashiest recent investments. Earlier this year, Tencent bought a 5% stake in Tesla Inc. and a 12% stake in Snap Inc. Last year, it bought Finland's Supercell, maker of the "Clash of Clans" mobile game franchise.

Last year, Naspers opened a venture-capital outfit in Silicon Valley to be closer to the tech-innovation hub.

Recently, the company has been quietly taking on much bigger rivals.

The company launched a streaming service called ShowMax across Africa in 2015, just ahead of Netflix Inc.

Naspers is also going toe to toe with Craigslist Inc. in the U.S., with a mobile app called LetGo.

[littleredrooster] 16/11/2017 18:47

"Following more than a decade of relentless product development and recent high profile client wins, Forscene is now looking to develop its Sales organization"

hxxps://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/Forbidden-Technologies/jobs/Strategic-Account-Director-79ded4a3bd4bb7b0?q=Avid+Editor+Video

Strategic Account Director -EMEA
Forbidden Technologies - London SW19
£60,000 - £80,000 a year

hxxps://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/Forbidden-Technologies/jobs/Support-Analyst-84c209b12715084c?q=forscene

Support Analyst
Forbidden Technologies - London SW19
£25,000 a year

hxxps://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/Forbidden-Technologies/jobs/Assistant-Account-Manager-49bec142bf588a8a?q=forscene

Assistant Account Manager - Broadcast & Post Production
Forbidden Technologies - London SW19
£20,000 - £25,000 a year

[littleredrooster] 13/11/2017 22:46

hxxp://www.streamingmediaglobal.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/BBC-Reinvents-Free-to-Air-Sports-Online-121529.aspx

BBC "Reinvents" Free-to-Air Sports Online

The BBC will produce and distribute an additional 1,000 hours a year of sports online, including rugby, tennis, swimming, and basketball

By Adrian Pennington

Posted on November 3, 2017

"In a bid to counteract the decimation of its sports coverage, the BBC has announced plans to produce and distribute an additional 1,000 hours a year of sports online. It has termed the move a reinvention of free-to-air sports broadcasting. In reality, though, it is a necessary reaction to the draining of top-tier sports from commercial and publicly funded channels.

In recent years the publicly funded Corporation has been forced to shed prestigious contracts for Formula 1, football, cricket, and golf mainly to competition from pay TV operators led by Sky and, lately, BT Sport.

While it still holds free to air rights to the Olympics in the UK until 2024, it will share coverage with subscribers to Eurosport.

Consequently, the BBC's increase in sports will see it concentrate on currently niche sports in the UK including wheelchair tennis, women's Super League soccer, and British Basketball League. These will be seen through the BBC Sport website and BBC iPlayer. The service will allow for personalisation though details on this have not been revealed. The iPlayer is already on its way to achieving more viewers, as 2016 was its best year to date with 243 million monthly requests on average.

In addition, more content from the BBC's remaining major sports rights will be streamed. These include Wimbledon, the FIFA World Cup until 2022, soccer's Euro 2020 and rugby union's Six Nations. Federations including The All England Lawn Tennis Club, the International Tennis Federation, British Swimming, and British Basketball back the plan to assist the BBC in move live production since they gain the oxygen of publicity to help grow their sports.

Key to the BBC's confidence in being able to stream this volume of content—to audiences that for some of the marquee contracts will run into the millions—is the IP contribution and distribution infrastructure as well as the front-end iPlayer it has been building since London 2012. The Corporation's new £120m regional headquarters in Cardiff, Wales will be its first to be outfitted entirely with IP infrastructure. Due to open in late 2019, the building is part of a strategy to shift transport of all signals to IP. The aim is to make cost savings and pave the way for future digital innovation.

Partnered with telco BT, the BBC has already laid an IP network linking all 21 UK broadcasting centres and local radio stations, as well as connecting to its main overseas bureaus and partners for playout of the BBC's TV channels."

[littleredrooster] 10/11/2017 20:46

Re post 129.

hxxp://uk.businessinsider.com/apple-buys-invisage-technologies-2017-11

Apple bought a startup that could make the iPhone X's amazing camera even better

Kif Leswing

Nov. 9, 2017, 4:55 PM

•Apple has bought a small company that makes special image sensors that perform better in low light.

•The company will most likely use this technology to make the cameras on its iPhones and iPads better.

"Apple continues to collect technology and talent to make its already-advanced cameras even better.

Apple has purchased a small image sensor startup, InVisage Technologies, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday. The news was first reported by Image Sensors World, a blog.

InVisage was a California-based startup founded in 2006 that eventually grew to 53 employees, according to LinkedIn. It had raised $98 million form investors including Intel Capital, Nokia Growth Partners, and GGV Capital, according to Crunchbase. It's not clear how much Apple paid to acquire the company.

Its primary product was called QuantumFilm, which promised better smartphone photo and videos in low-light. Here's how InVisage's website described the technology:

"QuantumFilm is a photosensitive layer that relies on InVisage’s newly invented class of materials to absorb light; specifically, the new material is made up of quantum dots, nanoparticles that can be dispersed to form a grid once they are synthesized. Just like paint, this dispersion of solid materials can be coated onto a substrate and allowed to dry.

The unprecedented light sensitivity and customizability of QuantumFilm set InVisage’s image sensor apart from traditional CMOS image sensors. Conventional sensors rely on a photosensitive layer made of silicon that also incorporates the circuitry necessary to read the electric output from the detected photons, as well as barriers isolating each pixel in order to prevent crosstalk. This means both less room for light sensing and less room for electric storage. InVisage has designed an innovative image sensor architecture with a dedicated QuantumFilm layer in order to maximize light sensing capability."

Currently, Apple uses back-illuminated images sensors purchased from Sony and other suppliers in iPhones."

[littleredrooster] 08/11/2017 16:07

Google and Volkswagen to Work Together on Quantum Computers

07/11/2017 2:46pm

Dow Jones News

By Max Bernhard

Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) and Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) Google said Tuesday that they will work together to research the use of quantum computers in mobility-related fields.

Employees of Volkswagen's IT division and Google will cooperate to research the development of traffic optimization, new materials structures, high-performance batteries for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence for machine learning processes on a quantum computer provided by Google.

"We at Volkswagen want to be among the first to use quantum computing for corporate processes as soon as this technology is commercially available," said Martin Hofmann, chief information officer of Volkswagen.