News

Mobile apps and software

November 23, 2018 23 Nov'18
ASOS launches digital assistant to help customers find right size

Online fashion retailer ASOS has launched an artificially intelligent assistant to help consumers find the right size of clothing before they place an order
November 22, 2018 22 Nov'18
IKEA to focus on digitisation and convenience shopping

Swedish furniture brand IKEA will be cutting jobs and focusing on smaller stores and its digital pipeline in a bid to usher in a new era of business transformation
November 21, 2018 21 Nov'18
Lincolnshire Police signs 10-year cloud control room tech refresh deal with Motorola Solutions

Lincolnshire Police is embracing cloud technologies within its control room environment as it strives to improve the efficiency of its operations
November 16, 2018 16 Nov'18
Russian banks to introduce contactless ATMs

Russian banks have introduced their first contactless ATMs, which customers can link to via smartphones and wearable devices

November 15, 2018 15 Nov'18
The Gym Group flexes its muscles with data analytics

No-frills fitness company The Gym Group is using analytics technology to find insights from its financial, HR and membership data, as it limbers up for rapid expansion in the UK
November 12, 2018 12 Nov'18
NHS issues guidance for instant messaging use in acute settings

As NHS staff are increasingly turning to messaging apps to communicate with each other, the government issues guidance saying only tools meeting the NHS encryption standard should be used
November 08, 2018 08 Nov'18
M&S admits online remit “well behind” competitors

Food and clothing retailer Marks and Spencer has admitted its website and online fulfillment capabilities are behind that of its competitors, but it is seeing progress since implementing changes
November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18
Fintechs advised on how to work with big banks

Advice backed by the government for fintechs on how to engage with traditional finance firms is published
November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18
Lloyds Banking Group shaking up its workforce to reflect digital times

Lloyds Banking Group is revamping the roles of thousands of staff as it becomes digital
November 06, 2018 06 Nov'18
NatWest pilots digital bank for SMEs

App-based banking platform offers small enterprises other business tools on top of a current account

November 05, 2018 05 Nov'18
How Birchbox uses social media for personalisation and discovery

The UK marketing director of subscription service Birchbox told the Retail Week Tech conference about the retailer’s use of social media and data to offer customers a personalised service
November 02, 2018 02 Nov'18
Jlab 2019 to focus on experiential shopping

Each year, John Lewis hosts a number of retail startups intent on using technology to transform the industry. Next year they will be aiming to change the customer experience in-store
November 01, 2018 01 Nov'18
Robotic delivery service hits the streets of Milton Keynes

Following extensive testing and a limited commercial roll-out in campus enterprise environments, Estonian robotics firm Starship Technologies is launching a direct-to-consumer robot delivery service in Milton Keynes
November 01, 2018 01 Nov'18
How Bahrain plans to become a regional fintech hub

Bahrain is a small island with big plans for its financial technology industry
October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18
IoT R&D projects missed out on £10m of government funding

A series of delays and disruption caused chiefly by changes in project ownership meant the government’s IoT UK Research and Innovation Programme failed to use a quarter of its allocated budget between 2015 and 2018
October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18
How Avanade keeps pace with Microsoft and the market

Systems integrator Avanade has had to adapt to Microsoft’s evolution into an “ecosystem platform” that includes open-source software
October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18
Nordic banks target SME customers with fintech services

Traditional Nordic banks are slimming down workforces as they turn increasingly to technology-based service delivery, and some are linking up with small fintech companies to deliver online products.
October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18
SMEs use fintech in fight against online giants, but fears remain

Online SMEs are turning to financial technology to help them make payment processes easy for customers as they try to compete with online giants
October 19, 2018 19 Oct'18
Russians using less cash after accelerated use of electronic payments

Russians are increasingly using electronic payments rather than cash, a recent study by Sberbank has found
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
Home Office ‘seriously’ considered ESN shutdown

New disclosures from those responsible for the troubled Emergency Services Network project have revealed that, contrary to previous denials, the Home Office came close to pulling the plug earlier this year
October 17, 2018 17 Oct'18
Contactless payments surpass Chip and PIN in UK shops

Contactless card payments now account for more spending in UK stores than Chip and PIN
October 17, 2018 17 Oct'18
Nordic CTO interview: Anders Johanson, Husqvarna

Husqvarna is on a journey to transform itself into a product and services company by using the latest digital technology and Anders Johnson is a driving force behind it
October 12, 2018 12 Oct'18
ASOS launches voice shopping on Google Assistant

Online fashion brand introduces voice shopping service to help customers navigate its thousands of products more easily
October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18
Ofcom says government should lead on internet regulation

Representatives from the telecoms regulator tell House of Lords that the government should build a framework for internet regulation that other bodies can follow and enforce
October 09, 2018 09 Oct'18
Grab signs up for Azure, nabs investment from Microsoft

Ride-hailing, delivery and mobile payments firm will use slew of Azure services to improve operations and customer experience
October 05, 2018 05 Oct'18
Telenor retrains 20,000 staff as it prepares for impact of digital tech

Norway-based mobile phone company Telenor, which provides phone services in Scandinavia and Asia, is challenging its workforce to spend 40 hours a year learning digital skills as it prepares for the impact of digital technology
October 04, 2018 04 Oct'18
APAC SMEs still hanging on to older PCs

A majority of small and medium-sized business in Asia-Pacific are still using PCs older than four years out of cost and application compatibility concerns
October 01, 2018 01 Oct'18
Mobile will be more disruptive for retail than online, says Facebook representative

Facebook’s retail industry head says mobile technology is likely to cause a bigger shift in retail than online shopping did
September 28, 2018 28 Sep'18
Brighton’s 5G experiment enters new test phase with focus on virtual reality

The latest phase of the Digital Catapult’s 5G mobile network testbed in Brighton has begun, with digital businesses from across Sussex taking part in trials of augmented, mixed and virtual reality technology
September 28, 2018 28 Sep'18
Finland’s e-retail sector driven by international growth

Finland has a fast-growing e-retail industry as a positive consequence of the huge job cuts at Nokia
September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18
Phased roll-out of ESN to start in early 2019

The government will adopt a phased approach to the roll-out of the new emergency services 4G communications network
September 21, 2018 21 Sep'18
RBS, Barclays and NatWest customers suffer more mobile banking outages

Banks apologise for problems that have affected mobile and internet banking services
September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18
Medical firm debuts internet-connected prosthetic limbs

Orthotic and prosthetic services business Hanger is trialling five connected prosthetic limbs with support from AT&T’s Foundry innovation lab
September 17, 2018 17 Sep'18
Nationwide Building Society adds over a billion pounds to IT spend

Nationwide is increasing the budget for its latest multi-year IT project
September 17, 2018 17 Sep'18
Invest to be customer obsessed

We share insights from Forrester’s ‘Digital Store Playbook’ on how to transform retail operations to enhance the digital customer experience
September 14, 2018 14 Sep'18
Hancock touts his support for controversial GP at Hand service

Health secretary says GP at Hand helps deliver a better service and that he wants to help the app expand across the country, as he highlights importance of embracing technology
September 13, 2018 13 Sep'18
Tech Nation startup programme demonstrates richness of UK fintech

A Tech Nation programme to support the UK's financial technology startups demonstrates the increasingly diverse range of business-to-business products and services available through the country's fintech community
September 07, 2018 07 Sep'18
Why AI should assist humans, not replace them

At the 2018 Disruption Summit in London, BT’s lead of customer insight and futures said artificially intelligent systems should be there to assist humans, not get rid of them
September 07, 2018 07 Sep'18
Argos launches voice shopping capability on Google Home Assistant

Retailer Argos has developed a voice shopping service so customers can reserve items for pickup using the Google Home Assistant app
September 05, 2018 05 Sep'18
The fintech startups to watch in the UK

Tech Nation’s choice of fintech companies to back reflects the changes expected to hit financial services IT
September 04, 2018 04 Sep'18
Britons concerned over security of contactless payments, research finds

Despite the popularity of contactless payments ahead of cash, Britons are worried about the security of tap and go
September 03, 2018 03 Sep'18
CIO interview: Ian Cohen, global CIO, Addison Lee

Addison Lee’s global CIO is building a business strategy and ensuring the transport company has a flexible platform for growth
August 30, 2018 30 Aug'18
Nearly half of NHS staff rely on instant messaging at work

43% of NHS staff use apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for work purposes, and most NHS trusts have no policy discouraging the use of instant messaging, according to supplier CommonTime
August 29, 2018 29 Aug'18
Heineken and Oracle create chatbot helper for polo events

Beer brand Heineken has enlisted the help of Oracle to create a chatbot to assist people attending the annual Heineken Urban Polo events ahead of expansion in 2019
August 14, 2018 14 Aug'18
Driverless cars heading for Bromley and Croydon

A 10-month data-gathering exercise will pave the way for an autonomous vehicle ride-sharing service to start operation in 2019
August 08, 2018 08 Aug'18
Nordic fintech becomes a significant global player

The Nordic region accounted for three of the 10 biggest financial technology deals in the first half of 2018
August 07, 2018 07 Aug'18
M&S partners with Doddle for easier click-and-collect returns

Retailer is using Powered by Doddle on its in-store devices to allow returns of online items, as well as the use of click-and-collect services
August 07, 2018 07 Aug'18
Starbucks to advise on development of bitcoin trading platform

Coffee giant Starbucks has joined a group of firms advising Intercontinental Exchange on the development of a digital assets platform
August 06, 2018 06 Aug'18
Starling raises the fintech stakes with banking-as-a-service

Challenger bank enables companies outside the financial sector to offer their customers savings and current accounts via the bank’s APIs
August 06, 2018 06 Aug'18
Mobile banking Trojans reach all-time high

Mobile banking Trojans topped the list of cyber threats in the second quarter of the year, according to research by Kaspersky Lab