By the London Technology team
Snooper’s Charter’s back, back again
Revived and renamed, the ‘Snooper’s Charter’ is back and was announced as part of the Queen’s Speech this week. The Investigatory Powers Bill, as it will now be known, will require communication service providers to retain data about users’ internet and phone activity. You can expect to see the Lib Dems lead a strong and concerted campaign against the Bill. However, the Conservative Party, bolstered with their majority, will be confident that the Bill will now become law.
Writing for computing.co.uk, @dannyjpalmer covered the story.
Internet of Things speculation fuels record tech merger
This week’s mega-merger represents the biggest merger seen in the technology sector since the dotcom boom of the late-1990s. Avago, a semi-conductor company based in California and Singapore, has agreed to buy American chipmaker Broadcom for $37bn ($17bn in cash and $20bn in stock). The burgeoning IoT market is driving demand for chips and stoking investment in the chip-making industry.
Covering the story for the FT @ArashMassoudi explains how the current M&A frenzy is being fuelled by companies striving to increase their exposure to high growth markets such as the IoT and mobile communications.
Is virtual now a reality?
Virtual reality took centre stage this week with the long awaited arrival of Oculus Rift. Since being acquired by Facebook, Oculus Rift has been working with developers and vendors to make it’s VR headset as attractive to consumers as possible. The device (and accompanying computer) will cost $1500 and the company is acutely aware that tech products need a good set of apps and uses, not just amazing technology to tempt buyers. The Daily Mail covered the launch and The Guardian also wrote a story on the potential for virtual reality more widely.
