Mobile

Scientists supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have produced novel electrolytes for rechargeable sodium and magnesium batteries. The research group’s objective was to develop alternatives to lithium-ion technology.

The recent research, led by Arndt Remhof of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Empa, is said to have demonstrated the potential of sodium and magnesium and his team has produced experimental battery components based on these metals.

In a potentially landmark case, an Italian court has ruled that excessive, work-related use of a mobile phone caused an executive to develop a benign brain tumour.

In a ruling handed down on April 11 but only made public on Thursday, the court in the northern town of Ivrea awarded the plaintiff a state-funded pension. The ruling is subject to a possible appeal.
The worker, 57-year-old Roberto Romeo, used the company mobile phone for three hours a day for a long time without protection, bringing about the non-cancerous tumor and the consequent loss of hearing in one ear, Phys.org cited."The standards say severe use is one hour a day," Romeo told Sky TG24. "I went well past the limit." Romeo sued the social security agency, not Telecom Italia, where he still works. And he added "but I believe we have to be more aware about how to use them".

Facebook Messenger now has over 1.2 billion monthly active users, with the platform adding 200 million users in just eight months.

The milestone, announced ahead of Facebook’s annual conference for software developers next week by head of Messenger David Marcus, is key to Facebook’s push to own more of people’s time and wallets on mobile devices as the arms race with Google and other competitors escalates.

Startups in the music industry are nowadays flourishing, trying to answer some of the questions that the same technology that allows their existence is posing. Data security, secondary ticketing, royalties, hit music: every topic has someone covering it in more or less successful ways.

The social media help ask these questions but also spread the word about these startups, while many of them get a kickstart from incubators. Marketplus is running a special regarding these startups.

Daniela Grecnerova is co-founder of TootToot, one of the startups that were singled out as Top 10 Music Start-ups to Watch at Eurosonic 2017. TootToot is, as she explains, both a social network putting fans in contact with artists and a ticketing company: «We started as a platform for fans and artists to get closer to each other – we created a platform that is designed for concert requests – to be simple but effective and powerful. Then we added our own ticketing solution – it was the natural following step. Also, we cooperate with other ticketing companies as affiliate partners to provide our users with a complete calendar of events tailor-made for everyone according to his/her music taste and requests».

JP Morgan’s corporate investment banking division CEO Daniel Pinto announced Tuesday that one of the bank’s clients used their cell phone to make a $100 million trade. One of the most respected senior executives in the industry highlights the changes that are coming to institutional FX trading at a time when his company invested $9.5 billion in new technology. Pinto’s announcement Tuesday may be proof the investments were worth the risk.

Startups in the music industry are nowadays flourishing, trying to answer some of the questions that the same technology that allows their existence is posing. Data security, secondary ticketing, royalties, hit music: every topic has someone covering it in more or less successful ways.

The social media help ask these questions but also spread the word about these startups, while many of them get a kickstart from incubators. Marketplus will run a special in the following weeks regarding these startups.

This week Marketplus will look into Popgun, a company creating artificially intelligent software that will be able to play and create music.

Startups in the music industry are nowadays flourishing, trying to answer some of the questions that the same technology that allows their existence is posing. Data security, secondary ticketing, royalties, hit songs: every topic has someone covering it in more or less successful ways.

The social media help ask these questions but also spread the word about these startups, while many of them get a kickstart from incubators. Marketplus will run a special in the following weeks regarding these startups.

This week Marketplus will look into GUTS, a company developing a platform for the sale and resale of tickets to shows and events, using the blockchain technology. In the Netherlands, where GUTS is based, the live music industry is expanding, according to advisors DDMCA and the number of visitors to concerts and festivals grew from 1.6 to 2.9 million people from 2011 to 2016, while the revenues went from 46 to 140 million euros.

Apple has unveiled a new special-edition red iPhone 7, with a philanthropic decision, the Cupertino-based company added a red special edition to the lineup. The new red aluminum finish, which is available to order for both iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in-store and online on March 24, is a fundraising effort for the Global Fund.

The additional colour option is part of Apple’s Product Red campaign, a range of red products for which Apple makes a contribution from every purchase to the Global Fund for HIV and AIDS programmes. To date, Apple has generated over $130m through the project making it the organizations’s largest corporate donor, the company said.