Conversation

The Week That Was: Consumer Technology – 31/05/19

Church of England launches Amazon Echo app Alexa users will now be able to ask questions including “what is faith?”, “what do Christians believe?” and “who is God?” in a new skill launched by the Church of England. It can also read the Lord’s Prayer, or say…

The Week That Was: Consumer Technology – 24/05/19

How smart is your home? According to research carried out to mark Smart Home Week, there are now 15 million ‘smart homes’ in Britain and more than 4 in 10 of us Brits use some sort of smart technology. The research also outlines the top most desired…

The Week That Was: Health & Wellbeing – 24/05/19

Amazon is creating a voice-activated wearable device that can recognise human emotions Amazon is developing a voice-activated wearable device that can read human emotions and tell whether people are angry or sad based just on their tone of voice. It could even be used to offer counselling…

The Week That Was: FMCG & Retail – 24/05/19

McDonald’s could be joining vegan revolution as bosses consider selling meat-free Big Macs and Quarter pounders. McDonald’s boss Steve Easterbrook said he is considering bringing in a plant-based burger to help appeal to new customers at a time when its competitors are cashing in on the…

The Week That Was: Entertainment – 24/05/19

The Iron Throne Well, that was… unexpected. Has there ever been a more divisive finale? The final episode of Game of Thrones took ‘water cooler chat’ to a brand new level with tens of millions of tweets and quite heated debates in households, offices and anywhere in…

The Week That Was: FMCG & Retail – (17/05/19)

Hawksmoor left with red (wine) face Diners at Hawksmoor Manchester were presumably chuffed to bits when they were accidentally served £4.5k bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001. The steak restaurant, a big favourite here at Alfred, saw the funny side though, choosing to share the story…

The Week That Was: Consumer Technology – (17/05/19)

Driverless lorries now on Swedish roads A driverless delivery lorry is being used alongside normal traffic on public roads in Sweden however, the vehicle is not entirely autonomous, as a remote operator will oversee it from a control room while it works. How secure are you?…

The Week That Was: Health and Wellbeing (17/05/19)

Global alcohol consumption has increased 70% in less than 30 years, new research shows British people are drinking less alcohol than three decades ago, despite a huge rise in the amount of booze consumed in large parts of the world, a study has shown. Call for…

The Week that Was: Social (17/05/19)

WhatsApp security breach The Financial Times discovered that hackers had installed surveillance software on phones and other devices, exploiting vulnerability in the app. While a fix was rolled out on Friday, it prompted the Facebook-owned company to call for its 1.5 billion users to update their app…

The Week That Was: Games (17/05/19)

Detective Pikachu is fresh In a world of below-par videogame films, Detective Pikachu has been a spark for change and our fluffy friend has had the best opening weekend for a videogame film in the US. Warcraft still holds the title globally, but Detective Pikachu is rated higher critically…

The Week That Was: Health and Wellbeing – 03/05/19

Sales of diet soft drinks soar in wake of 2018 sugar levy Brits have downed over 205 million extra litres of diet soft drinks in the wake of the soft drinks levy. First Cannabis snack bar is launched in the UK A new CBD-infused…

The Week That Was: Consumer Technology – 03/05/19

There’s a new Tinder in town French company Yubo, dubbed “Tinder for teens”, has introduced a software that analyses people’s faces and estimate how old they are. The app states it has 20m users worldwide and staTWTtes the software has been designed to weed out children who…

The Week That Was: Social – 03/05/19

‘Tinder for Teens’ using facial recognition to prevent abuse So-called ‘Tinder for Teens’ app Yubo used facial recognition technology to verify age to prevent child sexual abuse, as well as ensure all users meet their minimum age requirement of 13 years of age. Spotify playlists are…

The Week That Was: Games – 03/05/19

Movie Sonic to undergo cosmetic surgery The trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog dropped this week and the fans were beyond nonplussed – giving birth to countless memes and overwhelming criticism focussed on the classic character’s design. Yesterday, the director came forward and has pledged to change Sonic to make…

The Week That Was: FMCG & Retail – 03/05/19

Thousands of UK shops left empty as high street crisis deepens The number of shops lying empty soared by more than 7,500 last year, according to new data that lays bare the crisis on the high street. A rapid rise in the number…

The Week That Was: Games (08/03/19)

Apex Legends hits a new milestone EA’s jack-in-the-box launch of Apex Legends – a battle royale set in the Titanfall universe – has smashed all expectations and hit 50 million players in its first month! To celebrate, the Apex Legends Twitter account shared its thanks with the community by posting a…

The Week That Was: Social (08/03/19)

Facebook announces ‘tribute’ profiles Facebook has announced that it’s launching ‘tribute’ profiles for memorialised accounts. Users are now able to assign a ‘legacy contact’ who can manage their account after they die. WhatsFaceGram Facebook also shared how it will be moving towards full integration…

The Week That Was: Health and Wellbeing (08/03/19)

Fitter, happier, more productive: what’s the perfect amount of work to do in a week? For small but growing number of staff in the UK, a four day week is becoming the norm. A recent study found that an overall healthy work limit was 39 hours a week.

The Week That Was: Entertainment (08/03/19)

You win or you die Game of Thrones fans have been overwhelmed this week with the highly anticipated trailer for Season 8, alongside incredible new character posters that have borne whispers and new conspiracies amongst the shows huge fan base. Fans now think one of the new posters…