Category: News

Downloading apps from Google Play may get you some unexpected extra software. Mobile security specialist Lookout has uncovered a piece of code called BadNews which poses as an advertising network in order to push malware out to infected devices. By using the ad network as a front it bypasses the checks that prevent malware from getting on to the store.

The BadNews code was found in 32 apps across four different developer accounts. Google has now removed the apps and suspended the accounts but it’s estimated that these apps have already been downloaded several million times. About half of the identified apps are in Russian and the payload is designed to commit premium rate fraud in Russia and neighbouring countries.

Once installed on a device BadNews can send fake news messages and prompt the user to install more apps. It also sends information including the device ID and phone number back to its command and control server.

The links pushed by BadNews include fake updates for a popular Russian social network and for Skype. In each case the links lead to the well-known AlphaSMS malware which results in fraudulent premium rate charges.

This is an interesting development in mobile malware, because by delaying its actions via a server the app is able to slip past vetting procedures. This also allows the developers time to notch up some positive feedback for the app on the store before it triggers its infection, giving it chance to spread to more devices.

To stay safe Android users should make sure their “Unknown sources” system setting is turned off in order to prevent drive-by installs and make sure they keep their security software up to date.

Photo Credit: style-photography.de/Shutterstock

After releasing a number of important details related to Firefox OS in mid-January, Mozilla revealed two developer preview phones, dubbed Keon and Peak. The devices are meant to provide developers with the opportunity to test and release software designed for Mozilla’s new operating system.

At the time there was no word on pricing nor availability of either Keon or Peak. Geeksphone, the manufacturer of the two devices, however left us with a “price you could never have imagined” teaser suggesting that we shouldn’t have to  reach too deep within our pockets in order to afford either of the two. And today the moment of truth is upon us as Geeksphone officially introduces Keon and Peak for sale.

Considering the high upfront cost that new smartphones mostly come with these days, pricing is really surprising and refreshing at the same time. Keon and Peak are available with no contract for $119 and $194, respectively. That’s simply unbelievable value for the money, especially for developers looking to release software onto a new and unproven platform.

Keon

Keon, which runs for $119, is the low-end Firefox OS developer preview device and comes with a 3.5-inch HVGA (320 by 480 pixels) multitouch display; 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 7225AB processor, 512 MB RAM; 4 GB internal storage; 3 MP back-facing camera; microSD card slot; Wi-Fi N; Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR; FM Radio; GPS; 1580 mAh battery, HSPA cellular connectivity; microUSB and the usual array of sensors.

At the time of writing this article Keon is no longer in stock. But for $194, or just $75 more on top of Keon’s price, prospective Firefox OS developers can purchase Peak. Judging by the specs, Peak is the high-end Firefox OS developer preview phone meant to provide the platform with a boost in terms of professional-grade or resource-intensive apps.

Peak

Peak is available with a 4.3-inch qHD (540 by 960 pixels) IPS multitouch display; 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8225 processor; 512 MB RAM; 4 GB internal storage; 8 MP back-facing camera and 2 MP camera on the front; microSD card slot; Wi-Fi N; Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR; FM Radio; GPS; 1800 mAh battery; HSPA cellular connectivity; microUSB and the traditional array of sensors.

Both Keon and Peak are available to purchase at Geeksphone’s online store.

Wednesday May 22 promises an exciting day of presentations and discussion with top network industry visionaries and pioneers including an opening keynote from Bob Metcalfe on Ethernets invention and early history. This is followed by discussions on what we can learn from the innovation process which conceived Ethernet, led by PARCs CEO Steve Hoover. The afternoon begins with sessions on the status of Ethernet today both in enterprise networking and carrier networks featuring senior execs from the leading players and concludes with predictions on the future of networking from leading industry visionaries.

A charity gala dinner featuring the “Innovation Awards” in aid of the STEM initiative takes place during the evening.

Tickets are available to attend the conference and evening gala dinner. Employees or alumni’s of PARC and members of the MEF and Computer History Museum receive preferential conference rates. For more information and to register visit: http://www.netevents.org.uk/portfolio/global-summit

Tony Fadell, the designer known as the godfather of Apple Inc‘s iPod, is enlisting several of the country’s largest power utilities to get his power-saving creation, the Nest thermostat, into more U.S. households, writes Reuters. Nest Labs, the company he co-founded in 2010 with designers and engineers from Silicon Valley firms like Apple and Google Inc, is teaming up with six utilities to provide incentives for using its thermostats.

Nest Labs, the company he co-founded in 2010 with designers and engineers from Silicon Valley firms like Apple and Google Inc (GOOG.O), is teaming up with six utilities to provide incentives for using its thermostats. They include $100 rebates, rewards for adopting energy-saving programs, even a free device in some cases.

Reuters – Tony Fadell, the designer known as the godfather of Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPod, is enlisting several of the country’s largest power utilities to get his power-saving creation, the “Nest” thermostat, into more U.S. households.

Nest Labs, the company he co-founded in 2010 with designers and engineers from Silicon Valley firms like Apple and Google Inc (GOOG.O), is teaming up with six utilities to provide incentives for using its thermostats. They include $100 rebates, rewards for adopting energy-saving programs, even a free device in some cases.

The U.S. utilities that have already rolled out programs, or will begin to do so in coming weeks, include NRG Energy (NRG.N), its subsidiaries Reliant and Green Mountain Energy, National Grid, Austin Energy and Southern California Edison (SCE_pe.A).

To fund those initiatives, Fadell is tapping into a pool of money — to the tune of about $9 billion — that these and other power utilities collectively set aside to promote energy efficiency programs, particularly to avoid brownouts.

Brownouts — where sudden spikes in electricity usage disrupt the grid’s power supply — are a problem in many markets and some of the projects envisioned to avoid it include rebates for power-efficient appliances, financial incentives to curtail electricity use during peak hours, and energy awareness programs.

“It’s a lot of money but we don’t think it is being effectively used,” Fadell said in an interview. “We went after exactly that money and wanted to redistribute it, so to speak, to our customers.”

The Nest thermostat — a round, brushed-metal device with a convex glass screen that displays temperature and changes hue to match the color of the wall it attaches to — tracks usage behavior and uses that data to automatically set heating and cooling temperatures.

The energy-saving features of the device, one of which is the thermostat turns down heating or cooling when no one is present, were what prompted the utilities to underwrite the incentive programs, Fadell said.

Managing the power load of the home is a big opportunity for avoiding spikes in use during peak hours, David Crane, president and CEO of NRG Energy, said in a statement.

Nest’s deals with the utilities might help build a better picture of demand for the startup’s devices, which at around $250 are on the pricey side. Fadell declined to provide sales details or estimate how much of a boost in demand it hopes to get from its deals with the utilities.

The company is “blowing through all of our forecasts,” Fadell said without elaborating.

MYRIAD DEALS

Nest’s deals with utilities run the gamut. Customers of SoCalEdison and Austin Energy who also own Nest thermostats can sign up for a program called “Rush Hour Rewards”, which provides money or credits for using less power during peak load times.

Texan utility Reliant, on the other hand, kicked off a pilot plan, bundling a free Nest thermostat with some of its energy-saving plans.

“The response has been off the charts,” Fadell said. “The conversion rate has been enormous. We were all staggered by the reaction.”

And National Grid in Rhode Island and Massachusetts will be providing a $100 online rebate to customers who buy the thermostat, bringing the price down to about $150.

People earned $20 to $60 per season by signing up for the ‘Rush Hour’ program alone, Fadell said.

Nest — which attracted funding from venture capital firms including Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Shasta Ventures — now has 210 employees, up from 90 in 2011. Its device is displayed today at over 3,000 locations, including major home appliance retailers and Apple’s retail store.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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CA Technologies is to acquire Layer7, according to VentureBeat, writes Reuters. Neither company disclosed the terms of the acquisition. Layer7, founded in 2003, had raised about $20 million from BDC Venture Capital, GrowthWorks Capital, and Shoreline Venture Management.

PRESS RELEASE

Layer7 is the latest application programming interface (API) startup to find a home inside a corporate IT giant.

CA Technologies confirmed today via a press release that it would be acquiring Layer7. Neither company disclosed the terms of the acquisition.

Layer7, founded in 2003, had raised about $20 million from BDC Venture Capital, GrowthWorks Capital, and Shoreline Venture Management. Its specialty is giving corporations “building blocks” (its words) to expose their internal applications to the world (or to their business partners) via APIs. That simplifies the technical details of integrating the companies’ various applications. In a way, APIs are like the plumbing of the software world, connecting applications to one another so that data can flow between them like water or gas.

Layer7 has hundreds of enterprise customers, and employs about 165 people at its Washington, D.C. headquarters and in Canada, U.K., and Australia.

“This enables us to extend our leading Mobility, Security and DevOps value proposition by liberating developers to securely connect applications to cloud services, expose internal information assets to mobile apps and bridge departments and partners all under a consistent security policy,” a CA spokesperson told VentureBeat via email.

CA, once known as Computer Associates, is a Fortune 500 corporation providing IT management solutions.

The acquisition comes just one week after Intel announced it would be scooping up Mashery, another hot API management company.

Layer7′s VP of client solutions, Matthew McLarty, recently wrote a post for VentureBeat about the lessons that Twitter and Google can teach us about APIs.

Image credit: Eliott Hutchins/Flickr

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When I started at DFID in October 2010, I didn’t expect to be getting on a plane a year later to move to Sudan. My first year at DFID was spent working in our Internal Audit Department, ensuring that the money DFID spends is well managed and delivering the best results. This role required visits to DFID country offices in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as well as regularly visiting DFID’s office in East Kilbride. I had expected to stay in London for a few years before moving on to a country office post but when the chance to work in Sudan came up, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.

My friends and family had lots of questions and preconceptions about Sudan and what I would be doing. Some of these I could answer before I left, some of which I can now answer having been here 18 months and some of which I’m still learning about. I thought it might be helpful for my first blog to answer some of these questions.

Are you going to the North or the South?

This I could answer before I left, having applied for a job in Khartoum, Sudan and not South Sudan (capital Juba). In a referendum in January 2011 the South Sudanese voted for secession and South Sudan became the world’s newest country on 9 July 2011, transforming Sudan from the largest country in Africa to the third largest. Sudan is almost all desert, irrigated by the White and Blue Niles which meet in Khartoum and move north to Egypt. South Sudan by comparison is greener with the world’s largest swamp, the Sudd. Most of Sudan’s people are Muslims, while in South Sudan, there are Christians, Muslims and adherents of traditional beliefs.

What is life in Khartoum like?

Pyramids at Meroe, Sudan. Picture: Emily Beardsmore/DFID

Sudanese people are famously friendly. Khartoum’s low crime rates make it one of the safest cities in Africa. My parents and siblings visited me for Christmas and we visited Sudan’s pyramids, some of which are older than those in Egypt. Khartoum is one of the world’s hottest cities – in December the temperature is a pleasant 30 degrees celcius most days. Now it is over 40 degrees most days, and soon it will be summer when it will be even hotter.

What does a ‘policy and aid effectiveness officer’ do?

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Lynne Featherstone visits a WFP programme in Tawilia Darfur. January 2013. Picture: Sophie Wood/FCO

Before I arrived I had an idea of what my job might involve – like most job titles it’s full of buzz words and it wasn’t clear what interesting things I would get to do. My job is about making sure that the work DFID is doing in Sudan is accountable to the British taxpayer and that they know what we are delivering in Sudan. It’s involved organising two ministerial visits for the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for International Development, most recently in January 2013 for Lynne Featherstone and her predecessor Stephen O’Brien in November 2011. These visits are a great opportunity to show ministers the impact British aid is having on the ground.On the most recent visit, I accompanied the minister to visit DFID programmes in Darfur which included meeting women who were supported by the World Food Programme to make and sell fuel efficient stoves and bricks. Darfur is the size of France and so we had to use a helicopter to visit some of the field sights.

I have also led on DFID Sudan’s response to a yellow fever outbreak in Darfur. This was the worst outbreak globally for 20 years. DFID Sudan funded 2 million vaccines to help stop the outbreak in Darfur.The policy part of my role involves leading on the Multilateral Aid Review, which in 2010 looked at the performance of multilateral organisations that DFID funds. In Sudan we have been giving our thoughts on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) performance in country back to the DFID head office on a 6 monthly basis. This helps DFID to make decisions about where it can achieve the best value for money in funding multilateral organisations.Accountability also drives my work on communications, part of which is this blog. It also involves working with press office in London to explain to the UK public what we are doing in Sudan.

What does DFID do in Sudan?

DFID is the second largest bilateral donor to Sudan and we have some ambitious results that we want to deliver by 2015 including supporting 800,000 people to get access to water and 250,000 women with access to security and justice services. In future blogs I will look at our results in more detail. For more information our Operational Plan is a great place to start. On the diplomacy and defence sides, the UK has been supporting talks between Sudan and South Sudan, financially and technically.

Women in Tawila, Darfur. Picture: Sophie Wood/FCO

What about Darfur? Is there on-going conflict? 

When most people think about Sudan they will think about Darfur or conflict. Darfur makes up about 50% of DFID’s spend in Sudan and so is central to our work here. Sudan has only had 11 years of total peace since independence in 1956 -therefore DFID’s work in Sudan focuses on responding to the immediate effects of conflict and the underlying drivers. However there is no short answer to either of these questions and they will need a full blog in future to answer fully. If you’re interested, the British Ambassador to Khartoum has blogged this week on Darfur following a donor conference in Doha.

In future blogs I hope to talk about DFID’s priorities in Sudan, the 10 year anniversary of the Darfur Conflict, how the UK responded to the yellow fever outbreak in Darfur, our new programme on Female Genital Cutting, how we measure and record what we are delivering in Sudan, amongst other things. Please let me know if there is anything you’d particularly like to hear about.

French hotel chain Accor‘s chief executive may be ousted by the company’s board following shareholder impatience with its weak share performance in recent months, writes Reuters. Denis Hennequin, the former CEO of McDonald’s Europe who took the top job at Accor after his predecessor quit in 2010, has been accused of taking too long to overhaul the company, writes Reuters.

Reuters – French hotel chain Accor’s chief executive may be ousted by the company’s board later on Tuesday following shareholder impatience with its weak share performance in recent months, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Denis Hennequin, the former CEO of McDonald’s Europe who took the top job at Accor after his predecessor quit in 2010, has been accused of taking too long to overhaul the company, the papers said.

Accor’s two top shareholders, private equity firm Eurazeo and U.S. investor Colony Capital, want the chain to accelerate the sale of hotels it owns in favour of management contracts or franchises, Le Figaro newspaper reported.

Le Figaro said a board meeting will be held later on Tuesday to consider Hennequin’s future. Financial daily Les Echos carried a similar report.

Accor officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Eurazeo and Colony both declined to comment.

Accor shares are down 2.75 percent so far this year and the company’s market capitalisation at 5.9 billion euros ($7.69 billion) is little more than that of its former unit, meal vouchers company Edenred, valued at 5.6 billion euros.

Europe’s largest hotel chain said in February it planned to cut costs, expand in emerging markets and accelerate its move toward franchising or managing hotels for others to boost profit margins. ($1 = 0.7674 euros) (Reporting By Christian Plumb, Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by David Cowell)

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Cervel Neurotech, a privately held company developing a novel, non-invasive and non-pharmacologic therapy for depression, pain and other conditions, has completed a funding round of $14.1 million. The company’s existing investors, D. E. Shaw Ventures and Aberdare Ventures, participated in the equity financing.

PRESS RELEASE

Cervel Neurotech, Inc. a privately held company developing a novel, non-invasive and non-pharmacologic therapy for depression, pain and other conditions, today announced that it has completed a capital raise of $14.1 million. The Company’s existing investors, D. E. Shaw Ventures and Aberdare Ventures, participated in the equity financing. In addition, two new investors joined the equity syndicate and a credit facility with East West Bank completed the financing.
“We are very pleased with this capital raise in that it provides us with significant resources to advance the company,” said Eric Meier, Chief Executive Officer of Cervel Neurotech. “Specifically, this financing enables us to continue to demonstrate the highly differentiated nature of our platform for the treatment of psychiatric and neurologic conditions. Our clinical pilot studies in depression and pain have yielded promising safety and effectiveness data, and this funding will allow us to undertake the larger scale clinical activities required to further validate our novel approach to delivering transcranial magnetic therapy.”
Certain disorders, such as depression, are thought to occur because of suboptimal metabolic activity in a network of regions within the brain. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) involves using alternating magnetic fields to create small electrical currents that stimulate areas in the brain to restore metabolism. Cervel’s proprietary approach uses multiple magnetic fields, generated by coils placed on a patient’s scalp, to selectively stimulate both surface and deeper brain regions.
About Cervel Neurotech, Inc.
Cervel Neurotech, a privately held medical device company based in Foster City, Calif., is pioneering a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic and non-systemic treatment for psychiatric and neurologic illnesses. The magnetic coils are uniquely designed to allow steering of the magnetic fields through multiple, specific brain regions associated with the symptoms of a particular disorder. Cervel’s Steerable TMS™ technology avoids unintended stimulation of areas not associated with the disorder.
About D. E. Shaw Ventures
D. E. Shaw Ventures is the venture capital unit of the D. E. Shaw group, a global investment and technology development firm with more than 1,000 employees and approximately $28 billion in investment capital as of January 1, 2013, and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since our founding in 1988, the firm has earned an international reputation for successful investing based on innovation, careful risk management, and the quality and depth of our staff. We have a significant presence in the world’s capital markets, investing in a wide range of companies and financial instruments in both developed and developing economies.
About Aberdare Ventures, Inc.
Formed in 1999, Aberdare Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm investing in visionary entrepreneurs and technologies that are transforming healthcare with new biological, engineering, and information technologies. The firm has attracted and partnered with many superior early stage companies such as Ironwood, Pharmion, Clovis Oncology and MC10, repeatedly backing start-up’s that have grown to values exceeding $1 billion. The team of six investment professionals oversees a committed capital base in excess of $400 million in aggregate.

Contact Information
Media Contact
Judy Bartlett-Roberto
Cervel Neurotech, Inc.
[email protected]
925.787.8113

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John R. Hempill, Jack Kiley and MaryJeanette Dee have joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as partners in the firm’s New York office. Sheppard Mullin is a full service global 100 law firm with 630 attorneys in 16 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia.

PRESS RELEASE

John R. Hempill, Jack Kiley and MaryJeanette Dee have joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as partners in the firm’s New York office. Hempill joins as a member of the Corporate practice group from Morrison Foerster, where he was a former co-chair of the Emerging Companies & Venture Capital group. Kiley joins as a member of the Labor and Employment practice group from Kelley Drye & Warren, where he chaired the Labor and Employment practice group. Dee joins as a member of the Business Trial practice group from Richards Kibbe & Orbe, where she was a member of the executive committee. Joining Kiley at Sheppard Mullin from Kelley Drye & Warren is a six-attorney Labor and Employment group.
“John, Jack and MaryJeanette are terrific additions to the firm. Their respective practice expertise and backgrounds are a perfect fit with the New York office, as well as firmwide. We continue to grow our New York office and expand our bench to better serve clients’ transactional and litigation needs,” said Guy N. Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin.
“We have been working hard to solidify our presence in NYC. We are very pleased to expand our office with a number of new attorneys. John, Jack and MaryJeanette are amazing attorneys and people. In addition, we are adding significant new associate talent to support our growing NY practices,” commented Blaine Templeman, managing partner of Sheppard Mullin’s 57-attorney New York office.
Hempill counsels numerous companies in a variety of industries. He has extensive experience in private and public finance, ranging from representing private emerging growth companies, venture capital funds and strategic investors in seed rounds and later stage private financings, to representing public companies and investment banks in public offerings, as well as 144A and PIPEs financings. Hempill is also an experienced mergers and acquisitions lawyer for both public and private companies, having advised clients in acquisitions and dispositions of assets as well as other types of negotiated business combinations. He has represented venture capital and other funds in their formation and capitalization. John’s practice also involves negotiating and documenting strategic alliances and joint ventures, and providing advice on corporate governance. Hempill also has extensive experience with reorganization matters, both in and out of court. He represents the Circuit of the Americas and recently completed a series of financings on its behalf that were used to construct the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. Hempill received a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1982 and an A.B. from University of Chicago in 1979.
Kiley represents management in all areas of labor and employment law, from advice and counseling to litigation to collective bargaining. His representative clients range from Fortune 100 corporations to not-for-profit agencies. Kiley expands the firm’s capabilities in areas such as securities arbitrations, labor union organizing, contract negotiations and board proceedings. He has litigated and arbitrated numerous cases in federal and state courts and before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and American Arbitration Association (AAA). Kiley has successfully defended against organizing campaigns, represented employers in collective bargaining and defended against NLRB proceedings. He also routinely partners with human resource professionals, management and in-house counsel in providing consultation, advice and training on all matters having labor and employment implications, including legal compliance issues, employee performance management, reductions-in-force and facility closings, employment contracts and union awareness. Kiley received a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1989 and a B.A. from Amherst College in 1984.
Dee concentrates on internal investigations and regulatory and white collar criminal defense. She has conducted numerous internal investigations for board committees and management into a wide variety of allegations, including improper revenue recognition, accounting irregularities, misuse of confidential information, insider trading and other securities fraud, embezzlement, retail brokerage sales practice violations, soft dollar programs, trading and position valuation issues, and compliance with Rule 105/Regulation M. Dee also frequently represents banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, corporate officers, securities professionals, lawyers and other individuals in connection with investigations and inquiries by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the SEC, FINRA, the Office of the Attorney General for the State of New York and other governmental entities and self-regulatory organizations. In 1993, she served as Special District Attorney in the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. Dee obtained convictions in bench and jury trials for credit card fraud, aggravated assault, stalking and other felony crimes. Dee received a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1990 and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Wells College.
About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Sheppard Mullin is a full service Global 100 firm with 630 attorneys in 16 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia. Since 1927, companies have turned to Sheppard Mullin to handle corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm’s clients include more than half of the Fortune 100.

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UK-based mid-market private equity firm Bowmark Capital has backed the 30 million pounds ($45.6 million) management buyout and expansion financing of Drake & Morgan. Drake & Morgan is a London-based bar-restaurant group and was founded in 2008 by the Imbiba Partnership, a specialist bar and restaurant investment partnership.

PRESS RELEASE

Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm, is backing the £30 million management buy-out and expansion financing of Drake & Morgan, the fast growing London-based bar-restaurant group.

Drake & Morgan was founded in 2008 by the Imbiba Partnership, the specialist bar and restaurant investment partnership, and managing director Jillian MacLean, the highly regarded leisure entrepreneur who has over 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. The vision was to create an innovative new chain of bar-restaurants in London that combined a stylish, accessible and “female-friendly” environment with a unique all-day food and drink offering.

Since opening its first site, The Refinery, in Southwark in late 2008, the company has added The Parlour in Canary Wharf, and three sites in the City – The Anthologist, The Folly and The Drift. Two additional venues are due to open later his year – The Happenstance in St Paul’s and a new site in Holborn – and the management has identified a further eight sites for opening over the following two years. Over the longer-term, the company plans to roll-out the concept nationwide and believes there is potential for up to 70 units across the UK.

The “eating and drinking out” market has shown long-term growth over the past 20 years, and has proven resilient throughout the economic downturn, especially in London. Within this market, Drake & Morgan, which has won numerous industry awards, has performed particularly strongly – having grown sales at over 75% per annum over the past three years to their current level of £18 million.

Each of the company’s sites has its own unique design and identity, but shares the same innovative format and menu, and best-in-class service philosophy. All dishes use seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, and there are over 40 wines available by the glass, along with a range of imaginative cocktails, including “skinny” and “flaming”, adorned with edible wild flowers. Other unique features include a mixology bar, a deli counter and master classes for customers in cocktail making, wine tasting and butchery.

Drake & Morgan’s sites are typically based in landmark locations, often on the ground floor of new office developments. The all-day trading format, along with the high quality of fit-out and service, are an attractive proposition for landlords, and the company has a strong pipeline of sites for development, particularly in central London.

Bowmark has committed further funds to support the roll-out strategy, alongside a debt package from RBS Financial Sponsors. Bowmark has a strong track record of backing successful roll-outs in the leisure industry, including previous investments in the Las Iguanas and Living Room restaurant and bar chains.

John Connell of Imbiba said: “This transaction is consistent with our ‘buy, build and exit’ business model. Drake and Morgan has now completed its ‘start-up stage’ following which the dynamics of the company will change and it is now time to hand over to new owners to move the company to a more mature level. This exit represents a truly excellent return for Imbiba Partnership shareholders and illustrates our consistent ability to deliver significant shareholder value. We have known Bowmark for a long time and have been impressed by their understanding and approach to the sector. I look forward to working with them during this transition period and seeing Drake & Morgan flourish over the coming years.”

John Connell will continue in his role as chairman of Drake & Morgan post-transaction. He and his fellow Imbiba partners, Simon Wheeler and Mark Brumby, are retaining a minority stake, alongside Jillian MacLean and her management team.

Jillian MacLean commented: “We are very excited about the next phase of our growth strategy and, with Bowmark’s support and financial backing, we look forward to accelerating the roll-out of the company, both in central London and in other locations across the country.”

Bowmark partner, Ron Pearson, said: “Drake & Morgan represents an appealing proposition for both customers and landlords, and is led by one the best management teams in the hospitality sector. We believe the business has significant potential for further growth, and look forward to working with Jillian and her team to scale the business.”

Drake & Morgan and Imbiba were advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

For further information, please contact:

Bowmark Capital: Charles Ind on
020 7189 9000
Caroline Cecil Associates: Caroline Cecil on
020 7610 4110
Imbiba Partnership Simon Wheeler on
07929 089221
Drake & Morgan Rochelle Cohen on
020 7436 1111

For photos please contact Caroline Cecil on 020 7610 4110, [email protected] or Rochelle Cohen on 020 7436 1111, [email protected]

About Bowmark:
Bowmark Capital is a leading private equity firm specialising in smaller UK companies. Founded in 1997, Bowmark manages and advises funds totalling approximately £700 million on behalf of a blue chip investor base including public pension funds, insurance companies and banks from the UK, US and Continental Europe.

The Bowmark team has extensive experience of investing in growth companies run by experienced management teams, and has supported over 50 different businesses across a range of industries including business services, leisure, healthcare, media and IT services. Current investments include: Las Iguanas, the UK’s leading chain of Latin American restaurants; Leaders Lettings, the UK’s leading specialist lettings agency; CSL Dualcom, a leading UK security communications company; Healthcare Homes, a private pay residential elderly care provider; DATIX, a provider of patient safety and risk management software to the healthcare sector; and JAC Group, a leading provider of B2B travel services.

Exits include: Data Explorers, the leading supplier of securities lending data to the global financial industry; Education and Adventure Travel, the leading specialist educational travel services group; The Regard Partnership, a provider of care and residential services to people with a learning disability; Living Ventures, the operator of The Living Room bar and restaurant chain; Medscreen, Europe’s leading dedicated provider of drug and alcohol testing services; and RDF Media, a leading independent TV production company.

Bowmark Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.bowmark.com

About Imbiba:

Over the last 12 years, Imbiba has created, nurtured and built EIS compliant start-up businesses in the bar and bar/restaurant sector. It has then exited the majority of its investments in a timely manner in order to crystallise value for shareholders. As a result, the Imbiba Partnership has achieved an average compound rate of return, for all realised and unrealised EIS projects, in excess of 35% per annum.

Caroline Cecil

Caroline Cecil Associates
30 Poplar Grove, London W6 7RE
T. +44 (0)20 7610 4110, F. +44 (0)20 7610 4111

Caroline Cecil Associates Ltd Registered in England no 5248175

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According to the London Fire Brigade, the number of accidental fires involving young professionals (aged 18-35) in the UK capital has dropped by an average of nearly two a week since the fire service started using social media to deliver fire safety advice.

The Brigade set up its Twitter account and official Facebook page in 2009, and now has over 66,000 followers across both social sites.

Of course while any reduction in the number of accidental fires is good news, it has to be put into context. According to the Brigade, social media use has resulted in 95 fewer fires a year involving its target demographic, but young professionals are still responsible for around a quarter of the 6,000 accidental house fires the Brigade attends each year. This figure was 1,515 in 2012, so the actual drop is just 6 percent, and there’s no way of knowing how much impact social media use actually had on that anyway.

In a statement, London Fire Brigade’s Head of Media and Internal Communications Glenn Sebright says:

When we started using social media  we were testing waters to see if social media could really work for a fire and rescue service.

Sharing live updates about fire and other emergencies on Twitter, and photos of homes damaged by fires on Facebook has caught the attention of young professionals especially.

We’re reaching people who don’t take notice of traditional public safety messages or advertising, challenging the way we share information at the London Fire Brigade and seeing real benefits as a result.

The Brigade released the figures about the drop in fires ahead of its first ever social media conference which is being held today, aimed at sharing social media best practice with other emergency services, armed forces and public sector bodies.

Photo Credit: BESTWEB/Shutterstock

The developer test phones for Firefox OS are now on sale. They’re being produced by Geeksphone, a small Spanish outfit that used to make Android handsets for true open-source cognoscenti, and that is now backing Mozilla’s operating system as the way forward.

Geeksphone is far from the only company pushing Firefox OS – operators seem especially keen, largely because they want to shake up the Google/Apple smartphone duopoly. However, it is the only firm thus far to start selling devices using the operating system (ZTE will also sell Firefox OS phones from around the middle of the year).

Firefox OS’s big differentiator is its treatment of HTML5 web apps as native, which means apps built for this platform should run on other smartphone platforms too.

“With early access to hardware, developers can test the capabilities of Firefox OS in a real environment with a mobile network and true hardware characteristics like the accelerometer and camera that are not easily tested on the Firefox OS Simulator,” Stormy Peters, head of developer engagement at Mozilla, said in a blog post. “Plus, new hardware is fun to play with!”

The two phones – the Keon and the Peak – can be shipped anywhere in the world. The Keon, which costs €91 ($119) plus taxes, is representative of the kind of hardware that will ship to Firefox OS customers first: 3.5-inch screen, entry-level Qualcomm 1GHz processor and a 3MP camera. This is very much aimed at the low end of the market in regions such as South-East Asia and South America.

The €149 ($194) Peak is more forward-looking in terms of Firefox OS, although the specs will be familiar to those who have scouted out current low-to-mid-range Android handsets: 4.3-inch screen, dual-core Qualcomm 1.2GHz processor and an 8MP camera. Both devices feature 512MB of RAM, 4GB of ROM, MicroSD support and the various sensors you’d expect in a modern smartphone.

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No matter how strong your PC’s defences, there’s still a chance that a virus will be able to bypass them, eventually. And so it pays to have a Plan B, a “second opinion” malware remover which you can turn to in an emergency: something like Hitman Pro, in fact.

The tool is a relatively small download at under 10MB, and doesn’t require any installation. Just launch it, click Next > Next, and the program will quickly scan your system, looking for suspicious files. Anything it doesn’t recognize is sent to the program’s Scan Cloud, where it’s checked by multiple engines (Bitdefender, Emsisoft, G Data, IKARUS) before a verdict is given.

This first element of the program is entirely free, and useful enough in itself; anything which lets you check your files with all those engines, free of charge, from the same scan, is well worth adding to your security toolkit.

The catch? To remove something you have to run the program as a trial version. That’s not actually an issue with a one-off infection, as if you don’t want to pay the $24.95 annual subscription then you can just let the trial expire. But it does mean that you can’t use Hitman Pro for ongoing detection and removal.

Don’t give up on the program just yet, though, because Hitman Pro does have another useful feature, KickStart. It’s specifically designed to remove ransomware, which locks your PC, demanding money before you can access your PC. And it’s just about the easiest way to eliminate this kind of threat that you’ll find anywhere.

The idea is that you’ll use another PC to download Hitman Pro, and create a bootable USB flash drive. This option is a little more hidden than you might expect — it’s launched from the tiny icon next to the “Settings” button — but once you’ve found it, a simple wizard will help you create your recovery drive.

Now boot your locked PC from the USB key, instead, and it’ll start Hitman Pro for you. The nice touch is that this isn’t some DOS variant, or a Linux version. KickStart boots your own operating system, bypassing the ransomware, before allowing you to remove it as normal. And again, while businesses have to pay, home users can remove the ransomware for free if they sign up for the trial, which sounds like a reasonable deal to us.

Photo Credit: Sergii Korolko/Shutterstock

The internet saw its average peak connection speed jump almost 35 percent at the end of last year, even as more and more people started accessing vital (and trivial) internet services through their mobile devices, according to the latest edition of Akamai’s State of the Internet report for the three months ending December 31, 2012. Akamai calculates the speeds and other data included in the report based on activity on the Akamai network.

Here are some broadband highlights for the fourth quarter of 2012 from Akamai’s official press release

• Quarter-over-quarter, the global average connection speed rose 5 percent to 2.9 Mbps
• On a year-over-year basis, average connection speeds grew by 25 percent. South Korea had an average speed of 14 Mbps while Japan came in second with 10.8 Mbps and the U.S. came in the eighth spot with 7.4 Mbps.
• Year-over-year, global average peak connection speeds once again demonstrated significant improvement, rising 35 percent. Hong Kong came in first with peak speed of 57.5 Mbps while South Korea came in at 49.3 Mbps. The United States came in 13th at 31.5 Mbps.
• Global broadband adoption rates are closer to 42 percent while high broadband (higher than 10 Mbps) adoption rates are at 11 percent. In South Korea, nearly 49 percent of connections qualify as high-broadband, followed by Japan with 39 percent and the U.S. at 19 percent. South Korea has 86 percent broadband penetration, while the U.S. stands at 64 percent.
• The average connection speeds on surveyed mobile networks ranged from just over 8.0 Mbps to 345 kbps.
• Ericsson, which partners with Akamai, said that mobile data traffic doubled from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the fourth quarter of 2012. It was up a whopping 28 percent between the third and fourth quarter of 2012.
• In Europe, Romania lead the charts with a fourth quarter average peak connection speed of 42.6 Mbps, followed by Switzerland with 34.2 Mbps and Belgium at 33.4 Mbps. In comparison, Hong Kong average peak connection clocked in at 57.5 Mbps.
• About 23 percent of Swiss connections are 10 Mbps or higher, followed by Netherlands which has 21 percent high-broadband adoption rate, just ahead of Sweden with 19 percent.

Here is a look at the U.S. broadband scenario.

• Vermont is the fastest state with average connection speed of 10.8 Mbps, followed by Delaware with 10.6 Mbps.
• Akamai sayid that the average peak connection speed increased by 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 43.1 Mbps, with Vermont again topping the charts with 41.4 Mbps.
• When it comes to high-broadband, nearly 34 percent of broadband connections in New Hampshire are above 10 Mbps, followed by Washington D.C. with 33 percent and New Jersey, also at 33 percent. Thanks to the presence of Verizon FiOS, New Jersey saw a 12 percent quarter over quarter growth in high-broadband connections.
• In terms of broadband adoption, Delaware is tops with 87 percent of its connections faster than 4 Mbps, followed by New Hampshire (87 percent) and Rhode Island (83 percent.)

As you might have noticed: if you are a small country (or a smaller state), you can have really high broadband adoption because it is easier to build out your broadband infrastructure. Of course, it also helps if there are people willing to spend money on this stuff.

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Increasing renewable energy development, both within the United States and abroad, has rekindled interest in the potential for marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) resources to contribute to electricity generation. These resources derive from ocean tides, waves, and currents; temperature gradients in the ocean; and free-flowing rivers and streams. One measure of the interest in the possible use of these resources for electricity generation is the increasing number of permits that have been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As of December 2012, FERC had issued 4 licenses and 84 preliminary permits, up from virtually zero a decade ago. However, most of these permits are for developments along the Mississippi River, and the actual benefit realized from all MHK resources is extremely small. The first U.S. commercial gridconnected project, a tidal project in Maine with a capacity of less than 1 megawatt (MW), is currently delivering a fraction of that power to the grid and is due to be fully installed in 2013.

As part of its assessment of MHK resources, DOE asked the National Research Council (NRC) to provide detailed evaluations. In response, the NRC formed the Committee on Marine Hydrokinetic Energy Technology Assessment. As directed in its statement of task (SOT), the committee first developed an interim report, released in June 2011, which focused on the wave and tidal resource assessments (Appendix B). The current report contains the committee’s evaluation of all five of the DOE resource categories as well as the committee’s comments on the overall MHK resource assessment process. This summary focuses on the committee’s overarching findings and conclusions regarding a conceptual framework for developing the resource assessments, the aggregation of results into a single number, and the consistency across and coordination between the individual resource assessments. Critiques of the individual resource assessment, further discussion of the practical MHK resource base, and overarching conclusions and recommendations are explained in An Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Marine and Hydrokinetic Resource Assessment.

[Read the full report]

Topics: Energy and Energy Conservation | Earth Sciences

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!

Guides

How to set up and use HTC TV and the IR blaster on the HTC One

Reviews

HTC One review: The best phone on the planet, but is it good enough?

Apps

Runtastic Mountain Bike and Road Bike now available in Play Store

Netflix to offer $11.99 per month subscription supporting up to four simultaneous video streams

Carriers

Cricket shows off unlimited family plan, only $40 per line

Google Glass

Google Glass “about a year-ish away” according to Eric Schmidt

Phones

All-in-one toolkit for unlocking and rooting the AT&T and Sprint HTC One now available

HTC sells out of unlocked HTC One devices for $575

Huawei introduces the mid-range A199 smartphone, brings dual-SIM capability and Jelly Bean in a light package

Samsung Galaxy S 4 scratch test: Gorilla Glass 3 vs a steak knife and more

Insider confirms that recent “design guidelines” of upcoming Samsung devices are inaccurate

Samsung to introduce the world’s first plastic OLED display on the upcoming Galaxy Note III?

Miscellaneous

Controlling you smartphone or tablet with your brain could be a reality thanks to Samsung and the University of Texas

Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for April 22, 2013

Recently Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt appeared on the Martha Kearny show on BBC Radio 4. At about the 4:27 mark in the interview, he describes how Google Glass looks and works, and he likes that we can talk to it. When asked when we could expect to see them on the market, his response was “probably a year-ish away”, but they will monitor the feedback they get from the developers who will be getting their Explorer Editions in the coming months.

The interview is 13 and half minutes long, and in that time he covers a wide array of topics including Google’s self driving car, the impact of being connected, his visit to North Korea and more. Check out the source for the video and give us your thoughts in the comment section.

Source  BBC Radio 4
Via: TheVerge

Come comment on this article: Google Glass “about a year-ish away” according to Eric Schmidt