Weekend takeaway: 10 tech stories you need to read right now

29 Apr 2016

Eir CEO wants broadband for all, voice messages on WhatsApp and inventions ahead of their time.

Ten nuggets of knowledge to take away for the weekend, including Eir CEO wants broadband for all, voice messages on WhatsApp and inventions ahead of their time.

1. Eir CEO: ‘The priority is to get high-speed broadband to everybody in Ireland’

Eir CEO Richard Moat has said that the expected delays to the National Broadband Plan rollout are not substantial and that speed and scale will see most rural homes in Ireland receive high-speed broadband by 2019.

2. Just add time: 11 innovations that were ahead of theirs

Next week (2 May) will mark the 497th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death. In honour of the esteemed Italian artist, polymath and inventor, we look at some of the great inventions of history that were quite simply ahead of their times.

3. DCU’s 21st-century transformation begins after €230m finance plan secured

Dublin City University (DCU) is undertaking an ambitious €230m capital development plan to transform the campus, with digital teaching spaces, on-campus accommodation, and a campus-wide digital transformation.

4. Are we facing the end of financial services as we know it?

By blurring lines and shifting focus, new technology and how we use it is transforming financial services, inside and out

5. Here’s how the Mars-bound Dragon 2 works (infographic)

Mars is soon to welcome a new spacecraft from Earth, with SpaceX’s Dragon 2 planned to head to the red planet in 2018. But how will it work?

6. Meet the 3D mappers bringing our historical ruins to life

Some of Earth’s most-prized possessions are structures made by the human hand, and almost every one of them are under threat. But don’t worry, 3D mapping is our latest preservation too

7. Cell-editing trial sees 93pc of participants with leukaemia go into remission

An early-stage and very small trial of sufferers of an acute form of leukaemia has provided “exciting” results, with 93pc entering into remission.

8. Microsoft boots Google search from its Cortana AI helper in Windows 10

In a major update to its Cortana artificial intelligence assistant in Windows 10, Microsoft is blocking the ability for users to use third-party search services like Google, instead ushering them in the direction of Bing.

9. ResearchFest to showcase best of Irish research at Inspirefest this summer

Calling all researchers in Ireland. Get your entries in, and be in with a chance to showcase your research at Inspirefest this summer.

10. Is WhatsApp adding voicemail and video calls to its armoury?

Reports have emerged that WhatsApp is continuing its push to handle all your daily communication needs, with a voicemail addition in the works.

Weekend takeaway image via Shutterstock

 

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com