In the 1981 sci-fi novel “True Names,” Vernor Vinge describes a dystopian future in which hackers go to great lengths to keep their real-world identities secret for fear that the US government might enslave or assassinate them. Almost four decades years later, it’s not lives that are at risk, but reputations and careers. In recent months, we’ve seen multiple media ...

Bloomberg Diabetes treatment has evolved since Mary Fortune was diagnosed in 1967 and hospitalised because there was no reliable way monitor her blood sugar. These days, a glucose skin patch transmits her levels day and night to her iPhone and shares the data with others. Fortune and other diabetics are benefiting from an explosion in technology and innovation, from under-the-skin ...

Bloomberg Best Buy Co. is going after Grandma. The electronics retailer agreed to pay $800 million to acquire GreatCall Inc., a provider of smartphones and emergency-response systems for seniors, broadening its push into the burgeoning market for connected-home products and services. The deal, which should close by the end of the third quarter, will boost adjusted earnings by 2020, Best ...

Bloomberg Trekking through a crowded, cavernous Walmart supercenter isn’t much fun. But what if you could do it from the comfort of your own home through virtual reality? The world’s biggest retailer wants to find out, according to filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The company has applied for two patents that detail a “virtual show room” and ...

Bloomberg Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc has begun offering its own battery-powered ship engines in a move that signals the gathering momentum behind a push towards hybrid and ultimately all-electric vessels. While maritime demand for lithium-ion batteries is focused on providing top-up power for traditional diesel and gas-turbine ships, the technology could propel fully electric craft over a limited range, according to ...

Bloomberg Australian central bank chief Philip Lowe said he’d still like to see the nation’s currency weaken further and sees interest rates remaining at a record low “for a while yet.” “It is likely to be some time before we are at full employment and the inflation rate is comfortably within the target range on a sustained basis,” Lowe said ...

Bloomberg Barclays Plc has tapped Rocket Internet SE’s chief financial officer to lead its German operations, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The British bank will soon name Peter Kimpel as head of Germany as early as next week, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. He will fill a post that’s been vacant ...

Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc tapped Katie Murray to be its interim chief financial officer as Ewen Stevenson prepares to leave the state-controlled lender and step down from the board. Murray, who is currently deputy CFO and one of a handful of women in the City of London in a senior finance role, will take the position in ...

Bloomberg Economic growth in Nicaragua, once a top performer in the region, will slow to a crawl this year after months of violent chaos left hundreds dead and paralysed business activity. The $13.7 billion economy will expand just 1 percent this year in an “optimistic scenario” compared with an original forecast of 5 percent, Central Bank Chief Ovidio Reyes said ...

Bloomberg Investment bank Jefferies Group is reorganising its energy group, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg. Pete Bowden, the current co-head of energy banking and the leader of Jefferies’s midstream franchise, will become global head of energy, according to the letter from Ralph Eads, the chairman of the group. Guy Oliphint and Greg Chitty have been promoted to co-heads ...