May, 2018

• 19 May

  Property developers urged to expedite realty projects’ registration

  

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Abu Dhabi City Municipality has called upon property developers to expedite the registration of their real estate development projects under the Real Estate Regulatory Law No. 3/2015. A statement to this effect was made during a meeting with escrow account managers and developers and licensing of property units team at the Municipality. Attendees of the …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  Oil posts 6th straight weekly gain since ’11

  

  Bloomberg Crude in London posted the longest stretch of weekly gains since 2011 in a market seen as being increasingly balanced as a result of OPEC’s produ-ction cuts. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude slipped, paring weekly gains. Global prices have been supported this week by concerns over US sanctions against Iran, shrinking stockpiles and production shortfalls in Venezuela. …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  Big oil investors say more needed to tackle climate change

  

  Bloomberg Some of the world’s biggest fund managers are ratcheting up the pressure on oil and gas companies, expressing fear that a lack of action over tackling climate change could risk their investments. The comments come days before Big Oil kicks off annual shareholder meetings, where they are already facing calls from smaller investors to set clear targets on climate …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  BP in talks for Conoco’s UK field stake in swap

  

  Bloomberg BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are in discussions for an asset swap deal that would see the UK energy major gain a greater foothold in a key project in the North Sea and the US explorer get Alaskan assets, according to people familiar with the talks. BP is considering taking Conoco’s 24 percent interest in the Clair field, in which …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  LNG exports may incite price increases for US users

  Bloomberg Environmental groups opposed to US natural gas exports just found an unlikely ally: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The government agency that regulates futures and options markets found that shipping gas overseas could raise costs for Americans. Domestic prices could rise as much as 20 percent due to the burgeoning industry that liquefies gas so it can be shipped …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  Wearable tech to drive Asia growth

  

  Bloomberg The technology boom powering Asia’s economies is about to get a reboot. Explosive growth in new-era gadgets such as wearable devices and internet-linked home appliances is tipped to offset cooling sales of smartphones, which has already dinged Asia’s tech manufacturers. “Where demand may be softening in some areas it will be strengthening in others,” Koshy Mathai, a senior official …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  China’s iQiyi website explores social video

  

  Bloomberg China’s biggest Netflix-like streaming site finally has a plan to get into the rapidly expanding arena of social and user-generated short-form videos. But iQiyi Inc. reckons it’ll take as long as three years to get there. The Baidu Inc. spinoff had long recognised the potential but chosen to focus on its core business out of necessity, iQiyi Chief Executive …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  Japanese AI startup aims to teach factory robots to think

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s Preferred Networks Inc. has only one publicly available product, a whimsical application that uses artificial intelligence to automate the coloring of manga cartoons. Yet the four-year-old firm has become Japan’s most valuable startup, with a venture capital funding that priced it at more than $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Toyota Motor Corp., its biggest …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  BMW bets on self-driving iNext halo in luxury sales race

  

  Bloomberg BMW AG offered another glimpse of its futuristic self-driving iNext car as the German manufacturer seeks to gain momentum in the race to overtake rival Mercedes-Benz in luxury car sales. The company, showing the iNext in a copper-colored version for the first time in 2016, will offer a more concrete concept of the vehicle this year, Chief Executive Officer …

  Read More »
• 19 May

  SoftBank-backed firm’s game released to public

  Bloomberg The first video-game built using technology developed by Improbable Worlds Ltd., the virtual reality startup backed by SoftBank Group Corp., has been released by British developer Bossa Studios. Worlds Adrift uses Improbable’s SpatialOS software, which lets programmers create realistic simulations of massive scale and complexity and run across a cloud-computing network. Softbank acquired a non-controlling stake in London-based Improbable …

  Read More »