Author: Richard Atkins

Richard Atkins is a senior contributor at Tech Insider covering online media, online travel, and video games. Richard has been with Tech Insider covering companies in these industries since 2011 and has authored numerous industry reports, including "Internet Video: Field of Dreams or Nightmare on Elm Street," "The Next Leg of Online Travel," and "Pwned: How Casual Games Changed The Gaming Landscape." Atkins was recognized as the No. 2 stock picker and earnings estimator in the 2011 Financial Times / StarMine Internet & Catalog Retail category and was ranked in the 2010 Wall Street Journal "Best On The Street" for the Leisure Goods & Services category.
Finance, Software

Bitcoin News: UAE Gets First Bitcoin Exchange

Multinational bitcoin exchange igot will today launch the first bitcoin exchange in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to capitalize on the unique opportunity posed by the market.

The Australia-based company’s founder Rick Day told the new exchange will operate with a Commercial Brokerage License, approved by the local government. It has also secured local banking partners for direct deposits and withdrawals in UAE dirhams (AED).

Igot has hired a small team for business development and customer support for its Dubai office. Day added that igot will continue to offer the same flat 1% trading fee to all its customers worldwide, with no additional fees for deposits or withdrawals in either bitcoin or fiat currencies.

News on Bitcoins

The exchange is aimed more at consumers than professional traders, with a simple buy-sell interface. However, it recently implemented a feature called ‘Future Trade’ which functions like limit orders on a more advanced exchange, giving customers the option to set their price and wait for bitcoin’s value to rise or fall to that level before executing the trade.

As well as bank access, igot is also working with local payment processors to give users more options in the coming months. As well as having a concentration of high net-worth individuals among its citizens, about 60% of the UAE’s workforce consists of expat Indian workers, both professional and manual, who often send their money back home.

In fact, foreign citizens make up a staggering 91% of the UAE’s population of 9.2 million, with 1 million Indians representing the country’s largest overall group. Day said that, given that India is currently igot’s largest market outside Australia, its presence in the UAE puts the company in a very interesting position. “Our strategy to expand igot is based on a pairing system. India is one of our best performing markets. In terms of trade volumes, I think we’re the biggest local exchange there. Indians sent $70bn home in 2012.”

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Richard Atkins
Finance, Internet

Microsoft MSFT Stock Update: Microsoft & Samsung Battle Out for Patent Fees

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ MSFT) is suing Samsung for failure to fully pay all patent licensing fees relating to the Korean tech giant’s line of Android smartphones. Samsung only issued a very brief statement: “We will review the complaint in detail and determine appropriate measures in response.” Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ MSFT) and Samsung have a long-standing partnership relating to the Korean firm’s license to sell of … Continue reading Microsoft MSFT Stock Update: Microsoft & Samsung Battle Out for Patent Fees

Richard Atkins
Finance, Mobile

Stock Update: Apple (NASDAQ AAPL) Tightens Privacy Rules

Apple Inc (NASDAQ AAPL) has customer privacy on its priority list. The Cupertino tech giant recently made a decision to prevent developers from selling data stored in the HealthKit API to advertisers. These changes were made a part of the developers license agreement. Apple updates its agreement to prevent developers from selling information or data to advertisers. The agreement clearly states that developers can’t sell … Continue reading Stock Update: Apple (NASDAQ AAPL) Tightens Privacy Rules

Richard Atkins
Finance, Mobile

Stock in News: Facebook (NASDAQ FB) Provides New Features to Advertisers

Advertisers can now target their ads based on signal strength on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ FB). Essentially, the announcement for Facebook will allow advertisers to limit their data-heavy ads like video to those using 4G connections and not waste their marketing dollars on people connecting to the social media site through 2G connections in remote locations and the developing world. Advertisers will also be able to … Continue reading Stock in News: Facebook (NASDAQ FB) Provides New Features to Advertisers

Richard Atkins
Finance, internet

Google Stock (NASDAQ GOOG) News: An Update to Google Search Results

Google Inc (NASDAQ GOOG) revealed yesterday that the company would no longer display authors names in search results because it doesn’t seem to affect which links people click on one way or the other. But what’s more surprising to people webmasters who deal with SEO on a regular basis is that authorship won’t be used by the algorithm at all. Putting an author’s name next … Continue reading Google Stock (NASDAQ GOOG) News: An Update to Google Search Results

Richard Atkins
Finance, Internet

Stock Update: Microsoft (NASDAQ MSFT) To Launch Selfie Phone

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ MSFT) is heavily rumored to unveil the highly anticipated ‘selfie’ smartphone on September 4th during the IFA event in Berlin. The Lumia 730 has already been leaked since June. Microsoft reportedly plans to launch purporte selfie smartphone early next month at IFA trade show. Yesterday, the company sent a ‘save-the-date’ email asking fans if they are “ready for more?”. The letter O … Continue reading Stock Update: Microsoft (NASDAQ MSFT) To Launch Selfie Phone

Richard Atkins