Spec Savers?

Adlens. The Oxford-based company specialises in “adjustable focus eyewear” – glasses that can change their strength at the turn of a dial, depending on what activity you’re using them for. Around 600,000 pairs have been bought around the world in almost four years – including in the developing world. The idea is based on technology from the 1960s developed by the Nobel prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez. When they were initially developed in the 1960s, each lens cost $1,000, according to Dr Graeme MacKenzie. Thanks to modern technology advancements they now being sold for around £30. The company claims that capturing 3% of the existing market for varifocals in America would be worth around $180m.

Spec Savers?

Can You Recognise the Apple Logo?

As the brand behind so much of the popular technology we use today, Apple's logo is one of the most recognisable in the world. Or is it? Researchers at the University of California asked 85 people to draw it from memory, and then scored their attempts for accuracy. Only one person got it right.  When asked to pick the correct logo out of a line-up of 12 similar designs, fewer than half the participants chose the correct one. The surprising results were said to support the theory that over-exposure to a logo does not necessarily mean our memories of it will be accurate. Quite the opposite might be true, in fact. How would you get on?

Apple Recall

Google Finds Shop

Google has opened its first-ever branded shop to be called The Google shop, will sell the company’s range of Android phones and tablets, Chromebook laptops, and Chromecast TV services. The shop will hold tutorials showing consumers how to use the devices and hold demonstrations showing off key Google apps.It is the first time that Google has opened a shop under its own name and highlights how online companies are increasingly exploring ways to open physical stores. James Elias, the UK marketing director for Google, said: “We’re incredibly excited to launch this space - the first of its kind anywhere in the world - in London with Currys PC World.

Google Shop

Whitley Tycoons Triumph At The Palace

Two talented young entrepreneurs from Whitley Bay High School have won the national enterprise competition Tycoon In Schools. Friends George Peterson and Finley Stewart were confirmed joint winners at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace yesterday, attended by nine groups of finalists and the competition founder, Peter Jones CBE. The pair impressed with their company, Mount, which specialises in handmade cruiser skateboards that double up as wall art. Fellow Whitley Bay student Kara Riall, who set up CakeKara, was also at the event, finishing runner up in the Key Stage 4 category.

Tycoon In School Final

Vodafone Offer Maternity Cover For All

Vodafone has became one of the first companies in the world to offer all female staff at least four months’ maternity leave, whatever the local legal requirements.The telecoms giant said yesterday that by the end of this year, the 31,900 women it employs across 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the US will be offered at least 16 weeks fully paid maternity leave, as well as receiving full pay for a 30-hour week for the first  six months after their return to work. The move will particularly affect some 1,000 female employees at Vodafone who live in countries that pay little or no statutory maternity care.

Maternity Cover Vodafone

Take A Break

Employees are increasingly shying away from taking a proper break from work during the day, a new study shows, which may impact creativity and productivity in the workplace. A recent poll of over 1000 North American employees showed that 81 per cent do not take what would have been considered a traditional lunch break, by stepping away from their desk in the middle of the day. Those who do not take a break often feel their productivity plummet around 3pm. BUPA, the private healthcare company, has conducted research showing that in the UK just three in ten people take their allotted hour. This results in lost productivity that costs small businesses £50 million a day. Half of those surveyed said the weight of their workload was too great to justify a break.

Skipping Lunch

Oat Cuisine

A new venture serving only porridge-based dishes follows trend for ‘brinner’ – using foods associated with breakfast and ‘reinventing’ them for dinner has launched in London. The cafe is brainchild of 31-year-old Nik Williamson who quit his job two years ago in the City to run a street food stall specialising in slow-cooked British meats. A visit to a cafe in Copenhagen which served only porridge convinced him of the value of a similar venue in London. The Porridge Cafe serves 25 different varieties of porridge made from 11 different grains and features sweet as well as savoury options. Prices range from £2.35 for a bowl of basic porridge up to £7 for the hearty versions with meat & veg toppings. Before you judge, do you remember the cereal cafe? The have sold 35,000 bowls of Cap'n Crunch since they opened on 10th Dec.

Oat Cuisine