Business gazeteer

Published on Tuesday 7 July 2009 20:57

GREEN genie is the latest Apple app

EVERY day it seems like there are more and more business "applications" being written for Apple's already iconic iPhone – from software that gives you directions to programs to help you find your next job.

The latest "app" from the weird and wonderful array out there in cyberspace is called Green Brief and aims to help business folks save money by helping the environment.

A series of tips for going green are streamed to a user's iPhone, each rated with $ signs according to how much money can be saved by following the advice. So turning off a computer instead of leaving it on standby may get a rating of $$ but hopping to work on a pogo stick instead of taking the car could net you $$$$.

Green Brief also comes with an RSS reader that scans the internet for environmental stories and then bombards your iPhone so you can read the news while knitting a yoghurt.

Nick Drake, the man behind the app, says: "No longer do they need to be chained to their desktop PC or Mac just to get the latest on the environment."

But just how many people are standing by their desk waiting for environmental news?

KILLER QUOTE

"IN THE past, the banking industry allowed itself to be seduced into poor pricing, and we are now seeing that corrected"

Lord Myners, the minister for the City, who told the House of Commons Treasury select committee that some lenders had been levying excessive charges on borrowers.

FACT OF THE DAY

317

BANKS' annual reports reached an average length of 317 pages this year, according to a study by accountancy firm KPMG.

The study of 16 European banks showed the average report length rose by 3 per cent over the past year, while the length of financial statements rose by one-fifth. However, liquidity, market and credit risk disclosures are difficult to interpret, and the financial statements still lack comparability, according to KPMG.

BAD DAY

Call-centre managers

UNDERPERFORMING managers in call centres may be sent back to school to re-learn the tricks of their trade and improve their teams' performances. Central College, Glasgow, has launched a programme said to improve teams' performances by up to 30 per cent. #

GOOD DAY

Internet addicts

STAGECOACH has installed free wireless internet access on several of its bus fleets in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Wales. Passengers on routes between Cambridge and St Ives can now surf the web via wi-fi. The buses also have power sockets and air conditioning.