The fuss about FriendFeed
The FriendFeeding frenzy currently consuming the Valley seems more like excitement about the possibilities of a new and multi-faceted service than the usual hype about the “next big thing”.
While some have described a service with 300,000 visitors as a challenge to Twitter (1.8m) or Facebook (32m) or even Google (600m+), the overstatements do point to how FriendFeed can be different things to different people. Read more
Microsoft learns how to play the EU competition card
There was something sweetly ironic in the not-so-veiled threat that a Microsoft-led lobbying group flashed at Google today. The message: Microsoft is learning how to turn the European anti-trust apparatus that has caused it so much grief to its own advantage.
The group in question, called ICOMP, claims to be an industry association formed to address “concerns related to online marketplaces.” Its close links to Microsoft were once less transparent, but these days it carries the following disclosure on its Website: “Microsoft is ICOMP’s initial sponsor. Burson-Marsteller [PR advisers to Microsoft] acts as its Secretariat.“ Read more
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
