Putting a price on Asian eyeballs
The Asian online advertising market is probably worth around $3-5bn a year.
That’s according to Richard Kimber, who has just taken over as CEO of social networking site Friendster. Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but as the former regional head of Google’s business in South Asia Kimber probably has as good a handle on this as anyone. Read more
It appears that Steve Jobs has admitted to a rare mistake in the launch of MobileMe, the re-vamped version of Apple’s .Mac internet services suite.
The subscription service, which allows users to store files, check email, upload photos, and perform other tasks online, has been plagued by problems since it launched at the same time as the new 3G iPhone, the iPhone applications store, and the iPhone 2.0 software update last month. Read more
Total eclipse of the Sun?
If three years ago a company had $7.4bn of cash on hand, but now its entire market cap has fallen to $7.2bn, how much confidence would you have in the management?
That about sums up the state of play at Sun Microsystems. So why aren’t the private equity vultures circling? When the stock traded at a split-adjusted $15-20 it seemed that every buy-out artist in Silicon Valley wanted in. Now the shares are scraping a 13-year low of $9. With the US economy heading down and Sun admitting on Friday that it is heading back into the red, Wall Street seems to have given up on the Schwartz-Lehman turnaround. Read more
Today saw the launch of A Message from Earth, a “ground-breaking digital time capsule that will be created entirely by the Bebo community this summer and beamed into deep space on a 120 trillion-mile journey.”
The Bebo page has a video introduction by someone called Venetia, who tells us that there’s a planet 20.5 light years away that is very similar to Earth, “and could, in fact, hold life”. In fact we have no idea, but don’t let that stop you. Read more
The speech Jerry Yang will not give today
Yahoo’s annual shareholder meeting is due to start soon. It’s the first Jerry Yang has faced since becoming CEO – it just feels like a lifetime. This is what he should say, but won’t:
Good morning. I’m glad to see so many loyal shareholders here today. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of meeting many of you face to face in recent weeks, and I can tell you it has been a deeply invigorating experience. Carl sends his regrets, but he asked me to pass on his best wishes. Read more
Of all the schemes Google has dreamt up over the years, Street View has got to be one of the most controversial.
For those not familiar with the idea, Google are taking photos of every street in pretty much the whole world, and integrating it with Google Maps. Naturally, several privacy groups are up in arms at the idea, even though Google have agreed to blur faces and remove people if they request it. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
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.
