BlackBerry still tastier than Apple
Google entered the smartphone wars as a vendor last week with the launch of the HTC-built Nexus One, a touchscreen-based handset it will sell directly to consumers.
The Nexus One, which uses Google’s Android mobile operating system and is described as a “superphone” by Google executives, seems designed as a direct competitor for Apple’s iPhone and the launch got me thinking about my current smartphone favourites. Read more
The reports from Beijing of signs of popular Chinese sympathy with Google’s threat to pull out of the country, in protest at censorship, are fascinating. I wonder whether those photos of wreaths being laid outside Google headquarters in Beijing, could one day be as famous as the statue of liberty photos, taken in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Read more
Text message donations help Haiti
In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, celebrities and aid organisations began making an unusual appeal to Americans: pick up your mobile phone and text.
Both the Red Cross and Yele Haiti, a charity founded by Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean, are accepting donations via text that will be put towards relief funds for the devastated island nation. In just over 24 hours, more than $2m has been raised.
Anyone with a mobile phone can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross, or “YELE” to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti. Users then get a text asking for confirmation, and with another “YES” text the donation is complete. Read more
Microsoft and HP move up into the cloud
On a day when cyber-attacks are item number one in the tech news, it does not look like the most auspicious moment to launch a long-term alliance around cloud computing.
But for Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, which said they would spend $250m over the next three years to extend their existing partnership deeper into cloud services, the timing makes perfect sense.
Alliances are hardening and battle lines are being drawn around the next computing platform. With Cisco moving steadily onto both companies’ turf, it’s a natural step to deepen one of the tech industry’s longer-standing partnerships. 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.
