$260 iPad is revolutionary inside – iSuppli
Apple’s iPad may be as “magical and revolutionary” on the inside as it is on the outside, according to a breakdown of its construction by iSuppli.
The research firm prices the components inside the $499 16Gb iPad as totalling $250.60, plus $9 for manufacturing, and it says the way they are put together represents a new paradigm for electronics. Read more
Google’s AdMob deal runs into Washington headwinds
Here’s another sign that winning approval for Google’s purchase of mobile advertising company AdMob isn’t turning out to be plain sailing in Washington: Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s antitrust sub-committee, has just written to the Federal Trade Commission urging it to take a long, hard look at the deal.
It’s worth noting Kohl’s close ties to Jon Leibowitz, the FTC chairman. Leibowitz was a long-time staffer for Kohl, having served as his chief counsel for 12 years up to 2000. And while Kohl doesn’t come right out and say the AdMob deal should be blocked, he doesn’t stop far short. Read more
Has IBM just gone back on a landmark open source pledge?
IBM’s promise five years ago to release 500 of its patents to the open source world was a milestone in Big Blue’s support for community-developed software.
So the news that it now plans to assert its legal rights in the case of at least two of those patents could mark an unfortunate watershed. And, to borrow an accusation often directed at arch-rival Microsoft, it is certain to sow FUD in open source circles.
The apparent inconsistency has been unearthed by European open source advocate Florian Mueller, who recently led the quixotic and ultimately unsuccessful effort to persuade Brussels to prevent Oracle from assuming control of MySQL when it bought Sun. 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.
