Tech news from around the web:
A guest post by Ben Fenton, the FT’s chief media correspondent
The rumour that won’t go away right now is that The Times is soon not going to be behind the same kind of paywall that currently shields it and its very fine writers. If that sounds like a convoluted sentence, it is deliberately so. The situation is opaque and must be approached cautiously. Read more
Queue versus queue as Nintendo 3DS and Apple iPad 2 hit UK
Gamers lined up to buy the new Nintendo 3DS in their thousands last night, according to UK retailers HMV and Game, as the Japanese electronics company goes head-to-head with Apple’s launch of the iPad 2 to see which gadget can attract the bigger crowd. Read more
Few people outside the New York Times headquarters can have been happier to see the publisher announce its (very) long-awaited model for charging for online news last week than Steve Brill and Gordon Crovitz.
The founder of The American Lawyer and the former head of WSJ.com set out two years ago to persuade publishers around the world that such paid models were feasible, and to provide them with the software to implement them. Read more
The softer side of iPad 2
Apple is accentuating the software possibilities of the iPad 2 as well as its new hardware improvements, with more than 65,000 apps now designed specifically for the tablet. As it goes on sale internationally on Friday, this week’s Personal Technology column in the FT’s Business Life section looks at some of the best of these, including the new iMovie video editing and GarageBand music creation software. 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.
