Daily Archives: May 25, 2011

From FT.com May 24, 2011

Silicon Valley is the promised land for cash-strapped politicians. Toss a few seeds in the ground and maybe even in a single political term, multi-billion dollar companies can surge up to the heavens. As technology grows cheaper and more powerful, the pace of innovation quickens. Intel and Apple grew quickly, Google much faster, and now Facebook.

Trying to replicate this is an obvious temptation. Many have tried, from cities and states in America to Silicon Fen outside Cambridge and new technology zones in Dubai and Moscow. Read more

Posted in Tech |

Tim Bradshaw Sean Parker, scourge of record labels, calls the bottom of the music industry

May 25, 2011 10:04 am by Tim Bradshaw

Sean Parker – co-founder of Napster, backer of Spotify – is suddenly very bullish on the old-school record label business.
He believes the distribution system which he helped to break is “on the verge of being fixed”, and that now is the time to invest in music again.

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Posted in Digital media, Europe, Tech |

Further reading: Google to unveil mobile payments platform and Intel’s Beijing push

May 25, 2011 9:43 am by Phill Tutt

Tech news from around the web:

  • Google is set to announce on Thursday a mobile payments platform that will allow consumers to make purchases, redeem coupons, and get loyalty points by waving their handsets in front of a small reader at a checkout, the Wall Street Journal reports.  The programme, which uses near-field communications technology,  is expected to launch first in New York and San Francisco with participating retailers including Macy’s, American Eagle and the Subway fast-food chain.
  • Online gaming group Zynga is poised to file for its initial public offering as early as this week, according to AllThingsDigital. The move follows  several successful IPOs from online companies such as LinkedIn and Yandex.  Zynga’s valuation in its last round of funding was $10bn.

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Posted in Tech |