Roku adds $50 box and HBO Go
Roku, which shares more than 90 per cent of the US market for internet media player set-top boxes with Apple TV, according to estimates, has come up with a model half the price of its bigger rival and is adding HBO Go as a channel.
Roku set a benchmark price of $100 for its original box that was later matched by Apple and others, but its newest model - the LT – announced on Tuesday, costs $50. Read more
Cyberlink’s speedier PowerDirector 10
Rendering and encoding video can still seem to take the longest time even with today’s multi-core processors and faster graphics chips, with software often not written well enough to squeeze the maximum out of the hardware.
This makes much improved rendering in Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 10, introduced on Tuesday, a key feature of this upgrade of the well-established movie editing program.
Tech news from around the web:
As the deadline for applications for the latest Y Combinator start-up showcase nears, GeekWire reports that survey of 52 venture capital firms raised $1.72bn during the third quarter, a 52 per cent decrease in dollar commitments on the same time last year. The survey, by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association, says the latest total is the lowest for eight years.
Mobile devices now amount to almost 7% of all US web traffic, Apple Insider says. According to a report by comScore, Apple’s iOS mobile operating system takes up a 58.5% slice of all mobile traffic, with the iPad now accounting for more traffic than iPhones. Read more
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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.
