Lytro launches Light Field camera
There is a lot of excitement about Silicon Valley company Lytro and its new take on photography – its Light Field technology allows different parts of a taken picture to be shifted in and out of focus.
The company held a news conference in San Francisco this morning to unveil its first camera, which it said would go on sale next year, starting at $400. A live blog of the event is after the jump. Read more
Index and Charles Dunstone buy into iZettle, the European Square
Carphone Warehouse co-founder Charles Dunstone and Index Ventures have invested €8.2m ($11.2m) in iZettle, Europe’s answer to mobile-payment firm Square.
Sweden’s iZettle operates a payment system for small or nomadic merchants – be they market traders, window cleaners or conference-goers – through a card reader that attaches to the bottom of an iPhone. Read more
How much do company chief executives need to know about IT? Traditionally, many business leaders outside the technology sector have had only a limited understanding, preferring to rely on their IT departments and chief information officer (CIO).
According to a recent report by Booz & Co, the consultancy, the average age of chief executives is now about 51. That means that many grew up in the PC era and have witnessed the impact of technology on almost every part of business. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told attendees at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco that Nokia is planning to launch new devices running Windows Phone operating software next week at Nokia World, PaidContent reports. The new phones will be the first Windows handsets produced by Nokia under its partnership with Microsoft. Read more
Samsung and Google have unveiled their response to Apple’s iPhone 4S and its latest operating system in the shape of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, using the new 4.0 version of Google’s Android software.
The handset, unveiled on Wednesday in Hong Kong, features 4G speeds, an improved camera and the biggest screen to be offered by Samsung on a phone, at 4.65 inches. It will be on sale in November.
| 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.
