Yahoo welcomes another big investor into the tent
Yahoo just moved another step forward in its bid to control the end-game that has been taking shape around its future.
Silver Lake has agreed to enter into confidential discussions with the US internet company, making it the latest private equity firm to go this route – and potentially robbing Alibaba and Softbank of an ally as they consider making a play for Yahoo themselves. But it’s still far too early to call it “game over”. Read more
Wimm One is one to watch
Time has been ticking for Wimm Labs to get its watch-like Android device to consumers in time for the holiday season. Its release to developers on Wednesday, two months later than planned, suggests it won’t be making any Christmas lists.
Nevertheless, after testing it, the Wimm One seems not far off a finished product to me and the potential is there for third-party “micro apps” to give it much more appeal. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made a ‘multimillion-dollar’ investment in mobile payment start-up company Square, a spokesperson for the company has told Reuters. The move follows a $100m investment led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and an injection by credit card company Visa.
Adobe Systems is said to be scrapping its move to bring its Flash Player software to smartphones and tablets, CNET reports. The Flash browser plug-in is widely used on personal computers but has so far only reached a fraction of the mobile phone market. Read more
When Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt on Wednesday addressed a Taiwanese audience for the first time, he was in some sense preaching to the choir.
As Mr Schmidt noted, Taiwan already fared better than the US in terms of broadband penetration, the speed of its internet, and the percentage of its people with smartphones. Yet there was still one looming problem, he noted, and that was the rising cost of building more advanced telecommunications networks. Read more
Index Ventures doubles down on Europe with huge new growth fund
When two key partners at Index Ventures, Danny Rimer and Mike Volpi, moved from London to open the tech investor’s first Silicon Valley office, many European entrepreneurs saw it as a loss for the region.
But as it raises a huge new €500m ($700m) late-stage fund, Index insists that it’s just as focused on Europe – and London – as it’s ever been. 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.
