Jawbone pulls UP, offers refunds
Jawbone says it has stopped production of its latest product – a health wristband called UP- and will offer refunds, after numerous devices failed.
The San Francisco company made the unusual offer that customers could both have their money back and keep the product, even if they had no reason to request a refund. Read more
Networking the classroom
When a company nabs high-profile social networking names like Reid Hoffman of Greylock and Matt Cohler of Benchmark Capital as directors with its B funding round, it’s a pretty good sign that it’s on a viral tear.
Edmodo, which just raised $15m, has taken off in the last year and offers a tantalising opportunity: a way to break into school classrooms. Read more
If you were running Yahoo, what would you do to revive its core internet services?
That question, or something similar, is being asked all over Silicon Valley and the internet industry – not just by the Yahoo board, which is looking for a permanent replacement to Carol Bartz, the ousted chief executive; but also by private equity investors such as Silver Lake and TPG that hope to buy a big stake and bring new leadership to one of the best web brands. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
US telecoms company Verizon and Redbox, the group behind the $1 DVD-rental kiosks, are in talks to provide a film and TV download and streaming service, according to TechCrunch. The service is scheduled for a May 2012 launch. Read more
OnLive adds console games to tablets
OnLive has announced a major extension of its console-quality cloud gaming service with a launch on tablets and smartphones.
OnLive, available on PCs and TVs thus far, is releasing a free app for mobile platforms that will allow instant play of touch-enabled high-definition console games over its streaming service. 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.
