HTC One
Smartphones have become the favoured web and social media tool for the “post-PC generation”. As well as being great communications devices, the latest crop boasts features designed to please the most discerning consumers – including better battery life, advanced digital photo apps and high-quality audio.
Facebook’s share price: Jam tomorrow
The only way to justify Facebook’s sky-high valuation is to look to its growth in the longer term and ignore the next couple of years. That is the view that has been taking hold in the financial world as the IPO of the decade finally comes into sight.
Want to test your own assumptions about Facebook’s growth rate and profit margins – and what these will mean for its share price? The FT’s new interactive calculator lets you do just that. Click below to try it. Read more
Short-term investors need not apply. That’s the key message in a newly released video Facebook produced for its investor road show, which is expected to begin next week.
The highly-produced video stars Facebook’s top executives, explaining the technical details of the platform with fast-paced cinematography, and describing its advertising model with guest appearances from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and American Express.
But the most pointed message to investors comes toward the end from David Ebersman, Facebook’s chief financial officer: we want investors who believe in our mission and are excited about our long-term potential. Read more
Yahoo’s boss: a plain and simple bean-counter
It was an “inadvertent error”. That was Yahoo’s response today to the revelation that new CEO Scott Thompson hasn’t got a computer science degree after all, whatever his official biography may say.
(Late in the day on Thursday, Yahoo issued a second statement striking a very different tone from this casual attempt at a brush-off. Faced with a serious ethical question involving its CEO, the company’s board is now at least taking the matter seriously. See update at the bottom of this post.) 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.
