Ouya offers $99 Android game console
At a time when the future of game consoles has never looked less rosy, along comes Ouya, another box for under the TV set with the backing of none of the major publishers.
Unpromising? Certainly. But the price ($99), the design (Yves Behar coolness) and the concept (an open platform for every type of free-to-play game out there) could give the startup a fighting chance of success with consumers. Read more
Andreessen Horowitz drops a cool $100m on… what??
The biggest investment yet made by Silicon Valley’s most-talked about new venture capital firm is in a start-up most people have never heard of.
But if you work in open-source software development, then GitHub is quickly turning into an essential utility – which explains why this mix of social network and content management system could be a model for how to make money from distributed online communities. Read more
Microsoft tries again with multi-touch for the office
Five years ago, Microsoft showed off an eye-catching table-top computer it called Surface (not to be confused with its new tablet of the same name). The ultimate goal: to bring large-scale touchscreens to everyday working life.
Now, with Monday’s acquisition of touchscreen technology company Perceptive Pixel, the software company appears to be changing horse. Read more
The guest list features Jordan’s king and queen, Italy’s prime minister, three mayors, two governors and the director of the CIA. But technology and media superpowers will be the focus of attention this week as Allen & Co hosts its annual moguls’ retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Betable offers game developers real-money gambling
Persuading players to pay real money for virtual goods represents the biggest challenge for developers and publishers pursuing the “freemium” business model in social gaming.
But introducing real-money gambling would improve the odds dramatically of building a viable business and be a real game-changer for the industry, according to Betable, a real-money gaming platform emerging from stealth mode today with the backing of some of Silicon Valley’s best-known investors. Read more
Google’s Nexus brand showcases its latest Android software and its manufacturing partners’ advances in hardware. Now it has ventured beyond smartphones to unveil the Nexus 7 – the brand’s first tablet, which is manufactured by Asus.
Toshiba probably less than excited by Nexus 7
With the $199 Nexus 7, reviewed in this week’s Personal Technology column, Google risks undercutting and antagonising tablet manufacturers that have backed its Android operating system.
Alongside the Nexus, I have been testing two such tablets just launched by Toshiba that come in at more than double its price. An assessment of whether their extra features are worth the premium is after the jump. Read more
Activision CEO’s 10 cents on Chinese Call of Duty
The success of Activision Blizzard’s new Call of Duty game for China will hang on its localised production, according to its chief executive.
Bobby Kotick was speaking from China to the FT after Tuesday’s announcement in Shanghai of a partnership with online gaming provider Tencent to bring the world’s biggest video game franchise to the market. Read more
Twitter became the latest internet company to reveal attempts by governments to access user data and remove content, as the micro-blogging service followed in the footsteps of Google and released its first transparency report on Monday.
The report revealed that Twitter received government requests for user details from 1,181 accounts in the first half of 2012. Twitter complied with just under two-thirds of all government requests for user data. Read more
Facebook fumbles its email strategy
When you’re doing something controversial, it’s not a good idea to introduce a software bug that draws more unwelcome attention to the move. And it’s also best not to accuse some of your own users of confusion before you get to the root of the problem.
Facebook has demonstrated generally solid execution recently, but its latest attempt to get its members to use their @Facebook.com email accounts is not one of its proudest moments. 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.
