Monthly Archives: August 2012

Spotify counts cost of new launches

August 23, 2012 12:36 am by Tim Bradshaw

Spotify’s international expansion after launching in the US last year is reflected in big leaps in both revenues and losses for 2011. The digital music service’s annual report, recently filed in Luxembourg, showed its revenues more than doubled from €73.9m in 2010 to €187.8m. But at the same time, losses grew by 59 per cent to €45.4m last year. Read more

Tags: Spotify
Posted in Digital media, Europe, Internet, Tech | Permalink

Relief for Apple as labour monitors recognise reforms at Foxconn

August 22, 2012 10:41 am by Sarah Mishkin

Apple fan can sleep a bit easier while they’re waiting on line this autumn to upgrade to the iPhone5.

The independent auditor of Foxconn, the Apple supplier, says that the Chinese group that made headlines with a slew of worker suicides has cleaned up its act substantially, at least in some of its factories.

Tags: apple, foxconn, labour
Posted in Asia, Hardware | Permalink

Sacks vs Andreessen on the Valley’s future, now showing on Facebook

August 21, 2012 1:22 pm by FT

Is Silicon Valley drying up? David O Sacks, founder and CEO of enterprise social network service Yammer, certainly seems to think so. Others, like Marc Andreessen, disagree. That makes for a lively debate, and it is taking place on perhaps the most apt forum of all – Facebook, writes Vinjeru Mkandawire and Robin Kwong.

“I think Silicon Valley as we know it may be coming to an end,” wrote Sacks on his Facebook page over the weekend, just before the social networking site’s shares sank to half its initial offering price. Read more

Tags: Facebook, silicon valley, venture capital
Posted in Internet, Tech | Permalink

Sonos brings on Sub as new player

August 18, 2012 12:20 am by FT

After the success of last year’s wireless Play:3 speaker system , Sonos has brought out an addition to its music-player family: the Sub (pictured left, in black), writes Jeremy White.

Those familiar with Sonos will probably agree that its Play:3 speakers push out serious room-filling sounds and link with other units in range to offer up a home hi-fi network that’s refreshingly easy to set up. Read more

Tags: Sonos
Posted in Personal technology | Permalink

From Personal tech column August 16, 2012

Galaxy Note 10.1 pens new tablet style

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet went on sale on Thursday, with an emphasis on challenging the iPad by focusing on creative possibilities that are enhanced by its pen. Sony’s updated Reader, also just launched, has the simpler aim of immersing you in a digital book and it feels lighter than most paperbacks.

Tags: galaxy, samsung
Posted in Personal technology | Permalink

From FT.com August 15, 2012

A foothold in Silicon Valley

It is the moment in the summer holidays children dread: when the “Back to School” banners go up in local stores and parents start to tick off the list of classroom supplies for the new term. This year, Walmart, the US retailer, is trying to ease the pain with a dose of innovation. Its online Classrooms by Walmart site goes beyond a generic list of products all children need, and allows teachers to upload tailored requirements for individual classes. Some 60,000 supply lists are already online.

Continue reading: A foothold in Silicon Valley Read more

Posted in Tech | Permalink

Bill Gates’ challenge: build a better toilet

August 15, 2012 3:17 pm by FT

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is a legend in the world of software, but the latest project of his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation deals with a very physical, real world problem, writes Vinjeru Mkandawire.

The “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” encourages the use of technology in a very different way from writing code for computer operating systems – Universities are asked to build toilets that operate without running water, electricity or a sewage system. Read more

Tags: Bill Gates, philanthropy, toilet
Posted in Cleantech, Hardware | Permalink

Mobile phone sales dip amid wait for iPhone 5

August 15, 2012 10:41 am by Maija Palmer

The love affair with the mobile phone appears to have faltered a little, with worldwide mobile phone sales down for the second quarter in a row, according to new figures from Gartner. But is this just a small hiatus as consumers wait for the next round of handsets from Apple and Samsung to hit the shelves later this year, or a sign of something deeper?

Gartner is clearly a little worried, as it is paring back its earlier estimates for 2012 handset sales by between 25m and 40m units. Its not a huge drop, only about 2 per cent of the estimated 1.9bn unit sales this year, but Anshul Gupta, analyst at Gartner says he has been a little surprised by the fall. Read more

Tags: apple, Gartner, iphone, Mobile, Mobile handset sales, phones, samsung
Posted in Mobile | Permalink

Acer – some good news at last

August 14, 2012 2:43 pm by FT

Some good news for Acer — the PC-maker narrowly edged out Lenovo and HP as the largest notebook PC seller globally last quarter, writes Sarah Mishkin in Taipei.

Narrow here means narrow. Acer now has 15.4 per cent of the market. Tied for second place are Lenovo and HP, which each have 15.3 per cent, according to new research from Gartner. Read more

Tags: Acer, computer hardware, PCs
Posted in Asia, Hardware | Permalink