As you pass the shop window, a beautiful coat catches your eye. You stop, gaze at it a while, spot the price and, regretfully, move on.
Little do you know that WiFi sensors in the window have used your smartphone to detect your presence outside the shop. Not only that, but they have clocked how many people as well as you have looked at the display, how many have then entered the store, and how long they stayed there. They may even be prompting store managers to lower the price. Read more
Sony, you big tease. Taking a leaf from Apple’s playbook, the Japanese electronics group has posted a page on its website suggesting that a new Playstation games console is in the offing for 2013.
Sony Computer Entertainment put a page on its website titled Playstation 2013 with a video trailing a mysterious event on February 20 in New York. The page invites users to register for updates and ‘be the first to know’. Read more
will.i.am wants to bring hardware manufacturing to the ghetto
The spike in tech investment by celebrities over recent years has been seen by some as another sign that Silicon Valley’s hype is getting ahead of reality. But Ashton Kutcher, soon to appear on screen as Steve Jobs, has made some canny investments, including Skype and Airbnb, while even Justin Bieber got a payday when Marissa Mayer’s Yahoo bought Stamped, a mobile startup he helped finance.
So while it may be easy to mock will.i.am – Black Eyed Peas star, hip hop producer, reality TV show judge and sometime Olympic torchbearer – and his new ₤300 iPhone case, don’t write him off too quickly. 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.
