ItsOn aims to shake up mobile
A new mobile service operator called ItsOn aims to shake up the US smartphone business by offering users the ability to tailor their voice, text and data plans precisely, and – perhaps most interestingly – buy data by the app.
The company’s Zact service – a play on the word ‘exact’ – operates as a cloud-based mobile virtual network operator, buying capacity on Sprint Nextel’s 4G/LTE network and reselling it to its own customers via a smartphone app or web page.
Playstation 4: What to expect
The speculation will soon be over. After months of waiting, Sony is set to announce details of its next generation PlayStation 4 at an event in New York on Wednesday evening, setting the stage for the next round of the console wars.
The company is likely to emphasise the wrap-around software and overall “consumer experience”, rather than the “speeds and feeds” of the hardware itself – though these will no doubt be impressive. Read more
Slumping sales of PCs in the fourth quarter last year are further evidence of a structural shift in the PC market rather than simply a weak economy, say Gartner analysts.
Worldwide PC shipments totalled 90.3m units in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 4.9 per cent decline from the fourth quarter of 2011 while PC shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell by 9.6 per cent, according to preliminary results from Gartner.
Olive listens to crowd for new music player
Crowdfunding is by now a well established route for startups to raise the capital they need to develop, manufacture and market a new product.
But Olive Media, a seven-year-old San Francisco-based company whose high performance audio servers are a favourite among audiophiles, has adopted the crowdfunding model to launch the Olive ONE, which it claims is the first all-in-one high definition (HD) music player. Read more
A decade after iRobot introduced its first Roomba vacuum cleaner, home robots not only sweep up dust but also clear gutters and cut grass. New designs launched this year have made the devices more useful than ever, but how do they compare with the traditional methods of getting the chores done?
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Rating: 5/5
I was dubious when Samsung launched the first Galaxy Note last year because it seemed to fit into neither the smartphone category nor the emerging tablet market. Its 5.3in screen was bigger than on most smartphones but it was only half the size of popular tablets. But then I began to appreciate its virtues, particularly the precision of the touchscreen and the electronic stylus (or “S Pen”), as well as the bigger screen for watching video or running navigation and other apps.
Scottevest Fleece 7.0
Rating: 4/5
Last month Google Glass, the internet-connected headwear being developed by Google, made an appearance on the catwalk when Diane von Furstenberg incorporated the technology into her New York Fashion Week show.
FreedomPop’s disruptive wireless broadband
In an age when it is often a good idea to sit down before opening your monthly wireless invoice, FreedomPop is promising ‘bill shock’ of a different kind.
The US-based startup backed by by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstom and his venture capital firm Atomico, launched a potentially disruptive free wireless broadband service as a beta or trial service today. Read more
‘M’ for Mainstream? – Moto’s Droid Razr M
Motorola’s new Droid Razr M is the first smartphone launched by the company since it was acquired by Google in a deal that closed last month.
The Razr M was one of three new Droids launched on Wednesday at a splashy event in New York’s Gotham Hall by Dennis Woodside, a Google veteran and Motorola’s new chief executive. It is however the only one of the three which is available for pre- order immediately. (It will ship by September 13.) Read more
Neat Company’s NeatMobile and NeatCloud (Rating: 4/5)
Neat Company, which makes the popular NeatDesk desktop scanner and the portable NeatReceipts version, highlights the trend for adding something extra to the humble scanner.
| 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.
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