Dropcam’s improved security cam
Dropcam has just unveiled a new version of its Wi-Fi security camera at CES in Las Vegas, offering a much improved design, more features and a cheaper price.
This is the first camera designed by Dropcam itself and it looked so much better than its predecessor when Greg Duffy, Dropcam co-founder and chief executive, came into our office and demonstrated it in November (the new camera is on the right in the photo). Read more
Toshiba excites with thinnest tablet
Toshiba showed off its new Excite X10 tablet at CES on Sunday evening, coupling it in demonstrations with its latest lineup of Smart TVs.
The Excite is a 10.1in tablet, which Toshiba claims is the world’s thinnest and lightest at that size – 0.3in thin to be specific and weighing 1.2lbs. Read more
One Laptop Per Child tablet – first video look
It has no orders yet and no price, but One Laptop Per Child’s first tablet is ready to go and was being proudly displayed by Ed McNierney, OLPC chief technology officer, at the CES Unveiled event in Las Vegas on Sunday evening.
I talked to Ed about the possibilities for the 8in XO 3.0 tablet and got a glimpse of the hand crank and solar panels that will be able to power it. Video is after the jump. Read more
Microsoft is set to give a concerted push to its smartphone software this week as it kicks off its latest attempt to claw back lost ground from Apple and Google.
Despite rising anticipation on Wall Street, however, the software company is not ready to take the wraps off a new version of Windows, according to a person familiar with its plans. Windows 8, expected to be launched this year, is designed to work with touchscreen tablets as well as PCs.
Amid the 55-inch, ultra-high definition TVs and the platoons of smart mobile devices with which the world’s consumer electronics makers hope to wow punters at their annual gadget-fest in Las Vegas this week, there is one thing they hope no one will ask: the price.
The tumbling prices of everything from flatscreen TVs to ereaders have become a bane for makers of digital hardware, even as they enjoy soaring interest in their widening range of mobile devices.
One Laptop Per Child unveils tablet
Marvell and One Laptop Per Child will unveil their first tablet prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Sunday evening.
The chipmaker and the non-profit trying to bring affordable computing to schoolchildren worldwide plan to show a fully functional version of the long-awaited X0 3.0, which they describe as “a low-cost, low-power, rugged tablet computer designed for classrooms around the globe”. Read more
TV maker Vizio unveils PCs at CES
Vizio, the TV maker that shook up the US market, is aiming to do the same to the PC industry with the unveiling of a line of notebooks and all-in-one PCs at the Consumer Electronics Show next week.
The California company, which has been swapping the sales top-spot with Samsung in the US LCD TV market, says the largest product launch in its history will challenge the “sleepy giants” of the PC world in the same way it took on Samsung, Sony and other TV players. Read more
Google TV adds LG, subtracts Intel
Google has just premiered its TV announcements for next week’s Consumer Electronics Show, where the major television makers will be showing off the latest in “Smart” internet-connected sets.
The addition of LG TV models and replacements for Intel as the processor maker for Google TVs is the new news, although Google revealed its activation rates for its “TV meets the Web” service have doubled since Version 2.0 of Google TV was launched in October, suggesting a boost for sales of Sony devices. Read more
A year after they charged into the annual Consumer Electronics Show with more than 100 devices, tablet makers are returning to Las Vegas next week as a ragged and battle-scarred army that has failed to dent the success of Apple’s iPad.
Despite the deep war wounds – most notably HP’s abandonment of its TouchPad and Research in Motion’s $485m writedown as it was forced to discount deeply its PlayBook device – the iPad rivals are banking on a new Android operating system, the arrival of Windows 8 and improved content offerings to help them cut into Apple’s two-thirds share of the market.
| 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.
