Digital media

Leap Motion lands Asus and another $30m

January 3, 2013 1:00 pm by Chris Nuttall

Motion-sensing advances in computing will be a major feature of next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with companies including eyeSight, InvenSense, PointGrab and PrimeSense showing their technologies and Intel emphasising the “perceptual computing” of voice and gesture commands at its press conference.

But Leap Motion, which will be demonstrating its motion controller’s capabilities at the show, claims its technology is over a hundred times better than the competition and today it is announcing a a $30m funding round and a deal with Asus. Read more

Tags: asus, CES, Leap Motion
Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media, Hardware, Tech Finance | Permalink

From Inside Business column January 2, 2013

Apple must plant its flag in living room

Getty Images

Like all things to do with Las Vegas, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which arrives in town next week, is loud, flashy and over the top. But, as a guide to what will soon be appearing in your living room, the show’s record is patchy.

Take the hot trends in televisions, as seen in Las Vegas in recent years. From the arrival of internet-connected sets in 2007 to the first ultra-high definition OLED screens in 2008 and then 3D TV in 2010, there has been no shortage of ideas for reinventing the medium. None of these has yet gone mainstream, though.

Tags: apple, television
Posted in Digital media, Personal technology | Permalink

Kaleidescape buys Hollywood second DVD chance

December 11, 2012 7:48 pm by Chris Nuttall

Kaleidescape, whose dvd-ripping system for the rich has embroiled it in eight years of legal battles with Hollywood, has come up with a new offering the studios seem to like.

The Kaleidescape Store, opening today with more than 3,000 digital movies and 8,000 TV shows from Warner Bros, offers a solution to a thus far intractable problem for the majors – how to persuade consumers to buy rather than rent their digital entertainment. Read more

Tags: Kaleidescape, Warner
Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media | Permalink

Meet the innovators: Letterpress’ Loren Brichter

December 11, 2012 7:41 pm by Tim Bradshaw

As the developer of Tweetie, Loren Brichter created one of the first Twitter apps for the iPhone – and in the process, established new standards in designing for the small screen. He spoke to the FT about his design philosophy for the FT Weekend magazine’s monthly “Meet the Innovators” slot. Read more

Tags: apple, design, Loren Brichter, Meet the Innovators, twitter
Posted in Digital media, Mobile, Tech | Permalink

Iranian YouTube substitute launches

December 9, 2012 9:59 pm by Tim Bradshaw

How-to videos, cute toddler antics, music and people making “hilarious” gaffes when speaking foreign languages. Iran’s attempt to ape YouTube, Mehr.ir launched this weekend, with many of the features that made its predecessor so popular.

Of course, Mehr – which means “affection” in Farsi – isn’t competing with YouTube: it’s replacing it. According to newswire reports and Iranian state TV, the government-endorsed Mehr is designed to promote Iranian and Islamic culture. Read more

Tags: Iran, YouTube
Posted in Digital media | Permalink

Story of the Week: Twitter and Instagram fight for your photos

December 8, 2012 3:51 pm by Maryam Nabi

AFP

Interesting commentary from around the Web on a tech story that made headlines last week.

Users of Instagram and Twitter were caught in the middle of a photo turf war this week. Instagram’s announcement that it would no longer allow its photos to appear in Twitter feeds raised concerns over whether web companies are holding user content hostage as they try to monetise their platforms. Read more

Tags: Facebook, instagram, story of the week, twitter
Posted in Digital media, Internet, Mobile, Social, Tech | Permalink

FT ebook Q&A: The Amazon Economy

December 5, 2012 6:38 pm by Financial Times

The FT’s latest ebook is about Amazon and its voracious expansion from online book retailer into technological giant.

Is the company a force for good? Can it justify its current stock price? Why does Amazon compete with the companies it provides services to? Will Amazon agree to pay more tax in the UK as Starbucks just agreed to do?

Thanks to everyone who took part in the Q&A. If you have further questions, please post them to Twitter using #FTAmazon. Barney Jopson, the FT’s US retail correspondent, and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, global media editor, will answer them here as soon as possible. Read more

Tags: Amazon, apple, cloud computing, Digital media, ebooks, ecommerce, Facebook, microsoft, retail, Tax
Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media, Internet, Tech, Tech Finance | Permalink

Last.fm founders launch new service Lumi

December 4, 2012 12:04 pm by Robert Cookson

Two of the three founders of Last.fm, the original Silicon Roundabout success story, have arrived back on the London tech scene to launch a new service that helps people discover popular web pages.