Tech news from around the web:
Microsoft has revealed details of its Windows Store for Windows 8, The Verge reports. The store is to be released in late February and developers can submit apps starting at $1.49. The company also revealed a revenue share that differs from rival marketplaces. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Malware targeted towards phones running on the Android operating system continues to be on the rise, TechCrunch reports. According to McAfee’s security report for the third quarter, the amount of malware targeted at Android devices jumped nearly 37 per cent since last quarter. This follows a 76 percent rise in Android malware in the second quarter. Read more
Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0 first impressions
Staggering fact of the week for me was the news at the Google music launch that the number of Android devices has doubled in the past six months – from 100m activated to 200m.
Add another one to that total. I have just registered the latest and greatest Android smartphone – the Samsung Galaxy Nexus – the first to feature the new Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 version of Android. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
France Telecom and Publicis are to set up a joint venture-capital fund focused on European technology start-ups, according to Bloomberg. The size of the fund may be greater than €100m ($139m), people close to the plan told Bloomberg.
Apple has had its patent for the “slide to unlock” control used on its devices confirmed, ZDNet reports. This puts every Android phone and tablet that uses the same process to unlock their screens in the line of fire from Apple’s patent lawyers, ZDNet warns. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Downloads of Android’s apps overtook those of Apple’s iOS apps in the second quarter of 2001, Business Insider reports. According to figures from ABI Research, the market shares of Android and iOS were 44% and 31% respectively. However, Apple still gets more downloads per user than Android. Read more
As I stood 71st in the queue at 7am at the local Apple Store last Friday, there was a collective feeling of “It’s time” among the gathering crowd as we waited in line to receive the sacrament of an iPhone 4S. Everyone had a story. There were lots of first-timers like me no longer able to resist the allure, but hardly any iPhone 4 owners – the new device looked just the same as its predecessor. Instead, there were many who had bought the original 2007 iPhone or its 3G successor. They were still cosseting them in ancient protective sleeves. It was definitely time for these Apple devotees.
Samsung and Google have unveiled their response to Apple’s iPhone 4S and its latest operating system in the shape of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, using the new 4.0 version of Google’s Android software.
The handset, unveiled on Wednesday in Hong Kong, features 4G speeds, an improved camera and the biggest screen to be offered by Samsung on a phone, at 4.65 inches. It will be on sale in November.
Tech news from around the web:
Google is in talks with major record labels to expand its online music service and open an MP3 store that would compete with Apple and Amazon, the New York Times reports. The music store is expected to be linked to Google’s existing cloud service, Music Beta, which lets people back up their songs on remote servers and stream them to mobile phones and other devices. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
News Corp’s iPad-only publication, the Daily, is averaging about 120,000 readers a week - less than a quarter than the 500,000 users the company said it needed to make money – Bloomberg reports. After the free trial, subscribers pay 99 cents per week or $39.99 a year to read the publication. Read more
Amazon Fire catches the eye of Microsoft’s lawyers
Could there be a lawsuit over the Fire in Amazon’s future?
This was what Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, had to say when I caught up with him shortly after the launch of the device on Wednesday: “We have yet to see an Android device in the market that does not infringe on our patents.” 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.
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