Tech news from around the web:
China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest smartphone market by volume in the third quarter, Reuters reports. According to research company Strategy Analytics, smartphone shipments grew 58% to reach 23.9m units in China during the quarter, while US shipments fell 7% from the second quarter to reach 23.3m devices. Read more
Steve Ballmer’s report card: “Could do better”
Steve Ballmer received only half the potential bonus he stood to make in Microsoft’s latest fiscal year, though the pay-out was still in line with the “target bonus” the company had set for him.
The message from the Microsoft board: despite successes like the Kinect and a breakthrough deal with Nokia, under Mr Ballmer’s leadership the company is still falling short in the all-important smartphone and tablet markets. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Chrome, Google’s web browser, is on the brink of replacing Firefox as the second-most-popular browser after Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, ComputerWorld reports. Chrome’s global average user share for September was 23.6%, while Firefox’s stood at 26.8%. IE, meanwhile, was at 41.7%, according to data from StatCounter, which predicts that Chrome will overtake Firefox by December. 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
Things are heating up again in the world of tablets. While talk of a tablet war is buzzing, with the latest player soon to be Microsoft, existing tablet makers are struggling to catch up with the iPad.
This week, Microsoft showcased its Windows 8 operating system on tablets at the Build conference and RIM announced its Playbook tablet sales had fallen far below expectations. Read more
Here is some unexpected news from the frontline of the tablet computing revolution: the screens full of “apps” that have achieved an almost iconic status thanks to the success of the iPad, may not be the be-all and end-all of touchscreen computing.
The unlikely prompt for this thought is none other than Microsoft. The PC software leviathan has hardly been known for its pioneering ways with computer interfaces, let alone for design flair. Nevertheless, it looks set to add an interesting new twist to tablets.
Tech news from around the web:
Club Penguin, the Disney-owned social network for children, is to make its debut on mobile devices with the release of Puffle Launch for iOS, Mashable reports. Puffle Launch for iOS is a replica of an existing Club Penguin web game which is played by 150,000 children each day. Read more
Yahoo teams with Microsoft and AOL on ads
Yahoo which is expected to lose its US display-advertising leadership this year to fast-growing Facebook, is trying to shore up its position by striking a mutual selling agreement with rivals Microsoft and AOL. Read more
Yahoo and bankers start taking pitches
Following through on its pledge earlier this week to weigh new strategic options even as it looks for a new chief executive, Yahoo and its bankers are already fielding inquiries. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Twitter has acquired Bagcheck, a service that allows users to create, discover and share lists, for an undisclosed price, The Next Web reports. Co-founder Sam Pullara will be joining the Twitter engineering team as part of the acquisition.
Less than a month since launching in the US, Spotify has 1.4 million registered users in the US says a source familiar with the company’s operations, AllThingsD reports. 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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