Tech news from around the web:
iPad 2 slated for a March 2 debut
Apple is returning to its favourite venue for product launches on March 2, hosting an event at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts where it is expected to unveil the iPad 2, according to people familiar with the plans.
The company has reserved the main stage at the multifunction venue for next Wednesday, marking a return to the site where it last year launched the original iPad and the iPhone 4. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, told employees on Monday that the company has granted him a medical leave of absence but said that he would continue as chief executive and remain involved in major strategic decisions. Read more
Apple to address iPhone 4 reception complaints
Apple just called to invite the FT to a press conference “about iPhone 4″ to be held at its Cupertino headquarters on Friday morning at 10 a.m.
The company wouldn’t say anything else, but given the events of the past week, it’s hard to imagine that Apple would be having such a rare audience to announce, say, an upgrade to the FaceTime video calling feature.
No, in the present climate, “about the iPhone 4″ means that Apple finally has something more concrete to say about the reception issues that have been frustrating many buyers of Apple’s latest mobile phone. Read more
Pressure grows on Apple over iPhone 4 antenna
Apple’s decision in the past 24 hours to ban links from its customer-support discussion forums to a Consumer Reports post calling for Apple to fix the reception issues in the iPhone 4 predictably backfired today, leading to increased pressure on the company.
With the stock falling 2 per cent on an otherwise buoyant day for the sector, many tech observers and Wall Street analysts said dropped calls in areas of weak reception had been established as an antenna hardware issue and that the easiest solution was to offer the company’s $29 bumpers for free.
That would cost Apple about 1 per cent of its operating profit, estimated Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. Read more
Steve Jobs says PCs will dwindle to a minority
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said on Tuesday night that personal computers running rival Microsoft’s Windows operating system are in a permanent decline and that only a fraction of current users will still rely on them in the future.
In a rare onstage interview at the D: All Things Digital conference, Mr Jobs compared the fate of the PC to trucks in agrarian America. The dominant vehicle when farming was the way most people earned a living, they were vastly outnumbered by cars when the country became more urbanised. Read more
Mixed reviews for the iPad
To the critics, fanboys and sceptics who have been waiting for Apple iPad for months, today’s first impressions ranged from elation to exasperation.
Writing at Slate.com, Farhad Manjoo said the iPad is the second computer he’s been looking for. “I wanted a flat, portable, easy-to-use machine that I could use for e-mail and reading the Web,” he writes. “The iPad is that device. Jobs described it as the perfect hybrid of a laptop and a phone, and I agree. Everything about it—its size, shape, weight, and fantastically intuitive user interface—feels just right.” Read more
What the CEA really said about Steve Jobs
The Applesphere has been abuzz this morning about the possibility of Steve Jobs giving a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
This emanates from a Wall Street Journal report of a dinner hosted by Gary Shapiro, Consumer Electronics Association president, in San Francisco on Tuesday night.
I was also at the dinner and have a transcript after the jump of the CEA president’s comments, which reveal Apple will have a big presence at CES, but only through third parties. 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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