Sonos, maker of wireless multi-room music systems that most people can’t afford,  now has a one-room option that may seem a bargain to iPhone and iPod touch users.

The Zoneplayer S5, available worldwide from today, costs $400 in the US and can be controlled by a free app available for the Apple devices. Continue reading "Sonos enters cheaper zone with music system"

Droid, the most hyped Android phone to date - even Google promoted it on its home page today - is finally available to buy in Verizon Wireless stores.

More than 100 people queued at midnight outside a midtown Manhattan store to be among the first members of the public to get their hands on one.

I’ve been lucky enough to have one on loan for more than a week now, so here’s my assessment after the jump of whether it has been worth the wait and queues. Continue reading "Droid - the good, the bad and the ugly"

In this week’s FT techtalk, whatever was under discussion, it was hard to avoid bringing Apple into the conversation.

A blow-out quarter, new products, fresh Android competition for the iPhone and Nokia launching a legal strike - Apple is in everyone’s sights.

We also looked at the latest eReaders (yes, we’re sure there’s an Apple one coming as well) and assessed whether they are ready to be bestsellers with consumers or end up in the remainders pile.

And we reported live as Microsoft issued its first-quarter earnings.

Read the multimedia transcript below and join us live again next Friday for FT techtalk, a multimedia chat with the FT’s tech correspondents. Continue reading "FT techtalk - We’ve an Apple for that"

Google is expected to launch its own self-branded smartphone before the year is out, according to Ashok Kumar, Northeast Securities analyst

It will follow up with a series of phones running its Android operating system, as well as launching a branded netbook running its new Chrome operating system early next year, the analyst told me. Continue reading "Google to take on iPhone with own phone - analyst"

The amount of anti-iPhone propaganda emanating from Verizon Wireless suggests the rumour mongers have all been wrong that the US carrier will finally get the device when AT&T’s exclusive agreement with Apple expires in June 2010.

Verizon’s latest jibe at the iPhone and AT&T came this weekend with a teaser commercial for its first Android phone - the Motorola Droid, launching in November. Continue reading "Verizon has a Droid for that"

Sony’s launch of the PSPgo and its Minis store today will inevitably invoke comparisons with Apple’s iPod touch and the App Store.

But Sony and Nintendo’s handheld consoles will also be competing with forthcoming Android-based smartphones, where the next version of the Google OS will focus on improving 3D gaming performance, as well as from new Windows Mobile devices.

Leading iPhone game publisher Gameloft has 11 titles ready for the launch next week of Skymarket, the Windows Mobile “App Store”.  An interview after the jump with Gonzague de Vallois, Gameloft’s head of publishing, on the challenge facing Sony and Nintendo. Continue reading "PSPgo faces iPhone, Android, Windows rivals"

Starbucks unveiled a first-of-its-kind app today that lets users pay for in-store purchases using their iPhone, a move that could pave the way for a new generation of e-commerce applications on Apple’s popular phone.

With the Starbucks Card Mobile App, users can sync their prepaid Starbucks Card with the app, check their balance and refill it using a credit card. At some stores, they can also use the app to pay for Venti coffees and Frappuccinos.

When users select the “payment trial” function on the app, a QR code appears on the iPhone screen. A barista then scans the iPhone, deducting the cost from the Starbucks Card balance, and completing the purchase.

The trial is being rolled out at 16 locations in Seattle and Silicon Valley, where there is high usage of both iPhones and Starbucks Cards. But expect the programme to go nationwide soon, and for other retailers to follow. Continue reading "Starbucks app turns iPhone into a wallet"

While Apple figures out what to do with its languishing Apple TV - it quietly dropped its 40Gb model on Monday leaving only the 160Gb version - there are plenty of other contenders scrapping to bring networked content to the big living-room screen.

Among them - FreeAgent Theater+, announced by Seagate today as an improved version of the unit it launched only six months ago. Continue reading "Apple TV rivals offer far more features"