@T: ALWAYS THE TWAIN

FT Tech Blogs

• Editorial: Protecting Privacy July 30, 2010
  Every time we visit a website, our personal information is in the hands of web publishers and advertisers. While both Europe and the US push for data tracking protections, there are some benefits of personalised advertisements. As the FT’s editorial Protecting Privacy argues, “There is nothing wrong in principle with advertisers using data about people […]
  Maryam Nabi
• GSM eavesdropping tools released: Black Hat Day Two July 30, 2010
  A researcher on Thursday posted software tools that he said would enable widespread eavesdropping on calls made over GSM networks with less than $2,000 worth of equipment. Speaking at the second day of the Black Hat technology security conference in Las Vegas, researcher Karsten Nohl, who had previously reported that he had cracked GSM encryption, said […]
  Joseph Menn
• Groupon rolls out personalised deals July 30, 2010
  Groupon is already the leader of the pack when it comes to local deals . By offering deep discounts to restaurants, shops and services in more than 80 markets, the two-year-old company is minting cash (it has been profitable for more than a year). Its success has inspired a raft of imitators, and helped the company […]
  David Gelles
• Serve-yourself media plays on iPhone, Android July 29, 2010
  The number of ways to transfer and enjoy your personal media on any device continues to grow. Cyberlink this week announced significant improvements to its MediaEspresso transcoding software, which formats PC files for smartphones and portable media players. Or if you prefer streaming media directly from your PC to your portable device, there are new options […]
  Chris Nuttall
• First Take: New Amazon Kindle July 29, 2010
  Amazon has just updated the Kindle, giving the world’s most popular e-reader a much-needed facelift just in time for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons. The new device is sleeker, stronger and faster than the previous Kindle. Its body is 21 per cent smaller and 15 per cent lighter at 8.7 ounces. It has double the […]
  David Gelles
• TSMC gets gung-ho on growth July 29, 2010
  From the FT’s beyondbrics blog Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, on Thursday raised its bet on the continued rapid growth of the global semiconductor industry to the tune of $1bn. The company, which commands half the global market for contract chips, on Thursday raised its capital expenditure plans for this y […]
  Maryam Nabi
• HTC: Don’t compare us to Moto! July 29, 2010
  Part of the charm of HTC, the fast-growing Taiwanese smartphone company, is that it strives to maintain an air of eager-to-please humbleness – or as its marketing tagline goes, of being “quietly brilliant” - even as it climbs through the ranks of the world’s biggest smartphone makers. So it was a bit of a surprise when […]
  Robin Kwong
• Zynga takes $150m from Softbank (No mention of Google) July 29, 2010
  How do you say “Farmville” in Japanese? Zynga, maker of the popular social game, wants to find out. To do so, the San Francisco company is entering into a joint venture with Softbank to develop and distribute games in Japan. As part of the deal, Softbank is investing $150m in Zynga, and will help launch the new […]
  David Gelles
• Mobile apps harvesting user data: Black Hat Day One July 29, 2010
  More than a hundred innocuous-looking wallpaper applications for Android handsets have been harvesting users’ phone numbers and SIM card information and sending them off to a Website based in China, researchers said Wednesday at the Black Hat tech security conference in Las Vegas. The wallpapers–background pictures of ponies, basketball scenes and the like–h […]
  Joseph Menn
• Judgment Call: Should Steve Jobs be more apologetic? July 28, 2010
  Now that Steve Jobs has admitted to iPhone 4’s antenna issues, three experts voice their opinions in today’s FT Judgment Call column, “Should Steve Jobs be more apologetic?” Peter Bregman, chief executive of Bregman Partners writes, “Steve Jobs should have handled the bad press more skilfully. By being defensive, he’s the one who drew the […]
  Maryam Nabi