I launched TechFruit April 2011 to try and put a British voice on all the technology, gadget, and start-ups news and gossip. So much of the technology-sector media machine is based in Silicon Valley, and so closely involved in the companies and VC firms based there – that I’m hoping TechFruit will offer a fresh perspective.
I have always been an avid follower of the likes of TechCrunch, GigaOm, VentureBeat, and more recently PandoDaily and have always been impressed by how they uncover so many new businesses, technologies, and ideas in ways that reporting in traditional media never could. Whilst TechCrunch does offer a UK site, however, these are all very US and Silicon Valley focused. I also enjoy the technology and gadget gossip blogs like Engadget, Gizmodo, and more recently The Verge – but again, whilst much of the news is international, it is all written from a US perspective.
The UK is moving rapidly in the technology space, with both public and private money being invested heavily in the sector at the moment in start-ups and technology clusters. Now is the time for the UK to show its increasing influence in this sector – and I’m hoping that TechFruit can at least shine a little torch-light on what’s happening not just in London but across the country.
I write articles that I hope people with a similar interest in technology and the new economy are interested in reading, and the site has seen some major successes in its brief lifespan already – from breaking the news of the kidnap and ransom dmands made to UK entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne, to information about the launch of Huffington Post UK, to the firesale of HP’s short-lived TouchPads – a mixed bag of stories.
As the Editor of this tech blog I’m also writing the majority of the stories myself, but am also helped out by a series of freelancers all interested in uncovering technology news and further ideas – both commercially and culturally. Outside of TechFruit I also edit the influential music blog The Blue Walrus, consult in digital advertising, and am in the process of founding my own digital startup of a UK-focused hand-curated online newspaper The Descrier.