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Nokia reportedly planning 'organizational changes,' mobile phones exec on the outs
Looks like Capital Markets Day is shaping up to be quite the barnburner for Nokia. In the wake of news that Microsoft and Nokia may have some sort of tie-up in the works, Germany weekly Wirtschaftswoche is reporting that newly appointed CEO Stephen Elop will be bidding adieu to a number of high-ranking officials. Citing "company sources," the paper stated that Mary T. McDowell, a bigwig in the mobile phones unit, as well as Niklas Savander, the manager of the markets unit, could be on the outs. Moreover, Kai Oistamo (Chief Development Officer) and Tero Ojanpera, the manager responsible for services and mobile solutions, may also be enjoying their final weekends as Nokia employees. It's all part of a monumental strategy shift, and if it all pans out, it'll be Elop's first major move since taking over as CEO last September. Of course, Anssi Vanjoki more or less left on his own accord, and the company has essentially forged ahead with little to no change since. We're told that Nokia has hired headhunters to scout top people to fill said slots, but it's hard to say why Elop feels that new brains are needed. Here's hoping it's the start of something... competitive. Update: Having had a few minutes to digest this news, it's worth pointing out that neither Alberto Torres (exec leading MeeGo Computers) nor Jo Harlow (head of Symbian Smartphones) are rumored to be at risk. So if the report is true, then these organizational changes appear focused on, 1) rectifying Nokia's inability to quickly execute upon its corporate strategy and, 2) the recent walloping Nokia received in emerging markets like India where Nokia's S40 feature phones once ruled the land, but are increasingly under attack by aggressively priced cellphones from Chinese and Indian handset makers. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
ASUS chairman Jonney Shih promises 'secret weapon' to rival iPad 2, disses 3DTVs
Jonney Shih has never been one to back down from his stance on anything, and in a recent sit-down with IDG News Service, the ASUS chairman delivered quite a few nuggets worth poring over. For starters, he played up (and subsequently downplayed) a "secret weapon" that would likely rival the iPad 2, but wouldn't go so far as to confirm that said weapon would actually be a slate. His response to prying? "I think it's best not to say now. You will have to wait until the launch." He also noted that personal cloud computing was poised to boom, and didn't leave much hope for the likes of webOS and QNX -- he claims that there is only room for three OS camps to win, and those three slots are already occupied with Windows, Android and iOS. Finally, he took the opportunity to fling water on the 3DTV buzz, noting that he "doesn't think that will prevail." He did leave open the possibility for glasses-free options in handhelds to succeed, but beyond that, it's safe to say he's not much of a 3D advocate. Hit the source link for the full skinny, but don't go digging for any extra details on his iPad 2 killer -- something tells us you'll be sorely disappointed.
Forbes calls Scott Forstall a 'name you need to know'
Do you know who Scott Forstall is? According to Forbes Magazine, you should. As part of a crowd-sourcing project for the January issue of the magazine, Forbes asked readers to suggest the names of people who will be important in 2011. One of the picks was Forstall, Apple's senior vice president of iPhone software. Forstall was one of the NeXT engineers who followed Steve Jobs back to Apple, and in his current role he's the man behind the wild success of iOS. It's estimated that iOS currently runs on over 100 million devices worldwide. Apple's executive profile for Forstall notes that he "is one of the original architects of OS X," and was "responsible for several releases of the operating system, most notably Mac OS X Leopard." Looking forward to the future release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, we can expect to see Forstall's genius at work as elements of iOS make their way onto the Mac. [via The Mac Observer]
Ex-Apple, IBM exec Mark Papermaster lands at Cisco
Recently departed Apple Senior VP Mark Papermaster has landed a new gig, signing on with Cisco as vice president of the Silicon Switching Technology Group. Papermaster's resume includes time working on chip design for IBM as well as his brief tenure running the hardware engineering group at Apple. The Cisco job certainly won't have the same kind of profile as the Apple position but it is certainly important. Papermaster will lead the development of chips for Cisco switching equipment. Cisco hardware runs a lot of the infrastructure that makes up the internet as well as corporate networks. Papermaster's relationship with Apple was marred by controversy before he even started working there. IBM sued Apple in an attempt to prevent Papermaster from joining the company. After only a year and a half in Cupertino, Papermaster left Apple in the wake of reception problems with the iPhone 4.
Microsoft executives get their own public avatars, may never age
Ever wondered what your favorite Microsoft executive would look like if transformed into an Xbox Live avatar? Wonder no more, as the aforementioned company has done the honors for you. Joey B. definitely looks like his real-world counterpart, but Steve's just looks... doctored. Why give the man forehead lines when he's still so young and vivacious? Hit the source link for lots more where these came from.
Dick Costolo named new Twitter CEO, Evan Williams to focus on product strategy
To say Evan Williams has had a stellar run at Twitter would be understating things tremendously, but he apparently couldn't take the pressure after watching The Social Network this weekend. All kidding aside, Mr. Williams has decided to step aside and let COO Dick Costolo take over as CEO, while he focuses entirely on "product strategy." It's unclear what exactly Evan will be doing at his new post, nor why he decided to step away from the ultimate limelight, but then again, it's hard to sum up a corner office job description in just 140 characters.
Skype lands Cisco's Tony Bates as new CEO
It may sound fairly bland on paper, but the potential implications here are notable. Tony Bates, who was seen as a major player within Cisco reporting directly to CEO John Chambers, has just left to take over the CEO role at Skype. Cisco's own blog affirmed that Bates was leaving "to pursue another opportunity," and The New York Times has it that Joshua Silverman is stepping aside to make room for Mr. Bates. He'll arrive just in time to make a serious push for an IPO, grab more profit from its blossoming user base (which largely doesn't pay anything to make Skype-to-Skype calls) and possibly "make a deeper push into carrier and enterprise markets," as GigaOM puts it. Frankly, we'd be interested in seeing if any leftover synergies (yeah, we said it) could lead to a Skype-enabled Flip Video camcorder. Bates would obviously have great contacts with Cisco in order to make it happen, and honestly, it'd be a win-win for both parties. Crazier things have happened, right?
CE-Oh no he didn't!: Anssi Vanjoki says using Android is like peeing in your pants for warmth
You've been asking and imploring, so Anssi Vanjoki -- straight shooter, that he is -- now has an answer. Why doesn't Nokia switch to Android? Because Google's software represents only a short-term solution that will lead to bigger quandaries down the line, says he. Anssi was even graceful enough to illustrate this point with a vivid example, saying that mobile manufacturers who go the Android route are doing no better than Finnish boys who "pee in their pants" for warmth in the winter. Yeah. We don't know where to go from here either. To be honest, there's a legitimate point behind this trash talk, as the FT notes some analysts agree with Anssi that relying on Android as the universal OS may lead to "permanently low profitability" with users failing to distinguish among different brands if they all offer the same experience. Then again, tell that to HTC. [Thanks, Maark]
Sprint's product development guru bolts from yellow pastures, heads to greener ones
Look out, Sprint -- if you aren't careful, you might just end up pulling a Palm. Shortly after Dan Schulman, Sprint's prepaid business honcho, announced that he'd be leaving The Now Network for a position at American Express, product development guru Kevin Packingham has announced that he'll be packing out on Monday. The 39-year old is responsible for spearheading some of Sprint's most highly sought after products, namely the HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G. He'll be leaving his Senior VP office in order to "run another company in Kansas City," but Sprint's remaining mum on what exactly that company will be. For what it's worth, a spokeswoman for the carrier confessed to the Wall Street Journal that the departures aren't a concern, and that "Steve Elfman, president of Sprint's network operations and wholesale business, and Fared Adib, vice president of product development and Mr. Packingham's lieutenant, will share oversight of product development."
Apple's "controlled leaks" and how they spin them
Here's an interesting story that popped up this week, made even more relevant by all of the tablet rumors flying around lately. John Martellaro at the Mac Observer has called out the Wall Street Journal piece earlier this week as a controlled leak from Apple. What he says makes sense: the news came from an unnamed source and was published by two different authors, the WSJ's Apple beat writers, to keep the responsibility divided (and keep Walt Mossberg above the fray, perhaps). If Apple does want to leak information, it seems easy enough -- as Martellaro says, an executive phones a friend, asks to keep their name out of the story, and then a rumor is out there. Of course, there's the question of how often (if ever) this actually happens; most Mac media folk have never been on the receiving end of such a leak. The other real question is: why? Apple could merely be sending ideas out there to see how they'll play -- the WSJ post specifically mentioned a 10 or 11" display, so it's possible they wanted to pre-test that idea. Martellaro also reckons that Apple's message could have been directed at another company, either a competitor or a partner who needed to be reminded that the tablet release was approaching quickly. And finally, it could have been directed at us press -- rumors build more rumors, which build hype, which, as Martellaro says, put butts in seats at the event later this month. Of course, there's always the question of stock manipulation, and it could be argued that leaks like this might cause problems there. But otherwise, leaks by Apple are more or less harmless to everyone besides the company itself. If Apple did leak something it doesn't end up delivering on (i.e. promises of one product and another one ends up getting released), it's the companys own reputation that will be on the line. Apple can say that it doesn't respond to or support rumors, but when the company's own executives are allegedly telling the WSJ what the tablet is like, the onus falls on the company's reputation as a whole. [via Apple Insider]
Nokia plays musical execs, moves CFO to new Mobile Phones post
There's nothing quite like a dismal quarterly report to shake things up, and that's exactly what Nokia's doing after losing over $800 million in its most recent three-month period. CFO Rick Simonson is being whisked over to a new post as head of the Mobile Phones group -- concentrating on Series 30 and Series 40 handsets -- within the Devices division, while Timo Ihamuotila, who currently leads up global sales, will take over for the CFO position being vacated by Simonson. For what it's worth, the move doesn't seem like a demotion for Simonson; he'll be in charge of "strategic sourcing" for the entire Devices division and still sit on the executive board, so we're sure he'll be doing alright for himself. All things considered, there's no way of knowing whether this would've all gone down without the quarterly performance, but it makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Timothy Bender joins SCEA as senior VP of sales
Raise a glass -- or two -- in celebration of Livescribe and LeapFrog veteran Timothy Bender, who has just been appointed to the role of Senior Vice President of Sales for Sony Computer Entertainment America. Assuming he does an excellent job overseeing sales and merchandising initiatives for the PlayStation brand across North America, Bender can look forward to having his presumably dull, non-metallic posterior smooched by everyone but company CEO Jack Tretton.Jack still had some nice things to say, though! "Tim brings a proven ability in growing strong consumer brands and building deep relationships with his team and the retail community," he said, quite nicely. "As we approach one of our most aggressive holiday seasons and a truly exciting future for all our product platforms, we are confident that Tim's great leadership skills and contributions will help drive continued sales and market momentum for the PlayStation brand."In other news, SCEA's accountant and bad posture poster child, Timothy Tredame, has expressed disappointment upon learning that the Timothy Bender everyone was talking about wasn't a playful euphemism for that office chiropractor he's been hounding human resources about forever.
Steven Sinofsky promoted to president of Windows
With Windows 7 just months away from release, Microsoft is putting a new individual in charge of the whole Windows division. Steven Sinofsky -- who was previously responsible for squashing thousands upon thousands of early Win7 bugs as the senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group -- now has a shiny new title. We're told that as president, Mr. Sinofsky "assumes responsibility for the Windows business including both the engineering and marketing functions for Windows, Windows Live and Internet Explorer." Yeah, pretty broad. Oh, and it's not clear if the former prez's decision to green light that patently disgusting "vomit" spot for IE8 was the straw that broke the camel's back, but whatever the case, there's a new brain behind the future of Windows. No pressure, Steve-o.[Thank, Neal]
Verizon's CEO sidesteps questions on iPhone, Android handset
The last time we heard from Ivan Seidenberg, he was letting Sprint know precisely what he thought of it. This go 'round, in a new 'Charlie Rose' interview, the Verizon chief is being entirely more coy. In speaking to recent political happenings, he mentions that the communication coming from the citizens of Iran is "a great thing," and he also notes that attempts to block internet use "can't work long term" as the "power of the people will override that without any question." Sort of comical given VZW's prior persistence to cripple phones in spite of consumer backlash, but we digress. He also dodged (with great skill, might we add) questions on whether Verizon Wireless would carry the iPhone, noting that it was "Apple's decision" on whether it would build one to support the company's forthcoming LTE network. As for Android? He did confess that recent reports of a Motorola handset coming its way "might be true," which is CEO speak for "oh, that's absolutely happening." Hop on past the break for a video of the whole shakedown.
RIM CEO on BlackBerry Storm: "nobody gets it perfect out the door"
If there's one two things we love, it's hearing RIM's own Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis open their gaping traps. While the former was sufficiently panned back in January for exclaiming that buggy smartphone software was simply the "new reality," his partner in crime may have just done him one better. In a recent sit-down with Laptop Mag, Mike was specifically asked to address that aforementioned quote. His response? "That's our first touch product, and you know nobody gets it perfect out the door. You know other companies were having problems with their first releases." If you're struggling to translate that into layman speak, allow us: "Tough luck, early adopters!"As the interview progressed, the co-CEO took the opportunity to snub Apple on its inability to get Push Email out early on, noting that BlackBerry OS has "constantly been underestimated" and was "designed to multitask from day one." He also stumbled all over himself when it came to speaking about the BlackBerry's web browser, stating that "by writing our browser in Java, that provides our CIOs and wireless managers the assurances they need, to allow the browser to access internal information at the same time it accesses external information." We've literally meditated on that for a solid half-hour, and we still have absolutely zero idea what it means in English. Nevertheless, the whole thing is a pretty great -- if not comical -- read, so give it a look and share your colorful opinions in comments below.
David Reeves retires from SCEE, Andrew House gleefully takes over
The always outspoken and completely outré David Reeves has decided to retire from his post as President, CEO and Co-COO at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE). During his 14 years with the company, Sir Reeves has provided us with loads to talk about, even finding himself the proud owner of our 37th edition of 'CE-Oh No He Didn't!' The scuttlebutt is that Reeves could be leaving to share his talents with Realtime Worlds, but then again, maybe he's just out to step foot in the 40 remaining countries that he has yet to visit. At any rate, Sony has already selected Andrew House (pictured) to take over on May 1st, with a release noting that he will soon be responsible for "managing the PlayStation business across nearly 100 countries in the Europe / PAL territories, including the company's PlayStation2, PSP and PlayStation 3 platforms as well as PlayStation Network." Oh, and Mr. House -- we're fully expecting a 'CE-Oh No He Didn't!' quip from you within the first hundred days. Make it happen.Read - David Reeves outRead - Andrew House in
Toshiba selects Norio Sasaki as next President and CEO
We needn't tell you that things haven't been going awesome for Toshiba ever since HD DVD hit the skids and slid right into its coffin, but the company has yet to lose hope in its future. As a sign of impending change, Tosh's board of directors has just selected Mr. Norio Sasaki -- who is currently a senior executive VP in the company -- to become the next CEO and President this June. Sasaki will replace Atsutoshi Nishida following an ordinary general meeting of the shareholders, and he'll also succeed Tadashi Okamura in becoming the next chairman of the board at Toshiba Corporation. If you're curious as to whether or not this chap has what it takes, check this: the man is into mountain biking, smooth jazz and golf, and his personal motto is "perseverance will open the way." How dare you doubt that?
Comcast COO talks internet streaming, la carte pricing
Looking for an inside view of the cable company realm? How's about a mouthful from Comcast COO Steve Burke? Said executive recently sat down for an interview with TechFlash, and we have to say, it's one of the most interesting reads we've seen in awhile. When addressing questions on internet streaming, he noted that watching video online is really just a complement to pay-TV (and not a substitute), and he also asserted that internet TV was a friend of Comcast given that over 16 million people rely on its high-speed connections to view it every single day. Still, we found this quote incredibly telling: "We and the programmers are going to want to make sure that the cable programming that people pay for when they get basic TV service doesn't go completely on the Internet, so there is still a reason to subscribe to cable." We'd elaborate, but really, it speaks for itself. On the topic of à la carte pricing, he simply stated that content producers wouldn't let it happen. While networks like ESPN would draw millions, lesser known channels would likely be forced to shut down if people could specifically avoid paying for them. There's far too much in the interview to cover in this space, but be sure to give it a look and report back with comments. We know you'll have a few.
Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo leaving, heading back to America on June 30th
Great job, thief. Just days after Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo had his HTC handset stolen at Mobile World Congress, the guy has decided that enough is enough. All kidding aside, Sol Trujillo has indeed announced his intentions to vacate his seat and return home to the United States. During his four years as head honcho, the Australian operator has managed to do quite well for itself, and as they say, there's no better time to leave than while on top. He has vowed to keep pressing on until June 30th, after which he'll hop a (presumably first class) flight back to the US of A and watch Telstra attempt to fill his shoes -- probably from a sweet shack in Key West, if we had to guess.
IBM exec: Games are great for employees
Hot on the heels of last week's news that employers are staying away from hiring WoW players comes this article from the BBC, quoting an IBM executive who says that gamers are actually exactly the kind of people you want on a team: David Laux, global executive in charge of games and interactive entertainment (wait, maybe that's why he's so keen on game players) says that casual games can improve memorization and the abilty to discern details, first person shooters can help with rapid decision making, and games like World of Warcraft can boost leadership skills. He says WoW specifically helps players learn how to work well on a team, assess risks, and put the group first to achieve a common goal.Which is true -- if you're actually the one in charge of groups. I'm of the opinion that it's very possible to play a game like WoW and get a nice boost to your leadership skills (leading a guild is often a job in itself), but I think it's also very possible that you could play WoW and not get a thing out of it -- I know quite a few people I've grouped with that I'd never want to have sitting next to me in a real office.The bottom line, as always, is somewhere inbetween the two opinions. If you're already interested in taking charge and being a leader, WoW is a great simlulation to let you do those things. And if you're already a lazy worker and interested in helping yourself more than whatever team you're on, WoW probably won't cure you of that (there are certainly plenty of selfish people running around the game every day). In short, if your hiring policies are based on whether or not someone plays videogames, you might want to reconsider them completely.
