JoeMarini
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Ex-Windows Phone manager Joe Marini finds himself at home with Google
Check out who got a new set of Google business cards: Joe Marini, the extroverted Windows Phone manager at Microsoft who got into some hot water tweeting about the then-unannounced Nokia Lumia 800. It turns out that he's pushing out 140-character messages in a big way again, but this time he's doing so as a "Google Dev Advocate." It appears that the job description involves Developer Relations, API platforms and HTML5 apps, amongst other duties. But what about the inside scoop on what happened in Redmond? Joe says he's setting up a blog to address the question, and we're on pins and needles over here.
Microsoft boots Windows Phone manager following mini-review of Nokia's Mango handset
The man who previously led the development of IE Mobile for Windows Phone is no longer with Microsoft, whose termination followed a series of tweets regarding one of Nokia's unreleased Mango handsets. A representative of Ballmer & Co. has confirmed to us "that Joe Marini no longer works at Microsoft," and while the company refuses to discuss the details of his termination, you be the judge. In his first tweet, Mr. Marini expressed glowing enthusiasm for the device, having called it one of Nokia's slickest ever. Then, however, he went on to give the phone an "8" (to summarize his 144 character review), criticize the camera as being good, but not great, and bemoan its screen size. Oops. If anything, unbridled enthusiasm is encouraged at Microsoft (just think back to Steve Ballmer's monkey dance if you had any doubt), but when sheer excitement erupts into stunning frankness regarding unreleased products from partner companies, perhaps this ex-Microsoftee should have kept his thoughts offline. We wish you luck, Joe, but next time, just remember that review scores are a relic of the past. Instead, just let the words speak for themselves.
