In a memo to the entire company, the former head of Nokia says that Lumia will be the standard-bearer for Windows Phone and that Nokia X will switch to Lumia and Windows Phone. Stephen ElopJames Martin/CNET
Microsoft exec Stephen Elop is making it abundantly clear: Microsoft has no intention of staying in the Android business.
In a memo emailed to employees on Thursday, Elop said Microsoft's devices business will concentrate "on the areas where we can add the most value" and noted that Nokia X smartphones, which run on heavily modified versions of Android, will migrate to Windows Phone.
"We plan to deliver additional lower-cost Lumia devices by shifting select future Nokia X designs and products to Windows Phone devices," Elop, executive vice president of Microsoft Devices & Services, wrote in his memo to employees. "We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products."
Nokia's X line of devices was the company's attempt to attract more budget-conscious customers to its platform. This was also a major story in the ongoing Microsoft-Nokia saga, since it ran on Android -- Microsoft's chief competitor in the mobile market. It was initially believed that Microsoft would stick with Android on Nokia X devices, but according to Elop, the cheaper end of the smartphone market is a key area of growth for Microsoft, and the company wants people buying those products to run on Windows Phone and not Android.
Microsoft on Thursday announced it will cut 18,000 jobs in the next year, making it the company's largest layoffs in history. A large chunk of the cuts -- 12,500 -- will come from the Nokia devices business Microsoft acquired for $7.2 billion in April. At that time, Microsoft brought on roughly 25,000 Nokia employees.
Elop, who sent the e-mail following the lay-off announcement, was also somewhat steadfast in his belief that Microsoft is doing the right thing by axing a major portion of his former employees, saying that while the cuts to Nokia's staff are major, they've become a necessary component for Microsoft as it attempts to adapt to a rapidly changing marketplace.
"Change is necessary," Elop wrote in the e-mail to employees. "As difficult as some of our changes are today, this direction deliberately aligns our work with the cross company efforts that [Microsoft CEO] Satya [Nadella] has described in his recent emails. Collectively, the clarity, focus and alignment across the company, and the opportunity to deliver the results of that work into the hands of people, will allow us to increase our success in the future."
In a memo to employees on Thursday, Nadella said the layoffs "are difficult, but necessary." They follow a 3,100-word manifesto he wrote earlier this month teasing "big changes" at the company and calling Microsoft a "productivity and platform company," eschewing the idea that it needs to be a software-first firm to be successful.
It is clear from Elop's e-mail, however, that mobile is exceedingly important to him. He only once mentioned other areas he controls, including the Xbox and Surface divisions, saying only that "there will be limited change" in those areas.
"More broadly across the Devices team, we will continue our efforts to bring iconic tablets to market in ways that complement our OEM partners, power the next generation of meetings & collaboration devices and thoughtfully expand Windows with new interaction models," Elop wrote. He went on to say that Microsoft will "right-size" its manufacturing operations, focusing mainly on making devices in Hanoi, Vietnam, and handling phone engineering efforts in Finland.
The GoodThe Asus Memo Pad 8 is a slim and lightweight slate with a colorful screen and slick user-interface. Starting at $199, it packs enough useful preloaded apps to feel like a deal.
The Bad Performance is slow if many apps are open in the background, and touchscreen response lags after being woken up.
The Bottom LineThe Asus MeMo Pad 8 is an affordable slate with tons of features, but if performance is king, faster options can be had for only $30 more.
Asus successfully turns cheap into sleek with the MeMo Pad 8. Running Asus' new Zen user-interface, which rocks a trendy flat design and a myriad of customization options, the 8-inch Android slate is one of the slimmest and most lightweight in its price range.
Spec-wise, the MeMo Pad 8 is a poor contender in the budget tablet race, but its software features give it an edge on the competition. The preloaded Asus suite of apps include calibration software and an audio-enhancement app, in addition to two free years of cloud storage via
It's a you-get-what-you-pay-for world, and the affordably priced 8-inch tablet isn't without its duly noted shortcomings; performance slows down if many apps are running in the background, and touchscreen response can lag after being asleep. To be sure, these issues plague most bargain slates.
The 8-inch MeMo Pad's design is one of the thinnest and lightest in the budget tablet category. It fits comfortably in one hand without over-stretching your fingers and the rounded edges and corners help it melt in your hands.
Asus MeMo Pad 8
Lenovo A8
Dell Venue 8
Acer Iconia A1-830
Weight in pounds
0.72
0.8
0.64
0.83
Width in inches (landscape)
8.3
8.5
8.3
8
Height in inches
4.9
5.3
5.1
5.4
Depth in inches
0.33
0.35
0.38
0.32
Side bezel width in inches (landscape)
0.7
0.8
0.7
0.8
The top edge houses the Micro-USB port and headphone jack, with the power button confusingly placed below the volume rocker on the top-right edge. The microSD card slot, expandable up to 64GB, sits alone on the left edge.
The thinly-woven texture on its back is comfortable on your fingertips while providing grip support, and its construction feels surprisingly solid for a budget tablet. Our review unit was a dark blue with a matte finish -- a boring but sophisticated look -- but Asus also offers the tablet in black, white, or purple.
The rounded edges make the thin tablet comfortable to hold.Josh Miller/CNET
Slim bezels give tablets a high-end look, and when holding the MeMo Pad 8 in its native portrait orientation, the thin left and right bezels help the tablet look cooler than your average budget slate. The top and bottom bezels are thicker and provide more thumb-space for watching video in landscape orientation.
Located on the back, the single speaker stretches across the bottom edge, making it easy to mindlessly block when holding in landscape orientation. However, when placed on a flat surface, it helps amplify the sound of the speaker -- but not by much.
When on a flat surface, the rear speaker sounds a bit more full.Josh Miller/CNET
Features
The MeMo Pad 8 ships with Asus' new Zen user-interface, which features a trendy flat design, a bevy of customization options, and many software goodies, like Asus' suite of apps.
The Asus suite of apps help fine-tune your tablet to your needs and offer a few cool perks. The Splendid app allows you to calibrate the screen easily, and the AudioWizard tool is essential for optimizing audio quality when listening to music or watching a movie.
The flat design of the Zen UI is at left, and the many camera scene modes are shown on the right.
It didn't take long in Redmond's digestion of Nokia's devices unit to officially scrap the strange Nokia X Software Platform and the phones that went with it. Instead, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella committed to converting phones in the Nokia X roadmap into Windows Phone devices bearing the Lumia name.
"We plan to shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows," Nadella wrote in a statement.
Despite Microsoft device chief (and former Nokia CEO)Stephen Elop's assurance that Microsoft will still support existing Nokia X phones -- which include the Nokia X, Nokia X+,Nokia XL, and new Nokia X2 -- during their lifetimes, the message is clear: Nokia X is no more.
Bravo. X-ing out the X is a smart, confident stride for a company that's bringing smartphone design and production in-house for the first time.
Flippantly, the Nokia X platform is a mess. And by this I mean that the OS that was Nokia's experimental foray into using Android code as its programming backbone created an amateur-looking jumble of Nokia, Android, and Windows Phone services that ultimately limited the powers of all three. In fact, aimed at the emerging market, the Nokia X phones' strongest feature is a lower price point.
The iPhone 6 is headed for mass production, according to local Taiwanese media. That could mean a rumored September launch for at least one of the models is on track.
Apple
Large-scale production of both next-generation iPhone models is imminent, according to reports from Asia.
Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision, aka Foxconn, will begin production of the 4.7-inch version of the rumored iPhone 6 next week, while the 5.5-inch model should see production kick off during the second week of August, Reuters reported, citing local Chinese media.
A separate report from a China state-run news service said Hon Hai is slated to hire 100,000 workers at its "mainland facilities" to make the phone, according to Reuters. Pegatron, another Taiwan-based contract manufacturer, has begun to recruit "over 10,000 workers," according to the above Taiwan-based report.
If the reports are accurate, the production schedule would fit a rumored September launch of the new Apple phone.
The report, however, doesn't address a series of rumors about production problems with the larger, phablet-class 5.5-inch model.
Reports earlier in the week said the 5.5-incher would be delayed. In that report, respected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 may not launch by the end of 2014, or may launch after October in very limited quantities.
Both models are expected to be extremely thin, by iPhone standards, rivaling the thinness of the iPod Touch. This has led to sticky production issues for both models but especially for the 5.5-inch device, according to Kuo.
Other rumored new features for the iPhone 6 include an improved camera and larger-capacity flash storage.
iPod Touch: the iPhone 6 is expected to boast a thickness similar to the ultrathin iPod Touch.
The newly reborn no-contract carrier is the latest to offer Samsung's flagship Android smartphone Cricket says hello to Samsung's flagship smartphone.Cricket
Cricket Wireless has become the latest US carrier to announce support for the Samsung Galaxy S5. Available starting Friday, June 27, the smartphone costs $540 after a mail-in rebate.
he newly reformed wireless provider, now owned by AT&T, offers unlimited talk and text with 500MB worth of 4G LTE data that starts at $40 per month.
Customers who sign up for the Auto Pay option can save an additional $5 per month, knocking things down to a $35 monthly plan.
Indeed, this is the same Samsung Galaxy S5 that sells everywhere else, except that it costs about $100 cheaper on Cricket. Powered by Android 4.4 KitKat, the flagship model includes a 5.1-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, 16-megapixel rear camera, and has 16GB of internal storage.
The handset maker will update its HTC One M8 and HTC One M7 smartphones to run on the OS, though there's no set timeline.
The HTC One M8Sarah Tew/CNET
Handset maker HTC said Wednesday that it plans to bring Google's newest Android operating system to its flagship phones as soon as it's able, though it couldn't yet provide a timeline.
The move is part of the company's campaign to retain customers amid years of flagging sales. Despite selling critically acclaimed products, the Taiwan company has tumbled out of the top rankings of smartphone makers, unable to match the much larger advertising budgets of powerhouses such as Samsung or Apple.
Google used its annual I/O developer conference on Wednesday to unveil its latest version of Android, dubbed "L," which includes a revamped notification system, an updated user interface, and a new battery-saving mode.
HTC soon after said it plans to update its HTC One M8 and the One M7, last year's flagship phone, to run on Android L "within 90 days of receiving final software from Google."
The promise is part of HTC's "Advantage" program, a guarantee that includes access to the latest version of Android and a replacement phone if the glass is cracked within the first year. The customer-friendly move is one attempt to get around the marketing behemoth of Samsung and Apple.
Still, Google hasn't yet provided the official software to phone makers and chipset manufacturers to start working on release software, HTC said. The software update timeline won't start until Google releases that final software, HTC said, adding that device updates will vary depending on region, carrier, and device.
Specs have leaked for an 8.9-inch HTC made tablet, rumoured to be the next Google Nexus. A 'cleaned up' version of the leaked Volantis image made by Android Police.Android Police
Rumours have been flying for some time now that HTC is making the next Google Nexus tablet, with industry insiders tipping that it might come with an 8.9-inch screen, matching the latest offerings from Apple and Amazon. This seems to be supported by specs and photos leaked to Android Police over the weekend.
Codenamed the 'Volantis' the 8.9-inch tablet is 7.9mm thick, weighs in at 418g (or 427g for the LTE version), is constructed with an aluminium frame and, perhaps most importantly, has a giant Nexus logo on the back in the leaked photos.
The spec sheet points to a rather impressive device. There's a Tegra K1 processor packed in and the screen is 2,048x1,440 with a 281 ppi and a 4:3 aspect ratio. Forward-facing stereo speakers, an eight megapixel rear camera and 2GB of RAM round out the rest of the specifications.
Of course, it's always wise to be wary of "unnamed sources". The Verge notes that the image supplied to Android Police looks remarkably like a stretched out Nexus 5 (made by LG) and certainly the white back seems more plastic than aluminium.
There's also the fact that Google seems set on discontinuing the Nexus program. Multiple sources are saying that the company will scrap the Nexus line in favour of Android Silver -- high-end devices from a variety of manufacturers that will adhere to a strict Android experience. This sounds a little like the Android Play Editions of phones such as the HTC One, but is apparently set to go further, with LG and Motorola tipped to offer the first Silver devices.
That could conceivably still leave time for one more Nexus device, although Android Police reports that the Volantis is set for a Q4 2014 release, timed with the next iteration of Android, which might put it a little late in the game.
Still, the rumour has a lot of detail: there's even pricing. Apparently a 16GB Volantis will cost $399 (AU$425, £234) and the 32GB will sit around $499 (AU$531, £293). The LTE version could cost significantly more.
Google I/O kicks off this week, running from June 25-26 in San Francisco. We'll be keeping a keen eye out for any additional information about the Volantis/Nexus 9 or the Android Silver program. Until then, this rumour might need a grain or two of salt to help wash it down.
The streaming music app will still be preloaded on Windows Phone devices, but will also be able to explore other platforms, like iOS and Android. Nokia
Nokia's streaming-music app MixRadio has become another casualty in Microsoft's deep cuts, but the service will live on as a standalone platform, its chief executive has confirmed.
Speaking to The Guardian in an interview published Friday, MixRadio chief Jyrki Rosenberg confirmedthat "basically, we're planning a spin-off" from Microsoft. He added that while the streaming music service will continue to be preloaded into Windows Phone devices, once MixRadio becomes a standalone company, it can explore opportunities on other platforms, like iOS and Android.
Microsoft announced Thursday that it will cut 18,000 jobs as part of its plans to make the company more agile and convert its focus from devices and services to the cloud and mobile. The majority of those cuts -- 12,500 -- will come from the Nokia division that Microsoft acquired earlier this year for $7.2 billion.
While much of the attention on the Nokia cuts went to the mobile division, other services the company provides, including MixRadio, have also been given the ax. Based on Rosenberg's comments, however, it wasn't an unexpected cut.
"I've been meeting with potential investors around the world in the last few weeks," Rosenberg told The Guardian.
MixRadio launched as Nokia Music in 2011. The service attempts to distinguish itself in the crowded streaming-music market by providing preloaded mixes along certain categories. Competitors like Pandora and Spotify allow customers to choose a song and create curated playlists based on those tracks.
That MixRadio can be spun off into its own operation might be good news for the service. So far, it's only been offered on Nokia devices, leaving the vast majority of the market untapped. According to Rosenberg, the service has "millions" of users and since it will be able to attract iOS and Android users after the spin-off in addition to Windows Phone users, he believes that number could jump.
CNET has contacted Microsoft for comment on the MixRadio move. We will update this story when we have more information.
The gesture, which is not uncommon in Korea, comes as Samsung's earnings guidance falls far below analyst estimates.
Josh Miller/CNET
Hundreds of Samsung managers have reportedly returned part of their bonuses for the first half of the year as the electronics maker prepares to report worse-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
Nearly 200 managers in the Samsung Electronics mobile division returned part of their bonus, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a source with knowledge of the give-back. Local media reports estimate the returned bonuses could total more than 3 billion won ($2.9 million), according to Reuters.
The move by managers, which is not uncommon at Korean businesses, is a response to Samsung's poor financial performance in the second quarter of the year. It shows the managers are willing to work harder and take responsibility for the earnings decline, according to Reuter's source.
Samsung last week released its earnings guidance on the second quarter of 2014, revealing that its sales fell 4 trillion won ($3.9 billion) year over year. The company's operating profit was down 1 trillion won, surprising analysts and investors who had expected far better performance from the company. Samsung will release its full second-quarter earnings on July 31.
Samsung's troubles last quarter can be directly attributed to China, where it's facing increased pressure from competitors offering devices appealing to both budget-conscious consumers and those looking for high-end smartphones. Lenovo has been an especially concerning competitor, gaining market share since the beginning of the year.
During the first quarter, in fact, Samsung's smartphone market share stood at 18 percent in China. Lenovo and Xiaomi were hot on its heels at 12 percent and 11 percent market share, respectively.
Although Americans might find employees giving back bonuses rather unorthodox, in the Korean corporate world, it's commonplace. When companies perform poorly, managers hold themselves responsible and give back bonuses based on their performance. It's worth noting, however, that the Samsung managers gave back a quarter of their first-half bonus, keeping the rest for themselves.
CNET has contacted Samsung for comment on the managers' actions. We will update this story when we have more information.
