| T-Mobile USA's chief marketing officer, Cole Brodman, calls it quits May 1st 2012, 21:15  Maybe he's finished running with the underdog, or maybe he's just done with the corporate gig altogether, but one thing is certain: as of May 25th, Cole Brodman will mark his exit from T-Mobile. For the past two years, Mr. Brodman has served as the carrier's chief marketing officer, and his departure concludes 17 years with the company. During his tenure, Cole Brodman railed against the subsidized handset game, helped drive the adoption of smartphones and -- sadly -- crushed our dreams for the potential of a Magenta-branded iPhone. He must also claim at least partial responsibility for the carrier's net loss of customers in 2011, with a total of 802,000 subscribers jumping ship in Q4 alone. One thing is certain of Mr. Brodman's exit, however: he seems content with the decision. Likening the move to a retirement, he remarked, "It's an opportunity to step away, get a break and start to think about how I want to do something next." Andrew Sherrard will replace Cole Brodman as T-Mobile's interim chief marketing officer while the company searches for a permanent replacement. So long, Mr. Brodman, and thanks for the smartphones. [Cole Brodman photo via CNET] T-Mobile USA's chief marketing officer, Cole Brodman, calls it quits originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 17:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  WSJ | Email this | Comments | | Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down May 1st 2012, 20:47  Well, the first quarter of 2012 is officially over Motorola Mobility, and the financial news is rather sobering for the company. While revenues were up, the climb was modest, to just $3.1 billion. And that small bump in incoming cash was not enough to stave off another quarter of loses. In fact, after losing $80 million in Q4 of 2011, Moto lost $86 million in Q1 of 2012. The company continued to bleed cash in large part because shipments of mobile devices dropped off dramatically. Only 8.9 million devices were shipped in the quarter, down from 10.5 million in the last part of 2011. With 5.1 million of those being smartphones however, the phone division did manage to increase revenues by three percent. The one bright spot was the home segment which, thanks to its home gateways and broadcast goods, managed to make (that's right, not lose) $68 million, up from $53 million a year ago. For more numbers and charts check out the source link. Continue reading Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Motorola Mobility | Email this | Comments | | Barnes & Noble's Nook e-readers getting NFC, says CEO May 1st 2012, 19:34  Now that all of that Microsoft-related news is out in the open, Barnes & Noble's CEO William Lynch is ready to talk about the future. Fortune sat down with him to discuss the deal and what's next for the Nook. The answer to the latter is, at least in part, near-field communication. The exec talked up plans to begin embedding NFC chips into the readers, offering up a bit of synergy between physical books and their electronic counterparts. Says Lynch: We can work with the publishers so they would ship a copy of each hardcover with an NFC chip embedded with all the editorial reviews they can get on BN.com. And if you had your Nook, you can walk up to any of our pictures, any our aisles, any of our bestseller lists, and just touch the book, and get information on that physical book on your Nook and have some frictionless purchase experience. As for whether that functionality will actually be hitting this year, Lynch offered up a big old "maybe." Barnes & Noble's Nook e-readers getting NFC, says CEO originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Fortune | Email this | Comments | | Microsoft puts Windows Phone 7 app developers on notice of four new Marketplace policies May 1st 2012, 19:29  As the poet once said, "Mo' apps, mo' problems", or something like that. The Windows Phone Marketplace continues to grow and with more eyeballs on it, Microsoft is making sure devs know the rules that will keep their apps in the store instead of on the sideline. Trademark and copyright issues headline the new areas of enforcement, followed up by making sure bulk published apps are in the right categories, packaged with tile images and branding that make it clear which one is which and what they do. Rounding out the list are keywords -- pepper your app with popular, but unrelated terms at your own peril -- and apps that currently overstep the allowed boundary "racy" content. In the end only you, the users, can report if these policies are making it easier to navigate the ever expanding amount of apps so let us know -- are things clogged up with intentionally mislabeled crapware, or is it smooth sailing? Microsoft puts Windows Phone 7 app developers on notice of four new Marketplace policies originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Windows Phone Developer Blog | Email this | Comments | |
