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Tag: people-and-jobs

  • BlackBerry Close to an End, RIM Prepares New Layoffs

    BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has announced it aims to reduce operating costs by one billion dollars per year, a plan that includes significant layoffs.

    RIM’s U.S. sales declined dramatically due to the fierce competition represented by the Apple's iPhone and Google’s Android OS, which is why RIM will terminate the contract with Celestica – phone parts manufacturer.

    Celestica is a Canadian company that provides parts and assembles terminals for several companies, including RIM. The company recently announced that it will stop producing parts for the BlackBerry manufacturer and for this reason it expects a loss of $35 billion.

    BlackBerry, along with Nokia, are the companies that have lost the battle against Apple. RIM recorded losses of $125 million in the first quarter of the year, while in Q1 2011 had a profit of $1 billion. Revenues decreased from $ 5.2 billion to about $4.2 billion and shares value decreased by 80% in one year. In comparison, Apple has announced for 2011 a net profit of $ 13.06 billion, mainly supported by the sales of iPhones and iPads, revenues reaching a record of $46.33 billion.

    RIM also fired 35% of its employees last year, thinking that this would be the right solution, but unfortunately the collapse continued.

    Besides Celestica, RIM will also terminate the contracts with other two companies, Flextonics International Ltd and Jabil Circuit Inc.

    “RIM has committed to achieve significant efficiencies and reducing operating costs during this fiscal year. Reducing the number of employees is part of this initiative,” said the company spokesman, Tenille Kennedy.

    RIM's reorganization process could affect between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs, as estimated by analysts at Northern Securities Toronto, under the premise that 30% of the announced cost reductions will be achieved by measures of employment and human resources. Also, Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the company, claims that RIM fires for weeks groups of at least 10 employees.

    Canadian company plans to launch this year a new range of smartphones based on the BlackBerry 10 OS, through which hopes to regain market share.

  • Steve Jobs Dies at 56

    Steve Jobs, the hero from Silicon Valley, died at the age of 56 years of pancreatic cancer. Passionate, brilliant and irreplaceable in the consciousness of fans and investors, co-founder of Apple dared to defy the rules and to revolutionize an entire industry.

    Steve Jobs is the one who brought the entrepreneurship spirit in Silicon Valley, after he quit school to start his own company in 1976. Together with Steve Wozniak he founded Apple in a garage, without having any technical or entrepreneurial experience.

    "Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest American inventors – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it," said U.S. President Barack Obama.

    But Jobs was not only a visionary but also a capable director, who built the second most valuable company in the world after Exxon Mobil. Under the leadership of Jobs, Apple has become to dominate the digital age, initially by Macintosh computers and later by the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

    With every new product, Apple provokes its opponents – IBM on the hardware side, Microsoft in operating systems, Sony on portable media devices and Google in the smartphones battle.

    The first attack launched by Jobs was the Apple II computer in 1977, a device that resonated with the small consumers' needs and which has created an alternative to IBM's solutions, the largest computer manufacturer in the world. Later, in 1983, Macintosh was born.

    "We versus IBM" was the message behind the TV commercials announcing at that time the Mac computer. The 60-second spot was aired once during the 1984 Super Bowl edition.

    But in 1985, Jobs resigned after an internal struggle for power. He decided to give birth to a new company, NeXT Computer, also buying a digital animation studio from the filmmaker George Lucas. The studio later became what is now known as Pixar. Finally, Steve Jobs returned to Apple.

    Magic and excitement
    His work has not only reduced to think about leading products and to lead a company from the position of CEO. He created an aura around the Apple devices by the unique way he presented them in front of consumers. We are talking about launching new products. Jobs was preparing intensely for each such event, organized either in Apple’s campus in Cupertino or in San Francisco. He repeated his presentations until he was convinced that the performance is strong enough to create excitement among consumers and even obsession.

    In the previous quarter of Jobs’ resignation, Apple's sales increased by 82% to the record of $ 28.6 billion, the company being valued at $ 328.8 billion.

    According to former subordinates, friends and associates, all this success is also due to Jobs’ stubbornness, seen by many as being obsessed by control.

    "Steve Jobs is like a campfire," said Neil Sims, in an interview in 2008. "Everyone wants to be close enough to stay warm, but nobody wants to get close enough to get burned," said the former collaborator of Jobs.

    Born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955, Steve Jobs, on his real name Steven Paul, discovered in 2003 that has a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare form of pancreatic cancer. 7 years ago he underwent a successful surgery that removed the pancreatic tumor and in the coming years, Jobs began to reveal details about his health. In late August, Apple's Steve Jobs announced his resignation, he being replaced as CEO by Tim Cook.

    Jobs' wealth was estimated at by Bloomberg at $ 6.7 billion. His 7.4% stake in Disney worth $ 4.4 billion and the 5.5 million shares in Apple were valued at $ 2.1 billion.

    The echo of a regretted loss
    Among the personalities who expressed their regret for the death of Steve Jobs are included Rupert Murdoch, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell and Larry Page.

    Bill Gates, co-founder and President of Microsoft, said: “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”

    Rupert Murdoch, CEO News Corporation, said: "Today, we lost one of the most influential thinkers, creators and entrepreneurs of all time. Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation. While I am deeply saddened by his passing, I'm reminded of the stunning impact he had in revolutionizing the way people consume media and entertainment. My heart goes out to his family and to everyone who had the opportunity to work beside him in bringing his many visions to life."

    Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of, said on his wall: “Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.”

    Arnold Schwarzenegger, former US Governor of California, has also posted a message on Twitter saying: “Steve lived the California Dream every day of his life and he changed the world and inspired all of us.“

    https://smartphone.biz-news.com/news/tags/en_US/Michael Dell, founder and CEO ofDELL Inc. has also declared: "Today the world lost a visionary leader, the technology industry lost an iconic legend and I lost a friend and fellow founder. The legacy of Steve Jobs will be remembered for generations to come. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to the Apple team.”

    Larry Page, CEO Google, said about Steve Jobs: “I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google’s are with his family and the whole Apple family.”

    Steve Case, AOL founder, said on Twitter: “I feel honored to have known Steve Jobs. He was the most innovative entrepreneur of our generation. His legacy will live on for the ages."

    Dick Costolo, CEO Twitter, wrote down on the micro blogging platform: “Once in a rare while, somebody comes along who doesn’t just raise the bar, they create an entirely new standard of measurement."

    Bog Iger, CEO Walt Disney Co., says Steve Jobs was a great friend and a reliable adviser. "Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Laurene and his children during this difficult time.”

    Our editorial team also expresses its regrets about the death of the one who was Steve Jobs. Rest in peace, Steve!

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  • Bertrand Serlet to Leave Apple

    Apple announced that Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering, will be leaving the company. Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of Mac Software Engineering, will assume Serlet’s responsibilities and report to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.

    Federighi is responsible for the development of Mac OS X and has been managing the Mac OS software engineering group for the past two years.

    “I’ve worked with Steve for 22 years and have had an incredible time developing products at both NeXT and Apple, but at this point, I want to focus less on products and more on science,” said Bertrand Serlet. “Craig has done a great job managing the Mac OS team for the past two years, Lion is a great release and the transition should be seamless.”

    Federighi worked at NeXT, followed by Apple, and then spent a decade at Ariba where he held several roles including vice president of Internet Services and chief technology officer. He returned to Apple in 2009 to lead Mac OS X engineering. Federighi holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

    Serlet joined Apple in 1997, and has been involved in the definition, development and creation of Mac OS X, the world’s most advanced operating system. Before joining Apple, Serlet spent four years at Xerox PARC, then joined NeXT in 1989. Serlet holds a doctorate in Computer Science from the University of Orsay, France.

  • Ronald D. Sugar Joined Apple’s Board of Directors

          foto: Northrop Grumman

    Apple announced that Dr. Ronald D. Sugar, former Chairman of the Board and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corporation, was appointed to Apple’s Board of Directors. He will serve as the Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee.

    Sugar served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at  Northrop Grumman from 2003 until his retirement in 2010. Previous to Northrop, he held executive positions at Litton and TRW, where he served as chief financial officer.

    He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He is a director of Chevron Corporation, Amgen Inc. and Air Lease Corporation, and serves as a senior advisor to the private investment firm Ares Management LLC.

    He is a trustee of the University of Southern California, where he also holds the Judge Widney Chair as Professor of Management and Technology. He is a member of the boards of UCLA Anderson School of Management, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and several other philanthropic organizations focused on children and education.

    He graduated summa cum laude in engineering in 1968 from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also received master’s and doctorate degrees in the same field. He subsequently completed executive programs at Stanford, Wharton and Harvard.

    “Ron is an engineer at heart, who then became a very successful business leader. We are very excited to welcome him to Apple’s Board,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “In addition to having been the CEO of a high-tech Fortune 100 company, Ron has a Ph.D. in engineering and has been involved in the development of some very sophisticated technology.”

    “I have always had enormous admiration for the people of Apple,” said Sugar. “It is a special privilege to serve on the board of such an amazing company.”

  • Verizon Clarifies Succession Plans; Names Lowell McAdam as COO

    Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell C. McAdam has been named president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications, reporting to Chairman and CEO Ivan G. Seidenberg, effective Oct. 1, 2010.

    According to Verizon, the appointment of McAdam by the Verizon Board of Directors "is an important step in the succession process for when Seidenberg retires from the company." McAdam will have responsibility for the operations of Verizon’s network-based businesses — Verizon Wireless and Verizon Telecom and Business — as well as Verizon Services Operations. Also reporting to him will be the technology management and CIO functions.

    Separately, Verizon named Francis J. Shammo, currently president of Verizon Telecom and Business, to become executive vice president and chief financial officer of the company, effective Nov. 1. Shammo will succeed John F. Killian, who last Monday announced he will retire around the end of the year.

    Verizon also announced that Daniel S. Mead, currently executive vice president and chief operating officer at Verizon Wireless, will become president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, succeeding McAdam.

    Verizon Chairman and CEO Seidenberg said, "This is a timely and logical next step in our evolution as we put in place an outstanding senior executive team that can carry us into the future."

    Seidenberg emphasized that the decisions to name these executives to key posts was based on their individual successes operating a wide range of businesses. "The pedigree of these executives puts them in a league of their own. Each one of them is a leader who has repeatedly delivered results and enhanced shareholder value."

    Regarding McAdam, Seidenberg said, "The Board’s selection of Lowell to this key, central position underscores its commitment to reward success while working with me to prepare our company for an executive transition in the future. Lowell is undeniably the right executive at the right time, given his track record of growth while managing one of the most dynamic and successful businesses in America."

    In his current role at Verizon Wireless, McAdam, 56, leads the premier wireless provider with the wireless voice and 3G broadband data network. Prior to assuming this position in 2007, McAdam served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless from the company’s inception in 2000, helping to build the industry’s leading wireless company.

    Previously, McAdam was president and CEO of PrimeCo Personal Communications, a joint venture owned by Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch. He also served as PrimeCo’s chief operating officer, responsible for overseeing the build, deployment and successful launch of the new company’s customer service operations and all-digital network.

    McAdam has served as vice president – international operations for AirTouch Communications and was lead technical partner for cellular ventures in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Korea and Japan. McAdam joined AirTouch as executive director of international applications and operations in 1993. Prior to that, he held various executive positions with Pacific Bell.

    In addition to serving on the Verizon Wireless Board of Representatives, McAdam is a member and past chairman of the Board of Directors of the CTIA, the wireless industry trade association.

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  • T-Mobile USA CEO Robert Dotson to Leave Company in May 2011

    Robert Dotson, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA, has informed that he plans to leave the company in May 2011, after 15 years of service with T-Mobile.

    According to T-Mobile, “in order to ensure a smooth transition of leadership,” Dotson has committed to stay actively engaged in the business until May 2011.

    His designated successor is Philipp Humm, an experienced DT executive and former CEO of T-Mobile Deutschland. Humm is currently responsible for sales and service in Europe as chief regional officer Europe. After a period of transition with Dotson, it’s the intention that Humm will take over as CEO of T-Mobile USA in February 2011, while Dotson will remain on as a T-Mobile USA non-executive board member until May 2011, as the company informed.

    "For 15 years it has been a privilege to lead the talented T-Mobile USA team in its journey to become a leading U.S. wireless provider. The time is right to ensure a thoughtful leadership transition to position T-Mobile USA for the next 15 years of opportunity," Dotson said.

    "It has long been my intent to step away from the business at this stage in my life in order to devote more time to family and to take on entirely new and unique challenges. That change can only be made possible if a suitable successor is in place. Over the next year, it will be my relentless focus and responsibility to work closely with Philipp to ensure marketplace success, and to enable a seamless leadership transition," he added.

    Before joining Deutsche Telekom, Humm worked for ten years for a number of U.S.-based companies including McKinsey & Company, Procter & Gamble, and Amazon in senior level positions. Humm has since served as CEO of T-Mobile Deutschland from 2005 until 2008. He was responsible for the successful market introduction of the iPhone in Germany in 2007.

    Humm said, "It is a privilege for me to take over the reins from an established leader such as Robert. I look forward to working with him and the T-Mobile USA team during the transition phase, and I relish the prospect of leading such a proud company as T-Mobile USA – a force to be reckoned with in one of the largest markets in the world. It is a great challenge, and I am grateful for having been given the chance to make a difference."

    Rene Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, said, "I sincerely regret Robert’s decision to leave, however I absolutely respect his decision, and am most grateful that he has offered to stay on for another year in order to work with Philipp to ensure continuity in running the business."

  • Richard Shockey Named New Board Chairman of SIP Forum

    The SIP Forum, an IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities that promote and advance SIP-based technology, has announced the recent re-election of industry veteran and VoIP pioneer Richard Shockey to the Board of Directors, and the election of Shockey as new Board Chairman.

    Additionally, the Forum has re-elected Dr. Eric Burger to the Board of Directors and named him Chairman Emeritus, and elected Dr. Alan Johnston to the Board.

    Richard Shockey, founder of Shockey Consulting, is an industry veteran with a decades-long and distinguished track record in helping shape numerous technical standards that have become the foundation for today’s SIP-based next generation network infrastructure and application ecosystem.

    Richard Shockey

    He served as a Director and Member of Neustar Inc.’s Technical Staff, which provides a number of critical services to the communications industry including the administration of all telephone numbers in North America, management of the wireline and wireless Number Portability Administration, number pooling, and OSS products for carriers.

    “I look forward to continuing to build on the solid foundation left by my predecessor, Dr. Eric Burger, and ensuring the successful completion of the important work in progress in the SIPconnect, Fax-over-IP and User Agent Configuration task groups. I also look forward to expanding the work of the SIP Forum into new and exciting industry sectors, including Smart Grid and Unified Communications,” said Shockey.

    Rejoining the SIP Forum Board of Directors, Dr. Alan Johnston brings nearly two decades of industry experience. He has been involved with SIP and VoIP since the mid-1990s, helping to spearhead the development and adoption of SIP and VoIP in both the service provider and enterprise markets.

    Alan Johnston

    He served as an architect on the first enterprise SIP VoIP product in the U.S. as a Distinguished Technical Member at MCI.

    He co-authored the SIP protocol specification RFC 3261 and edited the Basic and PSTN call flows Best Current Practices documents, RFC 3665 and RFC 3666, along with additional RFCs. He has also worked on SIP Service Examples, Peer-to-Peer SIP and security, and co-authored the ZRTP protocol.

    He is currently a Consulting Member of the Technical Staff of Avaya.

    “As SIP approaches critical mass in the market, the SIP Forum continues to play a significant role breaking down the barriers to true interoperability between vendors, platforms, applications and more,” said Johnston.

    “This highly respected organization is shaping the future of how companies, customers and users communicate, and I am honored to be rejoining the board.”

  • Skype Names David Gurle to Lead Skype for Business Team

    Skype today announced that it has hired David Gurle as the new General Manager and Vice President of its Skype for Business unit. He replaces Stefan Oberg, who will be leaving Skype in March 2010.

    David Gurle joins Skype from Thomson Reuters, where he served as its Global Head of Collaboration Services and Head of its largest business in Asia, the Sales & Trading Business Division.

    Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, he spent more than three years running Microsoft’s Real Time Communications business, a group that he founded. During this time, he oversaw the development of the company’s collaboration products including NetMeeting, Windows Messenger, Exchange IM, Exchange Conferencing Server, Live Communications Server and Office Communications Server, as well as Microsoft’s acquisition of PlaceWare.

    David Gurle

    Prior to Microsoft, he was Corporate Vice President, Business Alliances at VocalTec, the IP telephony pioneer, where he established and managed partnerships with a number of Tier I telecommunications service providers and hardware vendors, including Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Marconi.

    He also spent time at ETSI, France Telecom and started his career at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). David has also co-authored a number of books on VoIP and IP Telephony.

    He graduated ESIGETEL with a Masters of Science degree in Computer Science and Telecommunications.

    "Since its inception, Skype has been used by many entrepreneurs and small businesses to save money on their communications," said David Gurle.

    "Moving forward, our goal is to educate and attract larger organizations that can not only save money by using Skype to communicate, but also increase their organizational productivity and enhance the way they interact with customers around the globe."

  • New Book From Oracle Guru: "Oracle Performance Tuning With Solid State Disk"

    Dramatic decreases in the cost of Solid State Disk (SSD) over the past five years are changing Oracle architectures. Deploying SSD in place of hard disk drives can result in immediate performance gains as both Random Access Memory (RAM) and Flash SSD eliminate bottlenecks caused by mechanical hard disk I/O latency.

    The increasing popularity of SSD is challenging DBAs to adapt their database performance tuning methodologies in order to optimize application performance and return on investment.

    The book from Mike Ault shows how to accelerate Oracle databases and target solid state disk for maximum benefit, as Rampant Press, the publisher, says.

    “Solid State Disk is changing the game for Oracle databases, and how we think about performance tuning,” said Ault.

    “Whereas in the past a poorly-designed database might take six months and $500,000 in consulting costs to repair, simply installing SSD can mean the database immediately runs more than ten times faster for a fraction of the cost of repairing the source code. We wrote the book specifically for DBAs so that they could easily understand the benefits and limitations of SSD in their specific circumstances, and have all the tools they need to benchmark effectively. Any DBA who wants to keep their performance tuning skills relevant will read this book.”

    According to the publisher, Oracle Performance Tuning With Solid State Disk provides a comprehensive guide that enables DBAs to make the transition to SSD successfully and with confidence. By accelerating Oracle databases, applications can handle more transactions, more concurrent users and deliver higher profits and productivity gains.

    “It is a clear and definitive guide for converting existing systems from hard disk to SSD technology and empowers DBAs to make the logical choice of how and when to use SSD. The book provides an in-depth examination of testing methodologies, with clear examples, that DBAs can use to effectively benchmark and improve their own specific databases,” says Rampant Press.

    Mike Ault is an Oracle expert and a prolific author, who has published more than twenty Oracle-related books. He was an Oracle database specialist at Quest Software and has has five Oracle Masters Certificates more than 17 years of experience as an Oracle DBA and consultant.

    He is Oracle guru in residence at Texas Memory Systems, where he oversees Texas Memory Systems’ sponsorship of StatspackAnalyzer.com, a free tool that is popular in the Oracle community.

    As a special introductory promotion, Texas Memory Systems will be giving away a limited number of free copies to visitors to its booth at Oracle Open World 2009 from October 12th through 15th.

  • Tadiran Telecom Eyes VoIP market in Africa, Partners Teledata


    Tadiran Telecom has signed a distribution agreement with Teledata Technologies in a collaboration aimed at targeting "vast" VoIP opportunities in the African telecom market.

    The IP business telephony and communications supplier has also announced the appointment of Zeev Aviv as acting President and CEO.

    Until recently, he served as VP Sales and Marketing.

    He will be replacing Eitan Livneh, who served as President and CEO since early 2007.

    Aviv said Africa is one of the most valuable emerging markets, with opportunities abounding in Kenya and by extension the wider East and Central Africa region.

    "It is a fertile market that has great opportunities for telecom growth," he said.

    Aviv said numerous tenders are currently advertised for corporate telephony solutions that specify IP-PBX platforms.

    He said the demand for VoIP telephony services in the region has drastically increased due to improved cost-benefit awareness.

    Many corporate organizations are decentralizing regionally (with Nairobi as the region’s hub) and are looking for converged solutions with maximum ROI.

    In many organizations, the older-generation, traditional PABXs are now being phased out due to the emerging technological trends and the related cost benefits.

    Requirements are expected to increase drastically with the advent of the TEAMS undersea fiber optic cable project (linking the East Africa region) and due to the increase of Internet bandwidth IP converged solutions.

    Duke Onkundi, of Teledata, said his company’s knowledge of the Kenyan evolving market, enabled it to determine Tadiran Telecom’s solution as the most suitable fit.

    "It will facilitate a seamless move to VOIP with no loss of investment in legacy systems and combining the best aspects of both quality and financial feasibility," he said.