Angry shareholders lash out at Yahoo, Nokia
Facebook employees and investors are set to cash in when the world's largest social network goes public later this month, but life at a public company isn't always easy.
Just ask the executives at Nokia and Yahoo.
Microsoft News Roundup: Binging on the Nook
Following Microsoft’s acquisitions and “partnership,” palm greasing is getting more exciting by the hour.
The headlines have been coming fast since the end of Q3 11: $8.5b Skype acquisition. $250m quarterly infusion to Nokia. $24m in subsidies for Windows Mobile app developers. $1b Aol patent grab – now flipped to Facebook for $500m. Vague, behind the scenes dealing with Comcast. And now this: a $300m investment in Barnes & Nobles’ Nook division.
Something is up.
Verizon courts Microsoft, but will it snub Android?
While it may take a quarter or two to figure out just how well Nokia and AT&T's launch of the Lumia 900 did or didn't go, the device which both companies have bet big on has brought the kind of attention to Windows Phone that Microsoft was certainly hoping for.
That apparently has AT&T's biggest rival, Verizon, taking note.
A closer look at Nokia's global social strategy
Nokia is facing perhaps it’s toughest time yet as a business.
No longer Finland’s most valuable company (electric utilities company Fortum took the lead last month on Helsinki’s Stock Exchange) it finds itself a challenger brand after years of dominance - with the Lumia 900 positioned as the way to break into the sophisticated US smartphone market.
But with this adjustment also comes opportunity: the company is able and prepared to take risks and try new approaches. Nokia’s approach to marketing and the success of this is critical to the business’ transformation, including driving a more connected organisation that is able to build and thrive in a new mobile ecosystem.
As such, the company has worked with Brilliant Noise to structure and roll out its social strategy across the business – focusing on integrating this into every employee's daily life, becoming a more social business from the inside out.
What the Lumia 900 means for Nokia and Microsoft: ask the experts
After last week's launch of the Lumia 900, all eyes are on Nokia and Microsoft to see if their new partnership is a game changer in the mobile industry.
Following on from our post on Nokia and Microsoft last week, we've asked a few industry experts what their views were on the future of the partnership and how it will affect marketers and their future mobile campaigns.
What the Lumia 900 means for Nokia and Microsoft, and how they're bringing it to market
Nokia and Microsoft’s sharp-looking new phone, the Lumia 900, is coming out today, and while there are no visible signs of panic, both companies desperately need a winner.
Nokia has been struggling for years now to compete in the rapidly changing mobile market, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS has achieved only 2% penetration. Both companies are in danger of being locked out entirely, and need a smash hit.
So far, the results of their labors look pretty good. But will that be good enough? Nokia lost $1.4b in 2011, which includes a fourth quarter cash payment of $250m made by Microsoft. If the Lumia isn’t a breakout, is Microsoft willing to keep Nokia afloat?
Microsoft, Nokia hope to woo Windows Phone developers with $24m
Microsoft operates one of the richest software businesses in the world, but that doesn't mean the company always finds it easy to get its way.
In the mobile space, the Redmond giant has arguably developed a respectable mobile OS, but by in large, iOS and Android are getting most of the love from developers.
Nokia prepping its own iPad competitor
Today, Apple thoroughly dominates the tablet space, and a couple of other pseudo-competitors (Amazon and Barnes & Noble) arguably are successfully extending the tablet market by targeting individuals who aren't as likely to buy an iPad.
Put another way: despite the efforts of companies like RIM and Samsung, only one non-content-oriented device maker sells a ton of tablets.
Microsoft takes Nokia partnership beyond Windows Phone
In an effort to compete in the mobile space, Microsoft teamed up with Nokia last year. In a deal reportedly worth billions of dollars, Nokia agreed to "adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy" and "help drive the future of Windows Phone."
From Microsoft's perspective, the arrangement was ideal. Without such a partnership, the software giant likely would have had to make an acquisition a la Google.
So is Microsoft's strategy working?
Q&A: Craig Hepburn, Global Director, Digital & Social Media at Nokia, on becoming a social business
Nokia's Craig Hepburn is a Glaswegian force of nature. Upon meeting him you can understand why he's leading the charge to integrate social media into everything Nokia does.
Recently, Hepburn launched Agora, Nokia's version of Dell's social media dashboard.
But how did he get there in the first place? What steps did he have to take to get social media at the core of Nokia's working practise?
