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Networks Tuesday said it will lay off 1,250 employees in Finland and Germany as part of a previously announced cost-cutting plan.
The company said the job cuts will affect 750 employees in the Finish cities Espoo, Tampere and Oulu, as well as 500 staff at the Hofmannstrasse office in Munich, Germany.
The company, a joint venture between Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG, said the layoff notices were part of the planned 9,000 job cuts announced when the joint venture was formed in June, 2006.
It said it has so far reduced the number of employees by a total of 6,000.
Included in that was a job cut of 2,300 staff in Germany, which was concluded in May 2008. However, the company said new assessments of cost-cutting requirements and "continued challenging telecommunications market conditions" meant it had to continue the reduction now.
Nokia Siemens Networks also said it has reached an agreement to sell its manufacturing site in Durach, Germany to the current management of the plant, which will result in a transfer of around 500 employees.
Some 50 jobs in Egypt and 20 jobs in the United States will also be cut, and the company said other countries should also expect to see small staff reductions.

Here are two press releases I got today for Nokia Siemens. First, some news about how they're doing more than just voice communications with the powering of mobile television services in Switzerland.
Bern, Switzerland / Espoo, Finland - May 19, 2008
Swisscom's high-end Bluewin mobile television service powered by Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks
High-quality mobile TV technology and comprehensive services from Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks enable Switzerland's biggest service provider to expand its multimedia offering to the mobile world
Swisscom has launched its mobile television service, Bluewin TV mobile, in Switzerland to become one of the first European providers to offer high-quality television experience to its mobile customers. Working together, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks enabled this service with their leading-edge mobile TV technology, services and expertise.

New global network leader for fixed-mobile convergence

- Companies form Nokia Siemens Networks with 2005 calendar year pro forma revenues of EUR 15.8 billion.

- 50-50 joint venture to consist of Nokia's Networks Business Group and Siemens' carrier-related operations for fixed and mobile networks.

- Broad scale advantages, leading "quadruple play" product portfolio and worldwide presence.

- Market strength and leading position in fixed-mobile convergence.

- Estimated cost synergies of EUR 1.5 billion annually by 2010.

- Simon Beresford-Wylie to become chief executive officer and Peter Schönhofer to become chief financial officer.

Nokia and Siemens today announced that they intend to merge the Networks Business Group of Nokia and the carrier-related operations of Siemens into a new company, to be called Nokia Siemens Networks. The 50-50 joint venture will create a global leader with strong positions in important growth segments of fixed and mobile network infrastructure and services.

German engineering conglomerate Siemens, rocked by the worst bribery scandal in the country’s history, won a court ruling on Friday reversing a $56 million fine against the Munich-based company.

Previously, a lower court ordered the company to pay back millions of dollars in profits after two former managers pleaded guilty to paying bribes to win orders from the Italian Enel Group. Now the highest tribunal in Germany, the Federal Court of Justice, instructed a lower court in Darmstadt to rehear the case against the former executives, who forwarded $8.9 million to staff of the Italian electricity company in 2000.

The court threw out the judgment against Siemens and lifted the bribery convictions, according to the court’s website. The court didn’t challenge that the payments were made. However, before 2002, bribery was only a crime if it harmed competition between German companies, the judges said. As no other German company bid for the order and Enel was not a government agency, the payments didn’t constitute corruption at the time, the judges said. Here’s a Reuters report on the ruling.

A success for Siemens? Perhaps. But in its ruling the court made clear that the main defendant won’t get off lightly, as the money was funneled through slush funds in order to win the gas turbine orders valued at more than 100 million euros. Hiding money in hidden accounts already constitutes improper use of funds, the court ruled, and stated that executives who use them can be convicted of a breach of trust.

Ever hold a ten megapixel cameraphone? Naw, neither had we, not until today anyway. Straight from the floor at CeBIT, we've got the Samsung SCH-B600 with an integrated 10 megapixel shooter. It's never gonna come anywhere close to the US or Europe so nuzzle up to your monitor real close-like and take in this beauty. Click on for more pics.

Motorola introduces its newest QWERTY, the MOTO Q™ 9h Windows Mobile® 6 Standard. This sleek and robust device is packed with power, functionality and offers a cool design that satisfies the appetite of gadget lovers, business professionals and even fashion conscious consumers. The MOTO Q™ 9h is more than just a device — it’s a statement of power and personality. Its precise and compelling form factor highlights the devices’ visual appeal and feel. Within its lean form lies High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology for lightening fast speed and immediate downloading capabilities. The MOTO Q™ 9h offers a host of features such as access to corporate and personal.¹ Personal and Corporate Microsoft Exchange instant messaging are also viewable from the home screen.¹ With advanced imaging, music functionality, integrated stereo Bluetooth® wireless technology² and ample memory, the MOTO Q™ 9h is a mobile revolution at your fingertips!

Motorola has recently received a patent for a completely silent way of alerting users to incoming calls and messages. No, this isn't the usual vibrating system - the Motorola patent involves alerting the owner using mild electric shock.

The system, not unlike the massage and weight loss systems currently available on the market today, uses a small pad containing electrodes that are wirelessly linked to a handset. When an event occurs on the handset, an electric potential is placed across the electrodes, stimulating the skin and underling muscles, thus alerting the wearer.

When a major player like Google comes up with a new mobile operating system that's better than the competition and is totally free, you would certainly expect handset manufacturers to be interested. But there's interested, and then there's interested. After lingering for nearly a year in the former category Motorola is now firmly moving to the latter, hiring and headhunting in an effort to build up a 350-person group entirely focused on development of Android phones. The company was one of the original members of the Open Handset Alliance, but seems to have waited for the release buzz from HTC's G1 before diving in head-first. There's talk that Nokia (and its "real phones") may be feeling the vibrations too, allegedly forming an internal team to do the same -- on the down low.

Contrary to popular belief, not all sleek looking cell phone designs have to come from Korea. After all, Motorola’s RAZR is perhaps one of the most popular form factors ever conceived, but that doesn’t mean that Sony Ericsson has nothing to offer. Quite the contrary, this new Black Diamond concept is looking incredibly hot, especially the “borderless screen” effect.

This was achieved by throwing on a layer of polycarbonate, coupled with integrated a screen based on OLED technology. Although candybar style handsets might not be as popular as swiveling, sliding, or flipping phones, this Black Diamond idea can certainly grow into those form factors down the line, much like how the RAZR morphed into a SLVR.

Not much is known about the Black Diamond handset designed by Jaren Goh, but based on the snapshots, it should include a 4.0 megapixel camera. The usual stuff will probably also be included, like Bluetooth support and all that jazz, but of course none of that is confirmed yet.

Motorola’s new co-CEO Sanjay Jha has a plan to save the beleaguered mobile handset maker: go all-in on Google’s Android mobile operating system. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (behind the pay wall):

Sanjay Jha, who also became Motorola’s co-chief executive in August, has decided to focus on Google Inc.’s Android operating system as the software platform for Motorola’s showcase phones, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Jha is expected to detail his plans — which will likely include thousands of layoffs — as early as Thursday when the company reports earnings, these people said.

The rumor is that Motorola will focus all of its efforts around three core operating systems for its phones, with Android becoming the central platform for “mid-tier” phones with Internet capability. The other two operating systems it will support will be Windows Mobile on the high end and its own P2K on the low end. In other words, Android phones will become its bread and butter.

Motorola has today officially unveiled the successor to one of the most iconic mobiles ever made, the RAZR 2. Available in 3.6Mbps HSDPA, EV-DO, and GSM / EDGE variants as the V9, V9m, and V8 respectively, the GSM and CDMA versions of the device comes in 2 millimeters slimmer than its predecessor and -- on some versions, anyway -- will be the second to use Motorola's new Linux-based platform (the first being the Z6). It includes something Moto is calling "Crystal Talk" technology that automatically adjusts volume and tone based on ambient noise. Other features include external music controls, haptics (read: vibration) for tactile feedback when external touchscreen keys are pressed, a full HTML browser, 2 megapixel cam, the full suite of Bluetooth profiles, Windows Media Player sync, a 2-inch QVGA external display, 2.2-inch QVGA internal display, and twice the screen resolution of the original RAZR. GSM versions start shipping in early July, with CDMA following up later in the summer.

Oh come on, what the hell is that? A Nokia branded iPhone? It was presented during Nokia's GoPlay event this morning as a glimpse into the future of Nokia interface design. Oh, and it's due out next year. When pressed during the Q&A about the striking similarity to the little Cupertino device, Anssi Vanjoki -- Nokia's Executive VP & General Manager of Multimedia -- said, "If there is something good in the world then we copy with pride." Well, ok then. See what we mean after the break.

In a presentation given at Nokia's Capital Markets Day 2008 last week the company quietly displayed a previously unseen handset, complete with an edge-to-edge touchscreen and subtle, attractive stylings. Perhaps even more interesting is that the screen is sporting an all-new heretofore unseen S60 touchscreen interface, giving hope to folks let down by S60 5th Edition's minor changes to the formula. Unfortunately, Nokia hasn't made any other reference to this phone or the revised OS, and could have very well trotted them out as a proof of concept of the company's direction -- particularly likely due to the fact that they were trying hard to butter up investors at the meeting. Still, the "Tube" started off as little more than a presentation (complete with hints at interface improvements that have yet to emerge), and look how that ended up.

Details are in, Nokia has a new flagship phone. The N97 packs a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (that's a 16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard into this sliding communicator with an "always open" window to favorite internet or social networking sites. Nokia calls it the "world's most advanced mobile computer." To back up the claim they've dropped in HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth radios, A-GPS, a 3.5-mm headjack, 32GB of onboard memory with microSD expansion (for up to 48GB total capacity), and a battery capable of up to 1.5 days of continuous audio playback or 4.5-hours video. 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss glass and "DVD quality" video capture at 30fps, too. The specs are certainly impressive, let's see if the S60 5th Edition OS can support it. The N97 will launch with a retail price set at around €550 ($693) excluding subsidies and taxes, phone to ship in H1 2009.

Update: Hah, Nokia just boasted on stage at Nokia World that the N97 was the scoop "Engadget didn't get." O RLY??? Sure looks like the device codenamed Eitri that we broke to the world last month.