Satya Nadella makes his first big move as Microsoft’s CEO and announces their year long plan to cut 18,000 jobs. Netflix takes the first for net neutrality straight to the FCC, Google starts to embrace Bitcoin, and a classic game getting a new life.
Plus why we might see more mobile spectrum soon, and more!
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Microsoft Will Cut up to 18,000 Jobs | Re/code
Microsoft on Thursday announced it plans to cut up to 18,000 jobs this year–its deepest-ever cuts–as the company looked to digest its Nokia acquisition and reposition itself for the future.
The company is “moving now” on 13,000 of the job cuts, with the vast majority of the overall cuts coming in the next six months and fully implemented over the next 12 months.
Some 12,500 of the cuts are coming from the Nokia Devices and Services unit–roughly half that unit’s workforce.
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote:
“The first step to building the right organization for our ambitions is to realign our workforce,” Nadella said in a note to employees Thursday. “It’s important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we are adding roles in certain other strategic areas. My promise to you is that we will go through this process in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible.”
Not unsurprisingly, Nadella specifically announced the end of the Nokia X Android endeavour.
In addition, we plan to shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows. This builds on our success in the affordable smartphone space and aligns with our focus on Windows Universal Apps.
Microsoft stock hits decade high ahead of layoffs – Neowin
- MSFT: 44.08 +1.63 (+3.84%) : Microsoft Corporation – Yahoo! Finance
- Microsoft Corporation: NASDAQ:MSFT quotes & news – Google Finance
Sprint, T-Mobile Look to Raise $10 Billion for Spectrum Auction – WSJ
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking to buy airwaves used by television broadcasters in a reverse auction, and then resell them to wireless carriers in a forward auction. It is a complicated process and the first time such an idea has been tried, the FCC said.
Sprint and T-Mobile are working on a plan to raise roughly $10 billion to spend in an auction of wireless airwaves, people familiar with the matter said.
If Sprint and T-Mobile jointly spend $10 billion as currently envisioned, it would exceed the $9 billion outlay AT&T Inc. has earmarked for the auction.
The companies, which have been discussing a possible merger since last year, are planning to form a joint venture that will bid in a 2015 auction of airwaves held by television broadcasters, the people said.
The funds are part of a roughly $45 billion financing package being put together by SoftBank to finance Sprint’s acquisition of T-Mobile, the people said. SoftBank acquired Sprint last year for $22 billion.
T-Mobile would oversee the venture, a concession from Sprint’s Chairman during the merger talks, people familiar with the matter said.
An announcement of the merger could come this summer, people familiar with the matter said.
Google Search Integrates Bitcoin Price Calculator
The news comes roughly one month after Google Finance partnered with Coinbase to launch a bitcoin price tracker that enabled BTC-to-fiat price conversions across a wide range of global currencies.
A representative from Google confirmed the update to CoinDesk, noting that the tool works on Google Search’s smartphone app as well.
How it works
Google search engine users can now type in basic queries such as “bitcoin price” or “price of BTC” in order to instantly access the tool.
The update also handles more complex queries including “price of 3 bitcoin” or “5 BTC”, and responds by showing the current price of bitcoin along with a chart illustrating the currency’s history dating back before 2011.
Investors should note, however, that per Google’s disclaimer policies, the resulting search may not reflect real-time value.
Netflix to FCC: reclassify Comcast and Verizon so they can’t choke the internet
Netflix came out swinging in its submission to the FCC over proposed internet “fast lanes,” arguing Wednesday that this would be a bad idea and that the agency should instead focus on forcing broadband providers to deliver the speeds they promise to their customers.
In its 28-page filing, which coincides with the close of an initial public comment period, Netflix singled out Comcast and Verizon for degrading its movie streams to “nearly VHS quality” and for holding subscribers ransom in a battle over who should pay for upgrades to internet infrastructure.
The company also took aim at the FCC’s “fast lane” proposal, arguing that it creates a perverse incentive for the ISPs to create congestion so that they can then turn around and demand money for traffic to pass through. Arguing that “no rule is better than a bad rule,”
Project AM2R – “Another Metroid 2 Remake”: AM2R runs on Linux!
The developer recently transitioned to Game Maker Studio. In the process, many features had to be redone from scratch, so Linux support was written in too. Early builds show very good promise, and an offical build should be avaiable soon.