1）诺基亚近日宣布将于2012年底前裁员4000人，裁员对象主要集中在芬兰、丹麦和英国三地，该裁员行动是诺基亚以Windows Phone取代Symbian作为其首选手机操作系统战略的一个环节。据该公司所称，诺基亚还将与Accenture在Symbian软件项目上进行合作，并在2012年底前将3000名名员转移到Accenture。据诺基亚芬兰员工预测，将有半数以上的转移员工来自芬兰总部。

Nokia WP7

转移后的员工将分配到中国、芬兰、印度、英国和美国，主要负责发展诺基亚的Symbian软件项目，Accenture和诺基亚将继续对这些人员进行调整。诺基亚的调研及开发网站仍将照常运行，但会关闭其中一些网站。该公司会将其Windows Phone开发项目集中于圣地亚哥、北京及芬兰的萨罗和坦佩雷。预计首款诺基亚Windows Phone智能手机将于2012年问世。

2）位于德国慕尼黑的手机社交游戏平台Scoreloop日前宣布与香港移动运营商CSL合作，将该平台预装到后者的手机设备中。虽然Scoreloop已在去年与一家台湾运营商达成了类似协议，但这是移动运营商首次采用Scoreloop全套解决方案的合作——CSL将采用Scoreloop应用程序、游戏商店和游戏目录。Scoreloop使用其白标服务为CSL打造一个手机社交游戏网站，支持CSL的所有Android手机用户访问Scoreloop应用，并从中免费下载可预装到特定手机的游戏。除此之外，Scoreloop还绑定了CSL计费系统，为用户提供无障碍支付体验。

3）美国Backflip Studios工作室日前宣布其iOS和Android手机游戏下载量高达9500万次，即将成为继Rovio Mobile和Outfit7之后的第三家实现1亿次下载量的独立手机游戏开发商。

Backflip Studios

该工作室的多数游戏采用的是免费模式，3月份MAU高达2400万，目前DAU超过了220万。Backflip将于5月12日与MGM Studios合作推出其首款大品牌授权游戏《Army of Darkness: Defense》（游戏邦注：该游戏取材于1993年的搞笑电影《Army of Darkness》）。该工作室将于5月底至6月初期间推出三款全新免费游戏，并计划于8月底推出其热门游戏《Ragdoll Blaster》的第三部作品。

4）Grasshopper Manufacture日前宣布推出新游戏《Frog Minutes》（游戏邦注：这是该公司首款iOS游戏）。游戏发行恰逢公司举办Grasstream 2活动，活动初衷是为Grasshopper游戏中的古怪角色举行欢庆会，但公司随后决定将活动和应用收益用于资助日本东北地震灾民。据悉，Grasshopper的名气同公司备受争议的标志性人物须田刚一（Goichi Suda）密切相关。《Frog Minutes》是款传统游戏，游戏没有紧凑的节奏、特定的目标或者结构性叙述。游戏中玩家通过收集蝴蝶、蜗牛、草蜢、蜻蜓及其他小动物喂养同名青蛙。

Grasshopper Manufacture

5）置身iOS、Android和黑莓主导的操作系统世界，微软Windows Phone 7仍旧令众多用户感到陌生。但Windows Phone 7支持Windows Live、Office和Outlook，用户着实能从中获益良多。且相比其他操作系统而言，WP能够更好和PC同步。WP7通过植入Xbox Live也获得不少硬核玩家的青睐，用户可以发送信息给自己的Xbox Live好友。WP7的其他优点在于支持多任务处理，能够复制/粘帖以及定制铃声。然而很多用户并未见过WP7设备，自然不可能为其所吸引，这也许正是微软同诺基亚合作的目的所在，除此之外，WP 1 GHz的Snapdragon处理器显然也不如其他操作系统理想。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Windows Phone 7

1）Nokia cuts 4,000 jobs worldwide, reorganizes R&D sites

Nokia announced today that it will cut its workforce by 4,000 employees by the end of year 2012. The majority of the reductions will be made in Nokia’s home country Finland, Denmark and in the UK. Nokia will also refocus its research and development operations.

The cuts are a part of Nokia’s restructuring as the company decided to switch from Symbian to Windows Phone as its primary smartphone operating system, a deal led by new CEO Stephen Elop (pictured left).

Nokia also announced a collaboration with Accenture. With the collaboration all Nokia’s Symbian software activities and about 3,000 jobs will transfer to Accenture by the end of year 2012. Nokia’s Finnish employees have estimated that about half of the 3 000 jobs going to Accenture will be from Finland, reported Helsingin Sanomat, the largest newspaper in Finland. (Beware, the story behind the link is in Finnish)

Transitioning employees, located in China, Finland, India, United Kingdom and the United States, will initially work on Symbian software activities for Nokia. Over time, Accenture and Nokia will seek opportunities to retrain and redeploy transitioned employees.

All employees affected by the reduction plans can stay on the Nokia payroll through the end of 2011. Nokia expects personnel reductions to occur in phases until the end of 2012.

Each of Nokia’s research and development site will have a clear role and a mission. The company will close some of its R&D sites but it did not name them yet.

Nokia will focus its Windows Phone development to San Diego, Beijing and two sites in Finland: Salo and Tampere, Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop said in a press conference in Finland.

The first Windows Phone smartphones from Nokia are expected to come out in year 2012.（source:venturebeat）

2）Scoreloop creates mobile social game platform for Hong Kong carrier

Munich-based Scoreloop is announcing today a deal with Hong Kong mobile carrier CSL to create a dedicated mobile game portal using Scoreloop’s social game platform.

The deal with CSL showcases Scoreloop’s ability to create a social network that is focused around mobile games. It’s a quick way for major carriers around the world to draw more attention to money-making games, since the social networks are often embedded in phones much the same way the phones come with a pre-installed Android Market.

Scoreloop has created a mobile game social network using its white-label service for CSL. The service, now available to any CSL customer with an Android phone, will let users access a gaming center app that can be downloaded for free and that will be pre-installed on certain phones.

Scoreloop has been integrated into CSL’s billing platform to create a seamless experience. If a player decides to make an in-app purchase — buying extra levels or in-game currency — the Scoreloop platform detects those being made by a CSL customer and instantly routes the transaction via CSL’s own platform, billing the customer directly.（source:venturebeat）

3）Usablenet launches HTML5 platform Faber chuffed with BAFTA TV … Backflip Studios closing in on 100m iOS and Android downloads

Indie developer also about to release branded movie game with MGM Studios.

US firm Backflip Studios is on course to become the third independent mobile developer to rack up 100 million downloads across iOS and Android, following in the footsteps of Rovio Mobile and Outfit7.

CEO Julian Farrior tells ME that the company’s mobile games have so far generated more than 95 million downloads across Apple and Google’s platforms.

What’s more, Backflip’s games – many of which adopt a freemium model – attracted more than 24 million monthly active users in March, and are currently snagging more than 2.2 million daily active users.

On 12 May, Backflip will launch its first big branded game – Army of Darkness: Defense (pictured) – working with MGM Studios. “This game was insanely fun to make, especially since we truly love the IP and felt lucky to get to work with such memorable characters/dialogue,” says Farrior. It’s based on the 1993 cult flick Army of Darkness.

Backflip is also launching three new free games in late May and early June, and is plotting a late summer launch for the third game in its popular Ragdoll Blaster series.（source:mobile-ent）

4）Grasshopper unveils charity iOS game Frog Minutes

On Tuesday, Grasshopper Manufacture unveiled Frog Minutes, the game developer’s first app for the iOS platform. In a surprise announcement, the company revealed that the proceeds of the event and the game will go towards benefiting the victims of the Tohoku earthquake.

On Tuesday, Grasshopper Manufacture unveiled Frog Minutes, the game developer’s first app for the iOS platform. Its release coincided with the company’s Grasstream 2 event, an occasion originally intended to celebrate Grasshopper games’ oddball characters; instead, Grasshopper decided that both the event and the app should be used as opportunities to benefit the victims of the Tohoku earthquake. Along with all the merchandise and collectors’ items sold at Tuesday’s event, all proceeds from Frog Minutes go to the Japanese Red Cross.

Grasshopper Manufacture’s reputation is tied to its iconic and controversial CEO, game “auteur” Goichi Suda– aka Suda51. Suda is behind the otaku-focused assassin title No More Heroes and the cult-classic first-person shooter/action game, Killer7.

Given Grasshopper’s proclivity for unusual and immersive titles, it isn’t only surprising that Frog Minutes is a casual game, but that the game is so soothing. Frog Minutes isn’t a traditional “game,” per se; there’s no demanding pace, set objectives, or structured narrative. Players tap and collect butterflies, snails, grasshoppers, dragonflies, and any number of crawly critters against a serene, hand-painted backdrop, feeding the eponymous frogs with their collected quarry. The app also offers educational trivia about the different species you’ve stockpiled. As further reward, a woman with a stewardess-like demeanor will cheer you on as you progress. While strange in its execution, the app is clearly meant to relax more than challenge.

Obviously, designing for the iOS hasn’t made Suda lose his idiosyncratic touch at all. Frog Minutes might be a strange experience for iOS and Grasshopper fans alike, but the game’s charitable goal and unique pedigree should draw interest from iPhone and iPad gamers of all stripes. On Tuesday, Grasshopper Manufacture proved that the company not only seeks to entertain its fans, but can organize them towards a humanitarian goal as well. （Source：gamepro）

5）How Windows Phone 7 can get ahead in the game

Integration with other Microsoft systems and services will ensure a complete Windows Phone 7 experience for end users.

Windows Phone 7, the smartphone operating system of Microsoft, is something most users are not that familiar with as they are comfortable in a world dominated by iOS, Android and BlackBerry.

There are, however, benefits of buying the product of Microsoft in terms of its support for Windows Live, Office and Outlook. Windows Phone syncs more easily with PCs than other operating systems do.

With the integration of Xbox Live, WP7 is also appealing to hard core gamers. Users can send messages to their Xbox Live friends. They can change their avatars, and check scores or even what they have accomplished in the games. Users can also download Xbox Live games from Zune (the Microsoft equivalent of iTunes,) and play them on the move. Even Doodle Jump and Angry Birds are expected to be available on Windows Phone 7.

There are scores of apps available in the Zune Marketplace along with other content such as music.

Other features of Windows Phone 7 that would attract users are multi tasking, copy paste and custom ringtones. It is also a great looking and robust system.

However, not many people have actually seen a real Windows Phone 7 device. It cannot be expected that users will begin to like a product even before they have actually seen it. That’s precisely the point where the Microsoft Nokia deal comes into the picture, as Nokia has the reach and Microsoft has the software. Nobody knows the future but prospects look good for both the companies.

Also, the 1 GHz Snapdragon processor of Windows Phones does not perform well compared to other smartphone processors.（Sourece：themobileindian）