HP announced new Mobile Global Business Unit (MGBU) to focus in consumer tablets. Will GRAM with webOS and Enyo be its software supplier.?

WorldWide Tech & Science .Francisco De Jesùs.

HP announced a new Mobile Global Business Unit to focus in consumer tablets. Will HP`s GRAM with webOS and Enyo be its software supplier.?

According to The Verge  and the leaked internal memo below HP has created a brand new Mobility Global Business Unit in order to focus on consumer tablets and will expand to additional segments and categories

 With this move, we are building on our commitment to re-invest in mobility via dedicated leadership, focused research and development, amazing new products and a growing suite of applications and services, says Todd Bradley Executive Vice President of HP’s Printing and Personal Systems organization,

If HP is now re-investing in mobility for making amazing new products I don`t discard the idea this new  MGBU will take HP`s GRAM  ( webOS and Enyo ) new software business unit as its supplier for those upcoming new hardwares.

Alberto Torres

To lead the Mobility GBU, HP  have recruited a proven executive from the mobile-device industry. Alberto Torres, who most recently oversaw the MeeGo products and platform at Nokia as Executive Vice President, will join HP as Senior Vice President of Mobility, reporting to Todd Bradley..

Todd Bradley HP internal memo:

 Todd Bradley

As the world's largest PC and printing business, we make it matter for hundreds of millions of people each and every day. Today we are taking an important step to serve even more customers in new and exciting ways.

I am pleased to announce that we are creating a team dedicated to delivering the best mobility solutions in the industry. With this move, we are building on our commitment to re-invest in mobility via dedicated leadership, focused research and development, amazing new products and a growing suite of applications and services.

Our new Mobility Global Business Unit initially will focus on consumer tablets and will expand to additional segments and categories where we believe we can offer differentiated value to our customers. Our existing notebook teams, including our soon-to-be launched commercial tablet, will remain within the PC GBU under James Mouton at this time.

To lead the Mobility GBU, I am thrilled to announce that we have recruited a proven executive from the mobile-device industry. Alberto Torres, who most recently oversaw the MeeGo products and platform at Nokia as Executive Vice President, will join HP as Senior Vice President of Mobility, reporting to me.

I am excited to have Alberto join us. During his seven years at Nokia, he held a variety of critical leadership positions, including two years on the company's Executive Board. In earlier roles at Nokia, Alberto ran the company's premium brand, its accessory and CDMA businesses and corporate strategy. Prior to Nokia, he was a partner at McKinsey and Company, where he worked with industry leaders in mobile devices, consumer technologies, software and Internet services. A Ph.D in computer science from Stanford University, Alberto currently holds vice chairman roles with the firms Bang & Olufsen and Opera Software.

Alberto's first order of business will be to accelerate our tablet strategy and begin to execute products against our consumer/SMB target. The exact structure of his team will follow that strategy.

Alberto's start date will be September 3. Please join me in welcoming Alberto to HP and in supporting him and his team in their important work.

Regards,

Todd

ex-Nokia employees are looking to build a smartphone based on Nokia’s former MeeGo operating system.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

ex-Nokia employees are looking to build a smartphone based on Nokia’s former MeeGo operating system.

A Finnish start-up founded by a team of ex-Nokia employees are looking to build a smartphone based on Nokia’s former MeeGo operating system.

Jolla Ltd says it is in talks with hardware manufacturers and chipset suppliers with a plan to launch a MeeGo phone within the next six months.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, CEO Jussi Hurmola said the start-up needed to raise about EUR10 million from private investors to develop the smartphone – and would need to sell 50,000 to 100,000 to break even.

"We are seriously making a smartphone here, but we definitely can't do it alone," said Hurmola, who worked on MeeGo during his 12 years at Nokia.

Nokia launched the open-source MeeGo OS in partnership with Intel in 2010, but it was largely abandoned last year when Nokia adopted Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform for its smartphones. MeeGo's assets were subsequently transferred to the Linux Foundation.

MeeGo was used in only one commercial Nokia smartphone, the N9, which was well-regarded but suffered from Nokia’s withdrawal of support for the platform.

"There seems to be a sizable number of MeeGo enthusiasts," said Hurmola. "With all the respect to [Apple's mobile operating system] and Android, I'm quite sure that the market is ready for something new. As I see it, there are user segments that have been left unserved."