In today’s mobile news roundup: Sony shuts down Japanese smaera plant; Google reveals new Samsung Chromebook; BlackBerry dropped by consulting firm; and New Android Trojan found on Google Play.

Sony shuts down Japanese camera plant

Sony Corporation announced today that they will be cutting 2,000 jobs by the end of fiscal year 2012.  Approximately, half of the job cuts will come from “support functions” including those working in in their headquarters in order to streamline production and focus efforts on mobile production and development.

Sony will also be shutting down their Minokama Site by the end of 2013, which produces both camera lenses and cellphone camera blocks, and has 840 employees.  Sony wants to focus on making smartphones, not feature phones.  Production of camera lenses and cellphone camera block will be handled by their EMCS Corp Kohda Site, but production of camera blocks not intended for smartphones is expected to be discontinued.

Google reveals new Samsung Chromebook

Last year, Google unveiled the Chromebook – an Ultrabook/laptop that runs the Chrome operating system.  And we haven’t heard much about them since.  They didn’t perform all that well in the consumer market, priced relatively high for an internet-centric device that works exclusively with web apps.

The first Chromebooks were made by either Samsung or Acer and now, just a week before their October 29 Android event, Google unveils the $249 Chromebook from Samsung.  Interested buyers can now pre-order the device at Google Play, Amazon, Best Buy, PC World and other retailers.  Samsung’s Chromebook will go on sale next week.

The new Chromebook features 6 hours of battery life, weighs about 2.5 pounds, only 0.8 inches thick, and users can enjoy 100GB of storage on Google Drive, which will be free to use for two years.

BlackBerry dropped by consulting firm

Research in Motion’s snail-paced approach to device launches continues to take its toll, as one of their major clients announced that they will no longer be using BlackBerries, opting instead for Apple’s iPhone or smartphones running Google’s Android.

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a consulting firm that provides services to the government and has about 25,000 employees, announced that in the coming months, they will no longer be using BlackBerry devices and admitted that they’ve already issued iPhones and Android smartphones to some of their employees, but declined to name how many.

New Android Trojan found on Google Play

A new Trojan was found on Google Play and it’s masquerading as an update for Lookout Mobile Security’s app.  The app is named as “Updates” by Good Byte Labs, and it hides the Trojan dubbed as FakeLookout.  TrustGo Security Labs discovered the virus in a package named com.updateszxt found in Google Play.

“The brazen use of a trusted app’s logo shows just how aggressive malware makers are becoming. These fake apps not only put users’ data and privacy at risk, they can damage the reputation of respected developers,” TrustGo CEO Xuyang Li said.  “TrustGo continually monitors new apps uploaded to more than 185 marketplaces worldwide and is able to provide App Certification and Brand Protection services that alert developers when malicious clones and apps that falsely use their logos have been found.”