Today’s mobile news roundup features Nokia’s interim report and executive shakeup, Samsung’s counterclaim against Apple, Intel’s first smartphone and more.

Nokia’s massive loss

Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia released their Q1 2012 Interim report which reported massive losses.

The company reported an operating loss of €1.34 billion ($1.76 billion) for the three months that ended March  from a €439 million operating profit a year ago.  Analysts expected a €731 million loss.  Net loss widened to €929 million from a €344 million net profit for the same quarter last year, against expectations for a €554 million loss. Revenue dropped 29% to €7.35 billion.

“We are navigating through a significant company transition in an industry environment that continues to evolve and shift quickly,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop stated.  “Over the last year we have made progress on our new strategy, but we have faced greater than expected competitive challenges.”

Aside from their massive financial loss, Nokia’s executive vice president of sales and a member of the Nokia Leadership Team Colin Giles is stepping down effective June 30, 2012.  Giles’ reason for leaving is “ to be closer to his family.”

Giles’ departure prompts Nokia to restructure their sales organization by reducing a layer of sales management to ensure greater customer focus and providing senior leaders greater visibility into market dynamics.  Effective immediately, Nokia’s four regional senior vice presidents and the lead of sales operations will report directly to Niklas Savander, executive vice president of markets.

“Our structure is focused on ensuring that the sales organization is aligned with local customer requirements, market-by-market competitive issues and country-specific sales and marketing tactics,” said Savander. “As a result of reducing layers, we can increase the speed at which we execute sales activities and improve the collaboration between our business groups and our team on the ground.”

Samsung claims Apple infringed eight of their patents

Only yesterday Samsung and Apple agreed to participate in a settlement conference which will be resided by Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero, making it seem as though   their patent dispute will come to an end.  Nevertheless, a settlement may actually be quite far from happening.

Samsung filed a counterclaim which states that Apple infringed eight of their patents related to “reliability, capacity, efficiency, compatibility, and functioning of mobile devices” in W-CDMA and UMTS networks.  Samsung stated that Apple products, including iPhones, all iPads, all iPods, all Apple computers, Apple TV, iCloud, and iTunes, infringed a 2009 patent titled “Multimedia Synchronization Method and Device.”

So yeah, their battle is far from over.

SyferLock’s GridSoftToken

SyferLock Technology Corporation announced the availability of its superior GridSoftToken two-factor authentication solution for iOS and Android mobile platforms. The solution now offers users the ability to use their mobile device as a second factor of authentication to access SyferLock GridGuard protected systems.  It provides a practical, portable, true 2 factor authentication solution which does not require the user to carry any additional hardware other than their iOS devices, iPhones and iPAds, or Android device.  This technology was previously available only on Windows platform.

Intel to release first smartphone this month

Intel Corporation and Lava International Ltd., one of India’s fastest-growing mobile handset companies, announced that the XOLO X900, the first smartphone with Intel inside, will be available to customers for purchase beginning April 23rd at a best-buy street price of approximately INR 22000 (about $425).

The XOLO X900 is based on Intel’s smartphone reference design featuring the Intel Atom processor Z2460 with Intel Hyper Threading Technology and supporting HSPA+ 3G connectivity.  The device is housed in a sleek design with a 4.03-inch high-resolution LCD touch screen, will run on Android Gingerbread but can be upgraded to the Ice Cream Sandwich.  Intel’s technology enables a high-performance user experience, all while maintaining great battery life – up to 5 hours of 3G browsing, 45 hours of audio and 8 hours of talk time.

“The first smartphone with Intel inside is now available to Indian consumers,” said Mike Bell, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the Mobile and Communications Group. “The boundaries of personal computing are expanding. As we enter the India market with our first smartphone from Lava, the device not only showcases the rich capabilities and user benefits of Intel computing, but also highlights the exciting possibilities of what’s still to come.”