Webwire: Nokia talks job cuts in April; Vod to keep VZW stake

Nokia to start talks on job cuts next month

Nokia will in late April start negotiating with staff on planned deep job cuts following its Microsoft partnership.

Vodafone keen to keep Verizon Wireless stake

Vodafone is committed to its 45% stake in US operator Verizon Wireless, and plans to negotiate a dividend from the JV at the end of the year, despite long-running speculation it may seek to divest its stake.

Bloomberg

RIM to launch PlayBook tab on April 19

RIM has revealed it will debut its PlayBook tablet in North America on April 19, with some retailers set to start taking pre-orders next week.

Wall Street Journal

Best Buy to offer 4G on LightSquared network

US retail chain Best Buy plans to offer its own 4G mobile broadband service over LightSquared's network, with trials scheduled to commence early next year.

Financial Times

Motorola Mobility buys IPTV middleware firm

Motorola Mobility has acquired Swedish IPTV software provider Dreamgallery, with plans to integrate the Dreampark middleware platform into its service management software suite.

TechCrunch

Politicians demand ban on alco-apps

US politicians have called on Google, Apple and RIM to ban mobile apps that allow drink drivers to alert friends to the location of police check points.

BBC

Firefox downloads trounce Microsoft

Downloads of the latest version of Firefox’s web browser hit six million in the first 24 hours of availability, dwarfing the near two and-a-half million from Microsoft’s recent Internet Explorer 9 launch.

PC World