Morgan Stanley Reworks Wealth Management Leadership

Morgan Stanley is moving to flatten management hierarchy in its wealth management business, InvestmentNews reports.

The firm on Friday announced the promotion of Vince Lumia to head of the field, a newly created post that reports to co-chiefs of wealth management Shelley O'Connor and Andy Saperstein.

At the same time, Morgan Stanley is pulling the plug on two national division leader positions. The firm is "eliminating the divisional level and naming a new head of the field with the goal of flattening the organization and further empowering the regional directors and local managers," O'Connor and Saperstein said in an internal memo obtained by InvestmentNews.

The memo cites the objective of bringing "decision making even closer to the client."

Western division chief Bill McMahon and his Eastern division counterpart, Rick Skae, are to become vice chairmen of wealth management, the memo says.

Lumia is an 18-year veteran of Morgan Stanley, where he's been an advisor, run the wealth management capital markets business and headed private wealth management. Regional directors will report directly to him, the company memo said.

Replacing Lumia as head of private wealth management is Mandell Crawley, who was previously Morgan Stanley's chie f marketing officer.

Source: Morgan Stanley Reworks Wealth Management Leadership

Microsoft to Kill Windows Phone Silverlight Apps

Microsoft is planning another big change in Windows 10 Mobile, with support for classic Windows Phone apps to be discontinued, most likely when the feature2 update goes live.

Internal builds of Windows 10 Mobile have already implemented restrictions that block Silverlight apps from running, with the change to roll out for insiders as well in the coming weeks.

Whenever users attempt to launch a Silverlight app on one of these builds, they are provided with an error message saying that "Silverlight Launch Requested. Silverlight apps are no longer supported on this version of Windows."

Microsoft's apps also running on Silverlight

As if the lack of apps weren't already a problem on Microsoft's smartphone platform, this change will substantially impact the number of apps available on Windows 10 Mobile devices, including super-popular names like WhatsApp.

This means that developers need to prepare for the new restriction by launching universal apps, though this is unlikely to happen en-masse, especially because of the dropping market share of Windows phones.

What's a bit more unexpected is that several Microsoft apps are also running on Silverlight, and until now, not all of them have been launched as universal apps, which means they might be blocked when this new restriction comes in place. The company might have a backup plan for this, but it's very clear that more work needs to be done on the developer side to prepare for the future of Windows 10 Mobile.

At this point, there's still no indication as to when Microsoft plans to make this official, but future public builds released as part of the Windows Insider program could bring more news in this regard.

The next major release for Windows phones is feature2, the sibling of Fall Creators Update on PCs, and this is the moment when Silverlight apps could be blocked on public phones as well. Only 13 models will be getting the upcoming update, and it remains to be seen how strong the impact will be on users.

Source: Microsoft to Kill Windows Phone Silverlight Apps

Windows 10 Mobile news recap: Microsoft working on “new experiences” for mobile, Cancelled Lumia 960 leaks and more

Welcome back to our weekly Windows 10 Mobile news recap series, where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Microsoft's mobile operating system. Let's get started.

Microsoft working on "new experiences" for mobile

We've known for a while now that Microsoft has left Windows 10 Mobile behind, at least in the way that we knew it. Fortunately, it seems like there's a little something more on its way that might sate our hunger for more mobile. Brad Sams from Thurrott has come out saying that there is an entirely new UI in testing for mobile right now, as Microsoft tries to create "new experiences." According to Sams, "There is a new hardware device being tested internally," and "There is also a separate branch of Windows Mobile for this device."

Cancelled Lumia 960 handset leaks

If you're satisfied with the knowledge that there's something new on the horizon, you might as well check out something old. Photos have recently leaked showing off a prototype for a cancelled Lumia 960 device, which is very similar to the 950, except with an aluminum unibody design and dual front-facing speakers. Apparently, the device is still being used internally as an engineering prototype, and has been dubbed "Northstar."

The Alcatel Idol 4s is coming to Germany

After a year of availability elsewhere, people in Germany are finally getting access to the Alcatel Idol 4s. Now named the Idol 4 Pro, the device is rumored to be going for a whopping €599 – more than double the price the handset is currently sold at in the states. Either way, it's good that Germans have access to this high quality mobile device. It's unclear at this time whether or not they'll be getting the VR kit that came with the phone stateside.

Silverlight support ending soon

Silverlight hasn't been an extraordinarily popular tool, but there are still some people who use services powered by it. Unfortunately, if you fall under that category, you'll be out of luck soon. According to a tweet from Gustave M, Silverlight support will be leaving the Windows 10 Mobile platform in an upcoming build. The tweet showed an error screen from the platform stating it couldn't run Windows 10 Mobile, along with the word "Sorry" in the body.

Microsoft Flow releases for Windows 10 Mobile

Microsoft Flow, Microsoft's answer to IFTTT, has finally released on Windows 10 Mobile. Previously available for Android and iOS, the application is meant to automate certain things, making things happen if conditions are met – for instance, making your lights turn out when you leave the house. After a beta period, the app is now available for everybody on the Windows Store.

Thanks for joining us. If you want all of the news as it happens, keep an eye on our Windows 10 Mobile tag.

Further reading: Alcatel Idol 4S, Microsoft, Microsoft Flow, Silverlight, Windows 10 Mobile
Source: Windows 10 Mobile news recap: Microsoft working on "new experiences" for mobile, Cancelled Lumia 960 leaks and more

Pictures of Hapanero an unreleased Windows Phone leaked from China

Recently we have seen leaked pictures and specifications of Microsoft Lumia 960 that was supposed to be the successor of Lumia 950. However that was cancelled because of the decision of Microsoft to retrench its mobile buisness. We have seen various cancelled Lumia series smartphone and that trend seems to continue now. We also have seen some pictures of a Nokia made Windows Phone that had a hardware qwerty keypad. Another day, another unreleased phone has made it to this list. Pictures of Hapanero, a Windows Phone which was only created for demo purposes at BUILD 2015 has been leaked.

Hapanero existed in two variants with dual-SIM support one having a 1080P screen and another one having 1440p screen. The device had been powered by a Snapdragon 810 processor with  4GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage with microSD card expansion. The phone also had a 20-megapixel camera with a triple LED flash (similar to Lumia  960) and 2000mAH capacity that can be removed.

We have been hearing rumours about Microsoft launching smartphone (not surface phone) at the end of this year. Other OEMs have not been able to capture the Windows phone market that Lumia left for them. Let us see what Microsoft will for the future of Windows phones.

Source: Pictures of Hapanero an unreleased Windows Phone leaked from China

Lumia 960 specifications and design revealed in new leaked images

Microsoft's Lumia 960 was supposed to be the successor of Lumia 950. However, Microsoft cancelled the smartphone as they decided to retrench its mobile efforts. Not only the Lumia 960, Microsoft also cancelled the Lumia 750 and Lumia 850. Earlier this week, images of Lumia 960 prototype were leaked on a Chinese website.

The earlier leaked images revealed the front and back panel of Lumia 960. However, the complete specifications weren't leaked. Today, even more images of Lumia 960 has been leaked and it has revealed the complete design of the Lumia 960.

Image Courtesy: Baidu.com

Image Courtesy: Baidu.com

Image Courtesy: Baidu.com

Image Courtesy: Baidu.com

The new leaked image has revealed that volume rockers are on the left side instead of right. The camera key and power key are on the right side of the smartphone. Furthermore, SIM and MicroSD card slot is also on the right side. At the bottom, USB-C and 3.5mm headphone are situated.

Lumia 960 Specifications

The Lumia 960 features a metal design and it has the Lumia 950's front panel. It has a front facing speakers. The smartphone also features a 20MP ZEIIS rear camera and a triple LED flash on back.

It comes with a 5.5-inch display with 2K resolution, 4GB of RAM. The cancelled Lumia flagship device would have been powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.

The Lumia 960 design seems to be quite modern and much better than the Lumia 950, what do you think?

Source: Lumia 960 specifications and design revealed in new leaked images

Windows 10 Maps gets extra voice options

Published by Steve Litchfield at 9:07 UTC, June 3rd 2017

On the Fast ring, at least, Windows 10 Maps just got itself a nice update, providing extra options for voice navigation. No doubt this will make its way to production devices in due course, too. See below for details and screenshots of this in action, on Mobile, of course, since on the phone is where Maps shines...

As seen on my editorial Lumia 950 XL:

Both the option to choose the navigation volume and to choose where the instructions are played come directly from user feedback. Which of us haven't been listening to a nice quiet piece of music in the car when the navigation instruction comes in booming over the car's Bluetooth connection? With volume and audio destinations both selectable, you can now take charge of audio multitasking in your own car set-up!

Comments welcome - would you make use of these new options? I know my family will be very pleased with the results...

Filed: Home > Flow > Windows 10 Maps gets extra voice options

Platforms: GeneralCategories: Apps, Platform 

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Source: Windows 10 Maps gets extra voice options

Nokia 9 benchmarks continue making the rounds, this time with 4GB RAM, Snapdragon 835

Doesn't it just break your heart that it's been three whole years since Nokia last released a flagship phone? Technically, the Lumia 930 was Microsoft's doing, and now the Nokia 9 is drawing near with another company in charge of actual production and distribution.

HMD Global looks like it'll be pulling out all the stops for a change to give the Samsung Galaxy S8 or Sony Xperia XZ Premium a run for their money, making no compromise as far as processing power is concerned.

But the "Unknown Heart" repeatedly benchmarked of late has to get a move on if it doesn't want the next wave of Android and iOS hero devices to drown out its aspirations. The newest Geekbench scores posted by a no doubt advanced pre-launch prototype are much closer to what we expect from the finished handheld, though ironically, this particular model packs 4 instead of a whopping 8GB RAM.

So did a unit photographed in protective attire not long ago, remember, as well as a TA-1004 variant exposed by AnTuTu today. This one offers us a more complete look at its spec sheet, apparently including Quad HD (1440 x 2560 pixels) screen resolution, dual 13MP cameras and 64GB internal storage in addition to a Snapdragon 835 SoC and 4GB RAM.

Wait, are those 13MP rear and front shooters or dual "main" cams? Probably the former, but that doesn't mean the latter isn't also true.

Source: Nokia 9 benchmarks continue making the rounds, this time with 4GB RAM, Snapdragon 835