Time to say goodbye to Jawbone?

Jawbone as we know it now will cease to exist. Reports have surfaced online that its CEO and co-founder Hosain Rahman has moved on from the company and is liquidating the business’ assets. Rahman has supposedly moved on to put up Jawbone Health Hub, a company that focuses on health-related hardware and software services. A lot of the Jawbone’s employees have reportedly joined Rahman in the new company. Android Authority reports that current Jawbone products, like its fitness trackers, will be serviced by Jawbone Health Hub.

The maker of Bluetooth speakers, earpieces, and fitness trackers has been having some trouble for a while now. Back in 2015, they laid off 60 employees, which is 15 percent of its workforce. The company was later on said to have stopped production of its UP fitness trackers and sold its remaining inventory to a third-party company. While the continued to insist that they were dedicated to the wearable market, in February 2017, it was being reported that Jawbone was leaving the industry to focus on medical services. And that’s where we find ourselves now. Jawbone isn't commenting about the reports.

Nintendo set to launch Switch smartphone app on July 21st

The companion app for Nintendo Switch’s online play is getting its official debut this month. Simply called Nintendo Switch Online, the app will come out in time for the launch of Splatoon 2, which has a special online component within the app. The hub, which is launching on July 21^st, is basically used to communicate with Nintendo switch players online. It can be used primarily to send invites to friends via their Nintendo Account or social media handles as well as facilitate voice chat over mobile’s microphone. As mentioned, Splatoon 2 players will get support for SplatNet2—a special service in the app that will let players track things like play history, gear, and other statistics.

There isn’t any word yet if there will be other features besides those aforementioned. But with the app in its early days, we’re hoping Nintendo makes it into a more complete app and include things like in-app messaging and multiple chat channels. These online features will be free at launch but Nintendo has plans to launch its full-fledged version next year with a year-long membership that costs US$19.99 (around CA$25).

Source: Tech Radar

Motorola set to host #hellomotoworld in NYC on July 25th

Motorola just sent invites to the US media about a press event happening in New York City on July 25^th. It’s expected that the recently leaked Moto Z2 Force and Moto X4 will be revealed at the event. There might also be a new set of Moto Mods coming, including the 360-degree camera Mod. Motorola has been aggressively pushing new products, the Z2 Play is its newest entry into the Canadian market.

Source: Android Central

Microsoft confirms layoffs as part of reorganization plans

TechCrunch

After confirming that they were reorganizing their sales and marketing divisions, Microsoft has announced that it’ll layoff “thousands” of its workforce. It’s said that it’ll impact mostly sales jobs outside of Microsoft U.S. but the company isn’t specifying how many they would lay off. In a statement released to CNN Tech, Microsoft says they are "taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others."