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PANANJI, INDIA - Nokia plans to recruit 5,500 more employees in India by the end of the year, increasing employment to 15,000. Most of the new recruitments will be at the company’s Sriperumbudur plant in Tamil Nadu.

SCHAUMBURG, IL – Motorola Inc. will separate its struggling handset business from other operations, forming two separate publicly traded companies.

The company said the handset business will make up one unit, while home and networks products, and enterprise mobility solutions will be bundled into a separate business. Pending shareholder approval, the moves would take place next year.

The move is seen as a response to heavy pressure from its second-leading shareholder, Carl Icahn, to revamp the business.

"Our priorities have not changed with today's announcement," said chief executive Greg Brown said in a statement. "We remain committed to improving the performance of our Mobile Devices business by delivering compelling products that meet the needs of customers and consumers around the world."

Motorola will seek a new chief executive for the Mobile Devices business, which has suffered heavy fiscal and market share losses during the past two years.

HERNDON, VA – iNEMI has scheduled three regional workshops to give industry the opportunity to review work in progress on the 2009 Roadmap.

The North American workshop is scheduled for May 14 at iNEMI headquarters in Herndon, VA. The agenda includes Technology Working Groups presentations and chapter draft discussions.

The European workshop will be held on June 18 at IMEC in Leuven, Belgium, and the Asian workshop is scheduled for July 28 in Shanghai.

The 2009 Roadmap covers 22 technology, infrastructure and business process areas. New are sections on solid-state illumination, RFID item-level tag and photovoltaics.

The North American registration deadline is May 8. For more information, visit www.inemi.org/cms/calendar/2009_RM_NA_May08.html.

Further information about the Asian and European workshops will be provided on the iNEMI Website as plans are finalized.

AUSTIN, TX - Dell Computers, the world’s No. 2 PC maker, has decided to expand its presence in the Chinese and Indian markets.

According to CEO Michael Dell, the company will also make significant investment in the area, particularly in China, and has reportedly said that the company would buy $70 billion in hardware components from China between 2007 and 2009.

The PC maker has had a presence in China since 1998, and already employs about 6,000 there, but the company also has announced plans to try to sell more products in Asian countries.

"This year, we plan to introduce 50% more notebook platforms than we introduced last year, including…new products aimed exactly at Chinese customer needs," Dell reportedly said at a news conference.

Company sales in China reported grew by 54% in 2007. "When we look at the potential for expansion, we do see enormous opportunity ahead,” said Dell.

LONDON - XJTAG CEO Simon Payne has called for support of the UK’s electronics exhibition, National Electronics Week, which is scheduled to for June 17-19 at London’s Earls Court.

Payne said that he believes strongly that the UK electronics industry should be doing more to promote itself on the global stage, and points out that this event is just the opportunity to do this. “The UK electronics industry is the fifth largest in the world, yet we lack a single international event in the UK at which to showcase our considerable talents. Here is an opportunity for the leading UK-based companies and universities to highlight their world-class innovative talents in research and development at a UK event,” said Payne.

Payne has hopes that the exhibition will have an international dimension, and that the event will both attract visitors from overseas, and showcase UK technology.

“We urge everyone in the UK electronics sector, from the leading lights to the undiscovered gems, not to miss the opportunity to exhibit their products and show their support for this industry,” said Payne.

Along with XJTAG, companies such as National Instruments, Pace Europe, Panasonic, Fuji and Samsung have already signed up to for the event.