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Motorola announced last month that it would be working hard to reduce costs, and has now announced that its Malaysia based software development unit will be sold to India’s Satyam Computer Services. The deal is set to be completed by the end of 2008, and Satyam has stated that it will be keeping 128 Motorola employees as part of the deal.

Motorola previously stated that cost reduction activities could include cutting jobs and refocusing efforts in its strongest regions, such as North America. Exact financial details on this transactions were not released.

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Nokia has just announced new firmware for its E66 and E71 smartphones, both of which run Nokia’s S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1 user interface. The firmware updates include a new version of Nokia’s Mail for Exchange application, and also a new version of Nokia Maps.

The E66 is now up to v110.07.126, while the E71 goes one more, to v110.07.127. We tried to update our E71-2 for North America but had no success. It appears as though these updates are only for the Euro versions. In addition to these updates, Nokia has released a new version of its Nokia Software Updater application for Windows-based computers. The new firmwares are available to consumers through this application, which can be downloaded from Nokia’s Software Update website.

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Microsoft has released a patch for Windows Mobile 6.1 powered smartphones to deal with a potential email problem due to a new feature that was introduced in this latest version of the OS.

It appears that Microsoft added a feature to 6.1 that would allow carriers to specifiy a default SMTP server to use for outbound mail if the user specified SMTP server failed to connect. The problem is that if the carrier did not specify a default server, and the user’s server fails to connect, the entire email account could be corrupted.

A CAB file with the patch can be downloaded directly to a Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone by pointing its browser to the download site. The patch can also be applied using a Microsoft Windows personal computer by downloading the install file from the patch information page

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AT&T is now making its new Quickfire messaging phone available for purchase. It features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and large a 2.8″ QVGA touchscreen display. A 1.3 megapixel camera is also on board, coupled with a microSD card slot for extra storage.

The AT&T Quickfire also features Bluetooth with A2DP support for stereo headsets. Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) support, in addition to tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100MHz) offers speedy data speeds over AT&T’s HSDPA network as well as world roaming capabilities. Available in your choice of lime green, orange, or silver accents, the Quickfire is priced at $99.99 with a 2-year commitment and mail-in rebate.

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Nokia 6650 clamshell smartphone is now available from AT&T, packing a built-in GPS receiver and support for AT&T’s high-speed 3G network. The Nokia 6650 runs on Nokia’s S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 platform.

The Nokia 6650 comes with a whopping 1500mAh battery, which should offer plenty of extended talk time, in addition to its slender, stylish design. A 2 megapixel camera is on board, alongside a microSD card slot for expanded storage.

The Nokia 6650 is available now in select AT&T stores, priced at $69.99 after a 2-year commitment and $50 mail-in rebate.

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