A few tweets about Nokia’s upcoming Windows Phone handset by a Microsoft employee appear to have cost him his job. Joe Marini, a principal program manager for the Windows Phone team, posted a number of tweets about the device about two weeks ago. Among them is this one:
I just got a chance to try out one of the slickest looking #Nokia phones I have ever seen. Soon, you will too! #wp7
A couple more tweets (tweet 1 and tweet 2) rate the device as an 8 out of 10, highlighting its “solid feel, good camera, responsive UI, and nice little touches on the body construction” but also call out for a larger display.
The comments seem fairly fairly innocuous especially given that it’s public knowledge that Nokia is developing Windows Phone devices but are a breach of Microsoft’s social-media and blogging policy. Marini learned that he would be dismissed for improper use of social media and disclosure of confidential information and chose to resign as a result. Microsoft would only confirm that Marini no longer works for the company.
Nokia’s first Windows Phone device is expected to be unveiled at October’s Nokia World.