AMD Loses VP to Samsung, Google Extends Free Voice Calls: Tech Business Roundup

Amidst the current shakeup and job reductions at the chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), the 25-year veteran Michael Goddard, Corporate VP for product design and engineering and Chief Engineer on client products, is leaving for Samsung (SSNLF.PK) to become VP and System Architect at its facility in Austin. During his AMD tenure, Goddard collaborated  closely in the late 1990s with Dirk Meyer who later served as its Chief Executive from 2008 to 2011.

Data from Net Applications indicates that Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 8 usage uptake has fallen behind Vista’s at the same point in its release. The operating system’s usage share through December 22nd was 1.6 percent of all Windows personal computers, up from 1.2 percent in November. At the same two-month point in Vista’s release timetable, it comprised 2.2 percent of all Windows systems which was twice the month prior.

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Once again, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) extends free domestic calls from Gmail in the United States and Canada for another year. At the end of 2010 and 2011, the firm made the move and now it says that Gmail users will once again get one more year of free voice calls from the Gmail chat widget.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) still tops out the customer satisfaction survey of the customer experience analytics company ForeSee, according to its yearly holiday eRetail Satisfaction index, with a score of 88. The eighth annual report is calculated on more than 24,000 customer surveys collected amidst the prime holiday shopping season and is expanded from measuring satisfaction with the 40 leading  retailers to 100 in 2012.

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