The changing of the guard at Apple Computer Inc continues apace with the San Jose Mercury News reporting that David Nagel, senior VP and head of the company’s advanced technology for the last eight years, has jumped ship to head-up AT&T Labs, the telephone giant’s research division. AT&T Labs is said to have around 1,900 researchers and developers from Bell Labs, which was spun off, along with AT&T’s communications equipment manufacturing operations, which is now known as Lucent Technologies Inc. They are thought to represent about a quarter of Bell Labs’ basic research capabilities and are focused on computer science rather than physics and chemistry on which other parts of Bell Labs are focused. Nagel will reportedly remain in California. Lucent’s responsible for future telephony and network devices – AT&T Labs will focus more on how people use communications services and information, Nagel told the paper.
