We are taking this with enough grains of salt to fill a business sauna, because honestly why. But the same Russian blogger who’s been kicking up dirt about Microsoft buying Nokia for the last couple weeks now says done deal.
The rumoured and solidly weird megadeal would have the software giant buying the hardware giant for $US19 billion, and comes just months after Nokia forsook its in-house Symbian OS to put WP7 on its handsets. We’re sceptical! Despite its hard-earned Xbox success, Microsoft is a software company at heart, one that thrives on sowing licences far and wide like a digital Johnny Appleseed. That’s why a software deal with Nokia makes perfect sense!
But locking up with a flailing hardware company whose bread and butter is cheap and disposable dumbphones doesn’t seem to make much sense for Microsoft. And a Nokia spokesperson had already pretty much shut down previous rumours of this exact nature. So, uh, let’s not get too excited over it. [Eldar Murtazin via BGR]