Hasta La Gadget!

It’s often been rumored that Microsoft had an eye on Nokia’s handset business. It made perfect sense for both companies — one a struggling pioneer of the mobile industry and the other a struggling stalwart from the first wave of smartphones. According to the Wall Street Journal’s sources, the two were actually quite close to striking a deal and were having “advanced talks” in London as recently as this month. But, according to the all-too-familiar “people familiar with the matter,” those talks have broken down. Those same sources say it was Microsoft that walked away from the table over concerns about Nokia’s asking price, especially in light of its continued failure to put a significant dent in Apple and Samsung’s market share. Though it seems like dreams of a Microsoft-Nokia merger are dead for the moment, don’t expect the disagreement to severely affect the duo’s partnership. Nokia is still reliant on Microsoft’s help to stand out in the market and Microsoft needs the Finnish manufacturer to keep pumping out flagship handsets with Windows Phone on them.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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Source: Wall Street Journal

The United Nations defines the stereotype of a peace broker, so it’s not that far-fetched to hear that its International Telecommunication Union (ITU) wing is hoping to step in and cool down the rapidly escalating patent world war. The organization plans to convene a Patent Roundtable on October 10th — in neutral Geneva, Switzerland, of course — to have smartphone makers, governments and standards groups try and resolve some of their differences. Those mostly concerned about Apple’s actions won’t be happy with the focus of the sit-down, however. Most of the attention will surround allegations that companies are abusing standards-based patents, which will put the heat largely on a Google-owned Motorola as well as Samsung. Still, there’s hope when the the ITU’s Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun Touré talks of desiring a “balancing act” between what patent holders want and what customers need. Our real hope is that we don’t have to hear talk of customs delays and product bans for a long while afterwards.

[Image credit: Patrick Gruban, Flickr]

ITU wants to bring smartphone makers to peace talks, hash out patent wars originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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