Microsoft proposes a 44 billion dollar acquisition of Yahoo.

Microsoft today announced that it has made a proposal to the Yahoo's Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo common stock. Microsoft has offered $31 a share which represents a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion dollars.

Microsoft’s offer to Yahoo shareholders is a half cash half Microsoft stock option. Microsoft states in it's press release that the offer represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo's common shares on 31st of January this year.

“We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.”

“Our lives, our businesses, and even our society have been progressively transformed by the Web, and Yahoo! has played a pioneering role by building compelling, high-scale services and infrastructure,” said Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft. “The combination of these two great teams would enable us to jointly deliver a broad range of new experiences to our customers that neither of us would have achieved on our own.”

Nokia Sharing Survey reveals mobile phone sharing on the rise.

Nokia have unveiled the Nokia 2600 classic, which will retail for approximately £45, and the Nokia 1209 will retail for approximately £26, the two mobile handsets offer useful features for consumers in emerging markets.

"While cost sensitivity is an important element in creating mobile devices for emerging markets, the overwhelming feedback we receive from consumers in these markets is that they want their mobile device to complement their personality and offer a range of colours and entertainment features," says Alex Lambeek, Vice President, Entry Devices, Nokia. "The Nokia 2600 classic offers a colorful sense of flair and a robust set of features at an exceptionally accessible price. As with all Nokia devices, it is backed by a brand that stands for quality and durability."

According to a recent Nokia survey of consumers in emerging markets such as India, China, and Brazil, a new trend is emerging, and that is "phone sharing". More than 50% of respondents in India, Pakistan and nearly 30% in Vietnam indicated that they share a phone, or would share, their mobile phone with family or friends.

"Phone sharing is a logical trend - more and more families are purchasing a mobile phone for the entire family to use, not just the head of the household. In addition, digital cameras are quickly becoming more popular in these markets, and as such taking and sharing digital images is becoming more common," adds Lambeek. "In response, Nokia has developed a number of innovative features like the multiple phonebook to support phone sharing, and we have added technologies like Bluetooth to some models to make transferring images and ringtones easy and affordable."

The Nokia sharing survey was conducted in India, China, Brazil, Pakistan, Vietnam, Russia and Egypt in October and November of 2007.