Breaking: Microsoft buys Nokia's mobile business $7.17 billion

Updated on Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at 8:26AM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Microsoft just purchased Nokia's device business for $7.17 billion, effectively making Microsoft a true "devices and services company." The deal was announced late Monday night and is broken down as follows. Microsoft is buying "Nokia’s cell phone unit for 3.79 billion Euros ($5.0 billion) and spending another 1.65 billion Euros ($2.18 billion) to license Nokia’s patent portfolio for a total of 5.44 billion euros ($7.17 billion)," as per a report on AllThingsD.

The deal will also allow Microsoft to absorb various Nokia employees including CEO Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft VP, who will now step down and  become VP of Devices and Services. Nokia Chairman Risto Siilasmaa will serve as interim CEO.

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Acer's 6-inch Liquid S2 smartphone makes a bid as first to record 4K video

Days away from an expected 4k-shooting smartphone from Sony, Acer has fired first in an unexpected mobile move. The Acer Liquid S2 is a 6-inch Android smartphone/phablet which a 4K video recording capable smartphone with ultra-fast connectivity including 4G LTE and the new Wi-Fi 802.11 ac standard.

The Liquid S2 isn't slated for release in North America anytime soon, but it does offer an interesting proposition for smartphones in general. It is the highest profile and specced mobile device Acer has ever delivered and by making it a 6-inch device with 4K recording capabilities, Acer has separated itself from existing competitors. Featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 quad core 2.2GHz processor, a 13 megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD), the Acer Liquid S2 will get our attention and could be the first in a series of seriously competitive mobile devices from Acer as it angles to enter the global smartphone market. Hit jump for complete specs.

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Acer's award winning Aspire R7 updated with Haswell and a pen

Acer's award winning R7 Ultrabook-convertible-tablet hybrid is getting a much anticipated update by way of new 4th Generation Intel Core processors. The new Haswell chips should improve battery life on the multi-functional notebook which is known for having four modes of use including regular notebook, Ezel mode, Pad and display. Aside from improving the architecture, Acer has also included the Acer Active Pen, so users can enjoy greater accuracy and a more comfortable feel when writing and drawing using the inductive stylus.  Battery life is still expected to be subpar. Acer is including new apps that take advantage of this technology. Price is €999 and Canadian pricing has yet to be set for the notebook which will ship Q4 2013.

Acer launches new Iconia A3 10.1" Android Tablet

Acer's got a bunch of products it is releasing prior to IFA in Berlin, including the Icona A3 10.1-inch Android tablet. While pricing and availability in North America is TBD, we do know that it is designed for rich multimedia entertainment, the Iconia A3 comes with Dolby Digital Plus creating a virtualized 5.1 channel surround experience over headphones, reduced background noise.

The Iconia A3 features a quad-core 1.2GHz cortex A7 processor it delivers smooth 9 hours of video playback, better mobile gaming, as well as fluid and fast navigation through apps and websites and Acer says that the10.1” WXGA display (1,280 x 800) with IPS technology offers crisp and accurate colours. Brave move by Acer since the 10.1-inch Andrid tablet category has long been in limbo.