Switched On: Microsoft's mobile monster

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. On September 2, Microsoft announced that it would pay $7.2 billion for Nokia's handset business, including its smartphones and Asha phones aimed at consumers in developing economies. Key personnel from that business, including Nokia's former CEO Stephen Elop, would be joining Microsoft, and Nokia would now be a company that focused on location technologies (via its Here services) and wireless infrastructure (via NS...