Microsoft has announced that it will acquire Nokia's mobile phone business, and a "broad intellectual property license" for Nokia's patent portfolio, for 5.44 billion Euros (~$7.2 billion). This deal will see Stephen Elop return to Microsoft as the vice president of the newly minted Nokia division, along with some 32,000 other Nokia execs and employees. Microsoft's rationale for the acquisition, which is due to complete in early 2014, is that it will allow the software giant to finally, seriously, definitely compete against Apple and Google in the smartphone and tablet markets. For real this time. Honest.