The latest Microsoft corporate shakeup brings an end to a long-standing division-- the Windows and Devices Group (WDG), home of Windows, Surface and HoloLens products, is no more, leading to the departure of head Terry Myerson.

To replace WDG Microsoft formed "Experiences & Devices," a team taking care of Windows client releases, first party apps, Office 365 and Surface hardware. Leading is former Office exec Rajesh Jha. That said, some WDG members are going to the "Cloud + AI" group under Scott Guthrie, which also gets some Microsfot AI + Research group staff.

Polycom funds a buyer after spending over 18 months under private equity firm Siris Capital-- headset maker Plantronics. The asking price? No less than $2 billion, the same amount Siris Capital had bought it for.

Through the acquisition, Plantronics hopes to "become the partner of choice for the communications and collaboration ecosystem," with the "broadest portfolio" of UCC products and services. It also predicts the deal will bring about annual run-rate cost synergies of $75 million within a year after the transaction closes on Q3 2018.

The IBM Think 2018 conference is all about the latest from Big Blue, and one such project comes in a very small package-- a computer the size of a grain of rock salt packing the power of a 1990 x86 chip.

The extra-tiny (1 x 1mm!) computer is part of the "5 in 5," a collection of inventions and technologies IBM Research says "could change our lives in the next 5 years." It consists of a few hundred thousand transistors, an unspecified amount of RAM, a solar cell and an LED-based communications module. IBM adds it should be very cheap to produce, at around 10c apiece.

The Donald Trump presidency flexes its muscle as it blocks the proposed $140 billion acquisition of Qualcomm by Singapore-based Broadcom following concerns will give China the edge in 5G technology development.

The presidential order cites "credible evidence" the acquisition "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the US." Thus, as the US government orders "the Purchaser and Qualcomm shall immediately and permanently abandon the proposed takeover."

Should it have gone through, the Broadcomm-Qualcomm merger would have been the largest technology deal in history, and created the 3rd biggest chipmaker in the world, following Intel and Samsung. A united Broadcomm-Qualcomm would also control around 65% of the bill-of-materials going into smartphones. The acquisition was technically not wanted by the Qualcomm board, but Broadcom could have simply bought up the shareholders, leading to what on knows as a "hostile takeover."