Gossip

Samsung finds its investments investing in it?

Symbian is, indeed flourishing. Here at the seaside in Cannes, chief executive David Levin announced all sorts of triumphs in his battle against Microsoft's attempt to get into the phone business. What he did not announce, was that he was spending a fortune on buying Samsung shares.

Nonetheless, the surprise of the 3GSM Congress must have been the news that he did, indeed, spend a fortune that way. In fact, Samsung has purchased 5% of Symbian, and therefore it would be very odd if Symbian purchased 5% of Samsung - but such considerations failed to convince the reporter of the Toronto Star which reported that "London's Symbian turned a licensing agreement with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. into a personal stake, paying £17 million, which was worth about $41 million (Canadian) at yesterday's exchange rate, for a 5 per cent interest in the software maker."

Next week, we hope to report on HTC's purchase of 2% of Microsoft, saving it from penury; while our reporters dig deep to find more on any possible investment in AT&T by Sendo. Just to keep it topical, of course ...