MANILA, Philippines -- If you are reading this, it means that some people’s prediction and desire for the world to end last week did not come to pass.

It is ironic that despite the advances humans have made in science and technology, some people would time and again come up with outrageous ideas and notions about our world as we know it coming to a fiery end. Then again, I suspect, these technologies, such as the Internet and mobile phones, play an important role in the spread of these ideas.

Of course, it does wonders for one to adopt a perspective in life that includes living each day as if it were your last. People who are much wiser than me say that this life philosophy would make one do the best he or she can, every moment of every day.

That means living life to the fullest and loving with all you have got on a daily basis.

Microsoft-Nokia Intimate

One of the eyebrow-raising rumors in the IT world last week was Microsoft’s purported intent to acquire Nokia’s mobile phone business. The tale has increasingly gained traction due to at least a couple of factors.

These are the companies’ intimate partnership in the smartphone business, with Nokia opting to use Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS in all of its smartphones, and Microsoft’s $8.5-billion acquisition of Internet telephony vendor Skype.

It does not hurt either that Russian blogger, Eldar Murtazin, who reportedly began the rumor, was also the first one to write about the Microsoft-Nokia smartphone OS partnership.

Are we then about to see the Finnish technology company’s exit from the mobile phone business? It would definitely be a passing of an era. After all, Nokia has been THE mobile phone company on these shores for quite a long time.

Qualcomm Chips

Meanwhile, Nokia said it was in talks with several manufacturers of chipsets for its (hopefully) coming soon Windows Phone smartphones. Earlier, the company has decided to use Qualcomm chips for its first Windows smartphones. According to reports, ST-Ericsson is one of those chipset suppliers being considered.

Android 2.3 Upgrade

Samsung recently announced its Android 2.3 upgrade plans for the Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, and Galaxy Ace/Gio/Fit/mini devices. The Gingerbread upgrade is expected to improve the performance and user interfaces of these Samsung smartphones and tablet computers.

These include faster multimedia performance and enhanced usability.

The upgrade will be available via Samsung’s Kies device management software.

Android Insecurity

Mobile security experts have warned owners of Android smartphones to avoid public WiFi networks for the meantime. Researchers’ discovery of a security defect affecting Google’s software prompted this warning.

According to reports, researchers at the Ulm University in Germany found out that hackers can easily intercept data from Google’s applications including photo sharing, calendar, and contacts by using a flaw that affects almost all Android devices.

Hmm. It is getting harder to distinguish these IT giants from each other.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.