Webwire: Nokia prepares $100 smartphone; Facebook snaps up IBM patents

Nokia will start selling a $99.99 (€74.99) Windows Phone in the US through operator AT&T next month, in a challenge to Apple's and Android's dominance of the market.
 
Facebook has snapped up 750 IBM patents covering networking and software, as it seeks to build its defenses against a Yahoo patent suit.
 
Yahoo is responding to shareholder pressure with the appointment of three new independent directors.
 
Research firm Berg Insight expects 100 million NFC-enabled smartphones will be sold this year, up from 30 million in 2011. Sales are forecast to reach 700 million by 2016.
 
Hedge fund Elliott Management is building a stake in Cable & Wireless Worldwide – a move that may impact Vodafone and Tata Communications plans to buy the operator.
 
Indian state-owned operator BSNL seems to be the target of a coordinated racket - involving some staff members - to steal fiber cables in areas undergoing maintenance and road works.