As one of the biggest tech buyouts (at least, in terms of impact in mobile) comes to a close this week, Microsoft and Nokia have been sharing some of the last minute amendments to the deal. Including one whereby Microsoft will effectively take over nokia.com and its various social media domains and sites for 'up to' a year. Given that Nokia will still exist as a company and that Microsoft is only buying the 'Devices' section, this latest amendment does seem a little surprising.

From the blog post:

While the original deal did not address the management of online assets, our two companies have agreed that Microsoft will manage the nokia.com domain and social media sites for the benefit of both companies and our customers for up to a year.

You'll remember from our original buyout story that:

Once the transaction is complete, Nokia intends to focus on its three established business: NSN (networks), HERE (mapping and location services), and Advanced Technologies (technology development and licensing).

At least HERE and NSN have their own domains already, of course, so the practical impact of the Microsoft management of nokia.com will be minimal. It's tempting to get worked up over Microsoft controlling content on a domain that many of us have been referring to daily for almost fifteen years, but we live in changing times and the Nokia that most of us have grown up with is about to cease to exist, at least as a brand for the future in smartphones, as of this Friday. The Microsoft blog also states:

Today we are excited to share that we have completed the steps necessary to finalize Microsoft’s acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business. The transaction will be completed this Friday, April 25, when we’ll officially welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business as part of the Microsoft family. 

The completion of this acquisition follows several months of planning and will mark a key step on the journey towards integration. This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones. In addition, we look forward to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones.

So next week will see Nokia's device engineers and teams under Microsoft's banner, officially. And it'll be interesting to see how nokia.com and social sites like 'Conversations' change over the next year under the new management.

Nokia.com as it is today, with the full Google Now-style cards interface.... oh wait, I'm getting my companies all mixed up. Now which one was Microsoft again??....