Is Yahoo! the perfect match for Nokia?
It is more than well known (and getting boring by now) the intentions of Microsoft to buy Yahoo! At the end, it seems that the Microsoft has given up but with all the turmoil Yahoo!’s CEO has stepped down and the company’s shares have taken a plunge. But everything is not bad news…
Reading an article from ZD Net, they commented on how Yahoo! could do a great match for Nokia, and viceversa. Although I didn’t feel an acquisition of Yahoo! by Microsoft made much sense due to a cultural shock, Nokia could be a very different story. Although Nokia comes from the hardware manufacturer point of view, they are recently trying to become a services company. They have launched the Ovi initiative, which hasn’t really had much success. Unless you are a Nokia fanboy (or happened to work previously at Nokia 
) chances are you have never heard of Ovi.
On the other hand, Yahoo! is a great services company which would get a great push by adding a hardware factor. This would ensure Yahoo! the access to mobile platforms it is looking for. And why should Nokia copy reinvent Flickr, Yahoo Mail, Search, etc…? Although Nokia might make good phones, they have always lagged on the software point of view, which is where Yahoo! could be very beneficial, providing the current services and software technology for phones. And it could make a better competitor against Google’s android, which although still doesn’t seem much of a threat, it could easily become one faster than it seems.
Even business-wise it seems as a good idea…. Nokia has been falling behind severely in the american market, where Yahoo! has not only a good brand name but also an important user base, and at the same time would help promote Yahoo! on the less popular Europe.
It all seems to good to be true…
Merry Christmas!
Christmas has finally arrived and the year is about to come to an end. Lately life has a been a bit crazy, with many things going on but definitely exciting and positive.
I have finished my internship at Nokia, which as always brings mixed feelings. After almost 6 months, I have made some very good friends whom I will miss but hope to keep in touch. However, although I was finally getting the hang of marketing, it is not really my passion, for which I am looking forward to moving on to a new challenge. Thus, overall it has been a very positive and rewarding experience which I will never forget. I have to sincerely thank Blanca Villamía and Elena Yndurain for being able to stand me for so long
And the end of the internship also brings the end of the master!! We had the graduation ceremony last friday 21st, and it was very exciting to finally see all the efforts realize into a little paper Only Divya and Anirudh were absent to the ceremony, with Gustavo coming from Ecuador and Rajesh back from India. However, it was a pity that due to the chaotic days it was impossible to meet and celebrate the whole class together. And yes, I am now officially a Master so please call me Master Leco 
In other related news, I have finally received the work permit!! Which means I am going back to Mexico real soon! I need to go and request a work visa within a month (Spanish bureaucracy is terrible!) I already have an airplane ticket for the 30th of december! So I will be spending new year’s in México. I really miss Mexico, not only for the food but friends, family and even my bed!
Overall, this year was very good, with the completion of a personal project, my brother’s wedding, my sister finishing university, etc… Now comes the time to set new challenges and to work hard to complete them. So there is not much more to say than merry Christmas! As a goal for next year, I hope to stay more in touch with so many people, that due to distance, time zones and daily routine have made it difficult. I would also like to thank all my classmates from the master which have made this such an exciting and rewarding year.
¡Feliz Navidad y un Próspero Año Nuevo!
Time flies…
…and in a blink of the eyes, another month has passed. However a lot of stuff has happened, with several good news
First of all, I can now say I have a job! I have accepted an offer to work at Everis, an IT consulting company, and I will be working in the Management Consulting area which really thrills me a lot. So this has several implications… first of all, that I will be staying in Madrid a bit longer , which is very good although I definitely miss México. For this, the company is going to help me do all the necessary paperwork for the work visa and all. This is very good, but unfortunately Spanish bureaucracy is amazing… and it is gonna take a few couple months to get all done and ready so I can start working. The bad side of the change, is that obviously I will miss quite a few friends from Nokia, with whom I’ve only been working a few months but feels like such a long time.
In other news, last week I had a couple days off from work and decided to go to Rome. It had been a long time since I wanted to visit the city, so I thought it was the perfect time to go. Also, this was my first trip completely on my own after a long long time, and although worried at the beginning, I had an absolutely great time. The city is amazing, with lots of things to see in every corner… from ancient Roman ruins to impressive monuments. The city has a bit for every kind of taste, and it is almost impossible not to like it, in spite of its dirtiness and crazy lifestyle.
I spent three full days walking around everywhere… it is really a small city, although by the end of each day I was dying. Of the places I highly recommend are Fontana di Trevi, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Castel Sant’ Angelo, Trastevere and of course Vatican City. The great surprise was Fontana di Trevi, of which I had seen pictures but it is much more amazing in real life. A letdown was Colosseo, which is nice and in a way amazing, but I imagined it much bigger, and there is not much left anyways 
Vatican City was impressive… it is a lot bigger than it seems… and I loved it. It almost makes you convert to catholicism! St. 
Peters Basilica is huge, beautiful and elegant… it reminds you of the amount of power the church once had. I went up to the top of the dome, and I also visited the tombs of the popes, including John Paul II… and it is breathtaking. I also went to the Vatican Museum, which I liked a lot, although it sometimes feels just like a art depot since it has rooms stuffed with figures that it seems they couldn’t find any place else where to put them. Still, very nice and highly recommendable… tops was the Maps room, simply amazing.
And well, I obviously ate lots of pizzas and lots of Gelatto chocolate fondante! jeje I went to a pizza place recommended to me by my boss called Pizza da Baffeto and it was absolutely amazing… typical Italian place, very small with every waiter shouting at each other and the pizza was fabulous. And I also took too many pictures… so for those interested you can check out the best ones in my Flickr account. So overall I had a great time, and I definitely feel I need to go back to Italy to visit so many other places… which I will hopefully do sometime soon!