Wait, what? File this one at the very top of the "strange bedfellows" category: Nokia and Microsoft have stopped scrapping for smartphone supremacy long enough to bring a full suite Windows Live services to a number of Nokia's S60 devices -- devices, may we add, that do direct battle with Windows Mobile hardware. Specifically, Hotmail, Messenger, Contacts, and Spaces are all available immediately as downloads for N73, N76, N80 Internet Edition, N93i, and N95 in select European and Middle Eastern countries (no US love for the time being); Microsoft's saying that the services are free for now, but users may be looking at a subscription fee down the road. To be fair, this isn't the first time Microsoft has extended a Windows Live olive branch to Espoo, but it's the first time the partnership has been this broad. It's gonna get even broader, too; look for Windows Live to find its way into Nokia's Series 40 platform some time next year.

RIM and Yahoo! have taken CTIA as occasion to formally announce their courtship, which will result in tighter integration of popular Yahoo! features such as email, IM, and search into the Blackberry operating system. Perhaps the biggest benefit to users from this partnership will be the ability to push Yahoo! email messages onto Blackberry devices, while maintaining a sync with the online mailbox,  and delivering them to an interface that is already familiar. Furthermore, Messenger will receive enhanced features like emoticons, Yahoo! calendar and address book data is promised to be more accessible, and the Blackberry launcher will sport a button for opening the browser to a certain non-Google search engine. After the rollout of these initial services, Yahoo! and RIM will introduce a version of Yahoo! Go for Mobile, which will bring even more juicy search and information features to our favorite 'Berry (no offense, Chuck).