Yahoo! and Nokia have announced a 'worldwide strategic alliance' after five years of working together. The companies say they will use each others' strengths in email, instant messaging, maps and navigation services to provide consumers with 'world-class experiences' on PCs and mobile devices.

• Yahoo!'s maps will now be branded as "powered by Ovi", with Nokia becoming the exclusive provider of Yahoo!'s maps and navigation services.
• Ovi's chat and email services will now be provided by Yahoo! and branded as "Ovi Mail / Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo!"
• Both companies aim to eventually let consumers use a single Ovi/Yahoo! username across their services.

Sony Corporation and Google have announced an alliance that'll see the two companies working together on Android-powered entertainment products. In a statement, the two companies said they were "exploring the joint development of compelling new Android-based hardware products for the home, mobile and personal product categories".

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s time to take sides. Are you with Apple… or are you against them?  Sorry, sitting on the fence is no longer acceptable. Not sure?  Okay, try this one for size. Are you with Google… or are you against them?  Still undecided?

Right – here’s your third choice. Are you with the Rebel Alliance? 

With the first month of Apple iPad sales exceeding 1 million units, it's no surprise to hear that International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts there'll be 7.6 million media tablets shipped worldwide this year.

However, according to IDC, this is just the start of a trend that'll accelerate by a compound annual growth rate of 57.4% during the next four years. In 2014, the company says more than 46 million units will be shipped. That's equivalent to over 10% of the predicted market for portable PCs in 2014.