Microsoft buying Nokia, says rumour. No it's not, says Nokia

Nokia and Microsoft may be sitting in a tree K.I.S.S.I.N.G., but rumours of an imminent acquisition posted by infamous Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin have been rapidly debunked.

Murtazin claims that Nokia is to start negotiations with Microsoft next week for the sale of its phone unit. He also states that both companies are in a rush to finish the acquisition as soon as possible, but that it may not go through until the end of 2011.

However, the Finnish company's UK Comms Director Mark Squires (aka @DrPinball) has almost immediately poo-pooed the suggestion: "We typically don’t comment on rumors,"  he tweets. "But we have to say that Eldar’s rumors are getting obviously less accurate with every passing moment."

The rumour comes after Nokia decided to end its long-standing Ovi branding, with a strong hint that Ovi Maps could power Microsoft's Bing Maps in future. In addition, Microsoft is also on a shopping frenzy at present, having just bought Skype for $8.5 billion.

On this occassion, though, it seems the acquisition rumour is wide of the mark.

At the moment, anyway...

Will Microsoft buy Nokia's phone unit? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below...