No one noticed this or no one thinks it is important?

Doesn't particularly interest me. I'm not much into smart phones and don't expect to be either.

I guess Microsoft wants to improve upon their current smart phones and thinks buying part of RIM would help them do that?

Other industry watchers also think so.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2384918,00.asp

The big thing RIM has going for them is their encryption. Nobody has been able to hack it. Certain people will need to keep using their devices for this reason.

I actually used the playbook the other day and I liked it a lot.

Their phones are decent. I prefer metal phones and I like the Motorola brand, personally.

I don't think their company is doomed in the sense that this article makes it out to be. They have some incredibly talented people working for them.