ViewSonic and Acer to pay Microsoft royalties for Android products

While Windows Phone 7 may not be doing as well as Microsoft had hoped, unlike Apple, Microsoft has been more or less content with sitting by the sidelines and try to make money off their competitors through royalties and licensing. One such example is where HTC is currently paying $5 to Microsoft for every Android handset that they sell, and now it looks like Microsoft has added more companies to that pool.


Microsoft has just confirmed that they have reached licensing agreements with both ViewSonic and Acer, companies who are probably best known for their tablets – the ViewPad and Iconia Tab series respectively. The deal will see both companies paying Microsoft royalties on sales of their Android handsets and tablets, and will also cover future Chrome OS devices made by either company.

It was not disclosed as to how much either company will be paying to Microsoft, but personally this seems like a smarter way for competing companies to deal with patents, as opposed to chasing their competitors all around the world seeking injunctions against their products.

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Microsoft, Samsung to debut Windows 8 tablet at BUILD Conference

The BUILD Conference that will be happening next Tuesday has been touted by certain quarters that Microsoft will be introducing a yet unreleased tablet device that will be powered by their spanking new Windows 8 operating system. This particular tablet is said to be a device that was developed from the hardware alliance between Microsoft and Samsung. Hopefully you won’t see Apple’s lawyers come knocking on the front door, asking for Samsung or Microsoft to stop selling said tablet simply because a few patents were allegedly violated.

It seems that Microsoft does have big plans for Windows 8, where this operating system will feature a tablet-friendly nature that is in line with its desktop experience vision for the future. There are reports that claim Microsoft will give out Windows 8 powered tablets to attendees at the conference, which leads us to believe that they took a page out of Samsung’s books who issued Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets to folks who were at Google’s I/O developer conference.

No idea on what kind of hardware the new tablet packs, but it is rumored to be ARM powered, while boasting a bunch of sensors that will certainly jive with Windows 8 coding.

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Microsoft Is The Winner In Google-Motorola Deal, Says Acer Exec

OEMs are already raising an eyebrow (or both) at the Google-Motorola deal and rumors have started surfacing of manufacturers being unhappy about the move. Samsung is even said to be considering leaving Android for its own platform.

Walter Deppeler, president of Acer's operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said Microsoft was the real winner of the Google-Motorola deal, "as the deal makes Google a direct rival to its phone-making clients". "They work against some of their clients," he said. "It was a good gift to Microsoft". There was no official statement from Acer for the future but the president of operations said the company will definitely take the deal in consideration before deciding on future platform choices.

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Microsoft moves to block sale of Motorola Android phones

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world’s largest software maker, began arguing its U.S. trade case that Android- based smartphones made by Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. use technology derived from Microsoft inventions.
In a trial that began today before the International Trade Commission in Washington, Microsoft accused Motorola Mobility of infringing seven of its patents and requested a halt to imports of certain Motorola phones. The ITC has the power to stop imports of products that violate U.S. patent rights.
The case is the first smartphone dispute to be heard by the agency since Google Inc. (GOOG) said Aug. 15 it would buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion to obtain patents that could be used as a bulwark against a surge of lawsuits targeting handsets and tablet computers that use Google’s Android operating system.
“We have a responsibility to our employees, customers, partners and shareholders to safeguard our intellectual property,” David Howard, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation, said in an e-mail. “Motorola is infringing our patents and we are confident that the ITC will rule in our favor.”
Motorola Mobility is “vigorously defending” itself “against Microsoft’s patent attack business strategy,” Jennifer Erickson, a Motorola Mobility spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. “We have also brought legal actions of our own in the U.S. and in Europe to address Microsoft’s large scale of infringement of Motorola Mobility’s patents.”

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Microsoft sues Motorola for patent infringement

We all know that one of the key reasons that Google gobbled up Motorola Mobility was for the patent treasure trove that Motorola owned. Microsoft was said to be eying the purchase of Motorola Mobility as well, strictly for the patents. In fact, some sources claimed that Motorola went with Google over Microsoft because Microsoft planned to shutter the mobile operations.

Microsoft has now decided to fight the Google and Motorola Mobile tie up by filing a patent infringement suit against Motorola. Microsoft is alleging that Motorola is infringing on some of the patents that it owns covering Android devices. Microsoft is seeking a ban on the import of Motorola handsets into the US.
Microsoft claims that Motorola is infringing on seven patents. Some of the handsets that are covered in the litigation include the Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq XT, Devour, Backflip, and Charm. Microsoft feels certain the ITC will rule in its favor. The patents being infringed on according to Microsoft include those for things like displaying changes in battery charge level and the synchronization of email.
[via The Inquirer]

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone Mango Games Hub changes revealed

On Tuesday, Microsoft noted several of the Games Hub changes that will go into effect when Windows Phone Mango launches this fall. Mango’s Games Hub will include new “Avatar Awardables” which, much like on the Xbox 360, will allow you to dress your avatar up with a number of unique clothing items. The first title to support Avatar Awardables will be the game “Chickens Can’t Fly.” Games Hub will also feature new game add-ons. For example, in the game “Beards & Beaks,” users will be able to purchase additional in-game add-ons using Microsoft Points. Microsoft will also provide deeper parental controls and will offer a new “Fast Async” technology that will improve turn-by-turn and multiplayer games. Read on for a link to Microsoft’s official Windows Team Blog where the company has also listed the next 14 Xbox LIVE titles that will be available for Windows Phone devices.
Read

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Google Contacts FCC Regarding Microsoft Leaking Confidential Android Source Code

It appears that Google has another knife to pull on Microsoft, this time regarding Android source code, Google this week asking a judge with the US International Trade Commission to block a Microsoft “expert witness” in a Motorola lawsuit because this witness had “highly confidential source code” leaked to him by Microsoft. It’s not the least confusing situation in these patent posts we’ve been posting these past few months, that’s for sure, and I’m certain we’ll go through it again by the end of this post.


The motion filed this week with the ITC, Google has requested that the court bar the so-called expert Dr Robert Stevenson from testifying on Microsoft’s behalf because Microsoft revealed TO Stevenson some source code Android and Microsoft had agreed to keep secret. Google’s statement noted the following set of sentences making the ruling clear:

“The protective order governing confidentiality in this investigation explicitly requires that Microsoft disclose to Google any consultant or expert seeking access to Google confidential business information or highly confidential source code before [Google's emphasis] allowing a consultant or expert to review such information so that Google has an opportunity to object prior to disclosure,”

NOTE: for further information on this and other patent cases surrounding it, see Google Speaks Out Against Patent Attacks on Android
Microsoft was to give “prior written notice” to Google about giving confidential information to Dr Stevenson for testimony in the case. The case, as it stands today, is between Microsoft and Motorola, Microsoft suing Motorola so that they might force them to pay patent royalties for patents Microsoft owns that are related to technology used in Android. This is part of the wave of patent cases unfolding over the past few months in which Microsoft is seeking royalties on every device produced with Android aboard.
[via Digital Trends]
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