MS earns Royalties on Android?

[office politics]

and here i thought they'd be upset that Android has the most mobile installs.



Is Samsung preparing to drop Android? | ExtremeTech

By Sebastian Anthony on September 28, 2011 at 11:04 am

The royalty that Samsung is paying Microsoft per Android device is unknown, but earlier this year Microsoft secured a similar deal with HTC where it gets $5 per Android device sold. With Samsung and HTC under its sway, Microsoft now receives royalties for over 50% of Android sales in the US; only the soon-to-be-owned-by-Google Motorola Mobility remains.

That resolution alone should be more than enough to send a shudder up Big G's pant leg and across its jockstrap — but to add insult to injury, Samsung announced yesterday that it is now working with Intel on Tizen, a free, open-source, Linux-based smartphone OS. It will be derived from MeeGo, the critically-acclaimed but stillborn OS that itself was a merger of Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo operating systems.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

If anyone can stand up to Microsoft it'll be Google, so I'll be interested to see how that one pans out.

 

[KSoD]

Yeah Samsung agreed to pay Microsoft royalties. Here is a clue, HTC also does it as well as Acer and Casio all do it. Not a single one is looking to drop Android anytime soon. Why? Cause Android is what put their devices mainstream!!!

Here is a good article to read about the agreement.

Sorry but the people at Extreme Tech got this one all wrong. Samsung would be stupid to drop Android. They are almost to the top of the mobile device market cause of it. Just announcing 10 millions Galaxy II units shipped thus far and not even including the USA. Yeah they would be soo smart to drop the OS in use on all 10 million units. Especially to use a mobile OS that no one wanted in the first place like MeeGo. That will surely drive the sales of the product to over the current 10 million units they have...</sarcasm>

 

[Jayce]

Initially I was shocked to hear this. It's got to be an awful position to be in when "big brother" with the deep pockets is rockin' the playground-bully persona. Give me your lunch money or see ya in court. This is only a stronger indication of just. how. broken. the U.S. software patent system is.

That said, I did my good deed for the day. Signed the petition at the White House to drop (or at the very least, completely re-build) the U.S. software patent system.