Read more.Is Microsoft the only one coining it from Android?
Read more.Is Microsoft the only one coining it from Android?
When consumers stop buying products because the price for them has risen too much due to licensing costs........
Until then I can see the consumers are going be losing out a little here and a little there.....while all the big corps make even more money.
In fact, it almost seems like an industry trick they are all in on to take more money off of us...
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Microsoft must have a very strong hand if all these companies are signing up to fairly high cost per handset. Google seem to be sitting back and letting it happen. So I suspect they feel they are too weak to intervene. Apart from the terrible blog posts making them look like a whiny toddler they've done not very much.
Calling-out MS seems a trifle unfair.
I doubt the likes of Samsung \ HTC are 'imtimidated' by Microsoft. Let's face it they aren't too scared of Apple which is the 'biggest company on earth'.
On the contrary its probable that MS has a legitimate claim (defining 'legitimate is another issue of course.)
What's better - to try and prevent any competition through continual lawsuits and refusal to licence or to allow your competitors to operate through licencing? Apple has chosen the former tactic, Microsoft the latter.
Historically, MS is following the 'industry standard' behaviour.
Aye, to borrow a phrase Gordy used - Apple these days seem to be in "whiny toddler" mode most of the time - witness the "revelations" that the late SJ was prepared to use Apple's entire "warchest" to kill Android. Personally speaking trying to license the competition rather than kill it seems more honourable to me.
As to the validity of MS's claims? I remain sceptical since they are continuing to be coy about what the infringed patents actually are.
I also fail to understand why MS feels that they need to extort companies into doing WM7 since, by all accounts, it's actually quite an accomplished OS and one that's nice to use.
As much as I would like to get angry about this, I just can't muster the emotion. For MS to have signed these licenses, they really must have a good portfolio of patents to beat the OEM/ODM's with. Discussion of the patent system really should be in a completely different thread.
Who knows, this could save MS in the long run. I'm sure Phillips survived for a long time on royalties from inventing the CD, CD-R and DVD's.
Except there's a difference, Apple sue for and enumerate the patents, Microsoft waves their hands around vaguely claiming their IP is being stolen, demand victims of their scam keep quiet as to which 'patents' they are, and back peddle away from anyone with a back bone. If they have a legitimate claim then they should publish the list of patents Linux and android supposedly infringes upon, and let the open source community work around them or challenge their validity in court.
This is little more than a shakedown racket.
It's a difficult one because of the confusion over the patent system. I like to look at this from multiple angles:
- In many countries, the patents Microsoft claim to own would likely have never been granted.
- Several companies likely own very similar patents and I wouldn't be surprised if some were the same and that the patent offices made a mistake.
- Many companies own patents but do not pursue them in the line of mutual constructive business, this is why companies such as Samsung and Motorola are only just responding seriously to patent infringement and have begun enforcing their own patents.
- Patent-licensing should be clear and transparent, a company should make patents it believes are being violated known to the owner and developers of all products else it's reasonable to expect no legal claim.
- Android is free and Open Source, Microsoft's actions go against the spirit and nature of the open concept and their attack is one on the Android Developer community as well as google.
- Microsoft could easily have supported Android and helped it grow, increasing the potencial patent income, however they've chosen to compete with and milk the product at the same time.
- Claims that billions of $ have been invested on e-mail fetching and calender systems is ridiculous.
Activesync has been the backbone of Windows mobile devices syncing with MS Exchange server for years. While I despise vague patent trolling, the likes of HTC licensing MS's Activesync tech seems fairly reasonable and specific IMO.
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