By 
Microsoft has been busy bullying smaller companies into licensing deals over elements of the Android OS that supposedly infringe on some of the Redmond-based software giant’s many patents. Companies with a bit more leverage have been a bit more resistant. Such is the case with Samsung, manufacturer of both Android and Windows handsets. The Korean smartphone maker is reluctant to come to terms with Microsoft, who is reportedly asking for a fee of $15 for every Android handset Samsung sells. Samsung has countered the offer with a slightly lower $10 per phone and a promise to become a bigger player for Windows Phone 7.
Both offers rise above the $5 per phone tax HTC is said to be paying Microsoft, though a deeper history between the two companies probably played a role in that deal. It’s the same sort of business relationship Samsung is hoping will save their company a few dollars. No matter how the money pans out, with more and more manufacturers forking over their dough to Microsoft it is becoming harder and harder for even the major players to avoid striking a deal. The last thing Samsung needs is another drawn-out patent war.
[via Reuters]
Hope i didn’t gave 10 usb when i bought my galaxy S2 :(
Hope I didn’t give 10 USD when I bought my Galaxy S II :(*
Fixed it for you, and also: Yes you did.
Why $15? What in the world is Samsung doing that HTC isnt?
If MS gets it way with all these phone manufactures, they should just dump WP7, seriously.
This is infuriating…
Microsoft at this point reminds me of the room-mate that wasn’t the first tenant, but has been there a long time, and is putting their name on everything because they don’t want others using their stuff, and if you do you have to pay them back. The only reason why they are still in the apartment is because they pay their bills on time and generally try to be useful, but they’re still the douches of the place.
This is extremely annoying. Microsoft must have some pretty solid patents to make these companies fold without a fight. Samsung having to pay an extra $10 or $15 per handset is just going to be passed onto the consumer with a higher handset price so it’s the consumer who will lose out in the end. With Microsoft receiving so much money from each Android phone sold, it’s probably in Microsoft’s interest not to pursue with Windows Phone 7 as this will take revenue away from Android. If I was Microsoft, I would pull out of the mobile OS running and support Android in becoming bigger knowing that I would having money rolling in for each Android handset sold from the respective Android handset manufacturers. I had really hoped that Samsung, HTC and the other big players wouldn’t fold so easily but this is ridiculous.
solid patents? No. There is no such thing as a “solid patent” when it comes to software. Look at what Oracle has had invalidated and how quickly, I should add. Go look at barnes and nobles fighting them. It was practically nonexistent patents. However, these companies are buckling under the threat of a higher cost for litigation than the cost to throw microsoft table scraps.
In reality though, long term the cost is much higher to settle with MS than to fight it in court.
I’m not sure I agree with this. Look at how much Samsung is fighting with Apple in the courts regarding some other dispute. If Samsung settle so easily for Microsoft, although they may pay less for this dispute, what’s to stop many other companies or even Microsoft itself with some other dispute from attacking Samsung again. Folding so easily becomes a very expensive option in the long run when you look at it from that point of view. I don’t know about patents or whether there is such a thing as “solid patents”; regardless, Microsoft must have had a fairly strong case to make Samsung and HTC fold so easily.
I think you’re speculating on a whole bunch of random shit to think you can predict Samsung’s reason for decision when they haven’t given comments to anyone as to the why part.
Settlements don’t get expensive for the company right away. What is half a percent off the profit of a phone? Nothing for the company, but millions for whoever’s suing. Now repeat for everyone. This has been done.
It’s not a strong case. Do you really have no idea what patent shakedown is? Do you need me to start pointing out examples and how fast companies settle? Have you ever heard of Lodsys?
If you think people aren’t going after android, well, read this. http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2011070515533511
Microsoft came forward with a deal. Apple came forward with a lawsuit and a demand that they stop selling phones. Its easier to pay MS. Remember just because you beat MS in court doesn’t mean you win. They license to you a huge chunck of your software. All the desktops in the company probably run Windows, Office, Visio etc. Imagine if volume licensing went away on those or they did an audit and found a few improperly licensed copies. They have your business in the palm of their hand.
and if MS ever decided to exploit that The DOJ and EU will jump all over them again.
But thanks to the NDA’s the companies sign we may never know and neither will the DOJ or EU. Those NDA’s lead me to believe that this is exactly whats going on.
Mat_t says”…these companies are buckling under the threat of a higher cost for litigation …” Such a poor excuse for not wanting to admit that these companies agree with Microsoft in that the patents were infringed upon! By the way, General Dynamics is a much larger company than Barnes and Noble. At the end of the day, B&N will settle with Microsoft.
are you fucking joking or outside of reality?
“we settle because litigation is expensive” has absolutely ZERO statements having to do with “we infringed and/or MS’s patents are strong”. B&N won’t settle with microsoft, and shows clear intentions of not intending to settle. They’re going after MS. http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20110427052238659
Haven’t you ever read a settlement where it says “the company does not admit guilt”? That’s on basically every settlement that has ever existed. It doesn’t mean anyone has done anything. It means “we’re giving you money to go away” and doesn’t mean the legal system has found anyone guilty or have anything to do with how valid something is or isn’t.
HTC should be paying users for having to put up with Sense. Why isn’t Microsoft suing Google if Android violates Microsoft patents? None of the phone manufacturers own Android. Google does. This is just a play to make money from clueless manufacturers since their Windows Phone 7 isn’t gaining a lot of traction. I wouldn’t buy a Windows Phone for this simple reason and I will definitely not be getting another HTC phone. I use Windows on the Desktop because all of my computer games are for Windows. It’s on my Laptop because it’s been around for a while and won’t run anything else but XP.
Sense can be turned off , by the way – even though i would never do it since i love it
No you cant unless you root. Which even then isnt turning it off but removing it completely.
Change the Launcher and Presto, Sense is gone. Now was that hard? No root required…
no it isnt gone. there are still parts of it running in the background.
just like it steve says, of course you can. just go to the applications at settings, clear the recommended apps for the launcher and just choose the regular one. Heck, even htc has a tutorial on how to do it, i learned it from their site(!)
And the coolest thing is that you don’t have to remove it completely, like you said. you can just turn it off, test the regular android interface, see why htc chose to me it better and return to the finest launcher ever made for android – all without rooting!
Ok, first of all, you laptop can run Linux, and second of all, if that is not the case, then get a new laptop, because your current one must be shit.
I prefer Sense over stock. It’s visually interesting and let’s me link contacts which stock doesn’t. Plus it runs great on my Sensation.
you know, things like this make me think the OEMS just need to band together and tell companies like microsoft, “here’s the deal, cut the BS and we’ll let you stay in the game.” i kind of wonder how MS’s attitude would change if all the manufacturers they rely upon to put their dung on the market suddenly just stopped making phones for them.
They don’t do that because that would be collusion, and they would end up paying a lot more money in that lawsuit which they would almost certainly lose.
Then what happens if microsoft takes them to court, they ban android, and microsoft won’t allow them to use WP7. what next for samsung and htc symbian?
Since when did extortion become legal? These other companies need to stop paying protection money, grow some balls, and stand up to this abuse. Only reason Microsoft keeps going after another company is because of the success they’ve been having so far. The more cave in, the easier it is to get the next one to do the same… even when the entire basis is utter BS.
it’s like a kid in a temper tantrum. Once you give in to what he wants, he realizes it is an effective tactic to keep getting more and more of what he wants.
Well Samsung are putting a fight against apple. If they easily drop their guns means they know they will lose the MS case. Htc pays up already, it’s only a matter of time all android OEMs pay the fee. But cross licensing is normal, many companies do it, Apple pays for activesync I believe. This is how you make business. Google have their own trouble with oracle, I am sure samsung consulted google but google doesn;t accept responsibility cause they don’t sell it for any money.
Patents are suppose to only last seven years, they act like they created the technology but those old farts haven’t done shit in years and now they want to be compensated for something that isn’t even theirs? I want to know the details, how the fuck can Microsoft make that big of a fortune off of Android.
Those pussies are going after phone manufactures who should not pay them shit, they are over seas for Christ sake. They got HTC by the balls and now Samsung, Google NEEDS to burn Microsoft to the ground. You have the support of millions of Android users, Microsoft only has those simple minded IT nerds. Like jroc74 said “they should just dump WP7” and its true. Those fags are making more money off of Android than their own piece of shit line of phones. Can’t wait, in about 2 years time Google will be the top OS for tablets and PCs than what the hell is Microsoft going to do.
I really doubt Google can knock off Microsoft’s Windows OS. Chrome OS is pretty much just a web browser and some cloud tools, that is no where near what is needed for companies and users alike. Android might kills off WP7 but Windows will be here for a long time. The only OS that is capable of taking that spot is Apple’s Mac OS. If Apple opened up and allowed other computer manufacturers to make hardware for them at competitive prices they might have a better chance. Linux fans will argue that their platform is better and blah blah, look, it isn’t all that perfect. It has a small following and there is no real support infrastructure in place for them. An average user would struggle with Linux if something were to go wrong. They say Ubunutu is Linux for humans, what they need is a Linux for all where anyone could just pick it up and do stuff and it’ll just work.
I guess your right but eventually the giant will fall, it can not keep its reign for ever. I simply think it is the inevitable, Apple and IBM were the shit in the 80’s then Microsoft took over for the whole 90’s era and even in to the new millennium. Now, it is time for fresh new look for the upcoming generation and I honestly don’t think Microsoft is capable of keeping up. For goodness sake, Microsoft had nearly 3 years to perfect a mobile OS and they give the masses WP7. What an abomination!!!
Today I tested my WP7 with the new samsung 2S of my friend. Guess which responds faster, is smoother and easier to use and looks better? Android hasn’t even learnt to do texting yet. Do the same test, I don’t want to force my opinion on you.
The only people who like WP7 phones are .NET developers.
Google aren’t assholes, that’s why.
They really should be assholes sometimes.
No way! That’s awesome!!! I’m gonna go to that site and tell all my friends to as well!!
Stop Spamming this site you dumb bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
$15 is the full price that manufacturers pay to put their OS on a phone.. Money for nothing and your chicks for free.. Samsung should have have counter offered with a nickel per phone.
“if you do not want microsoft ask for quota” money “, do not use their OS anymore. as long as you still make the device by using their OS (window” suck “phone), then they will always have an excuse to ask for money ration. it is an agreement microsoft contract.
example: motorola and sony ericsson, they were not allotted money, because they do not use a Microsoft OS again.
“example: motorola and sony ericsson, they were not allotted money, because they do not use a Microsoft OS again. ”
hmmmm Good idea! Let Nokia have this turkey all to themselves!
Microsoft is scaring off manufacturers. Samsung might as well withdraw from WP7.
As much as everyone here hates Apple, I’ve always felt that the real danger comes from Microsoft. Apple gives android competition and drama but they are both using opengl for games instead of directx/xna and they use web standards compliant browsers instead of IE.
lol