"Android infringes on our patents!" - Microsoft

[Bateluer]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/28/microsoft-says-android-infringes-on-its-patents-licenses-htc/

Hmm, seems Android's rapid growth has another player scared. I use the term 'player' loosely when I refer to Microsoft, their being in 5th(?) place of the smart phone market.

To my knowledge, Microsoft hasn't said why or how the Android OS infringes though.

 

[dwell]

Can't wait to see the Apple haters reaction to this, being Apple was so evil to protect its patents against HTC.

 

[Spoooon]

Seems kind of screwed up to me.

 

[WelshBloke]

:sneaky: Hmmm

Apple sues HTC for patent infringement.

HTC is best producer of Windows Mobile based phones.

Htc licences patents from Microsoft.

Coincidence?

 

[DivideBYZero]

HTC sure are looking at NEEDING to buy Palm just so they have a guilt free OS!

 

[WelshBloke]

:sneaky: Hmmm

Apple sues HTC for patent infringement.

HTC is best producer of Windows Mobile based phones.

Htc licences patents from Microsoft.

Coincidence?

Or even...
Apple sues HTC over multitouch patent refuses to licence it.

HTC licences mutitouch from Microsoft.

Apple pounds sand.

 

[rudeguy]

HTC sure are looking at NEEDING to buy Palm just so they have a guilt free OS!

why? HTC makes the equipment, not the OS.

Why would they want another OS to deal with?

 

[Deeko]

Cell phone companies license IP back and forth all the time. They also sue each other back and forth all the time. This really isn't anything that new. The Apple v HTC story isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be, either.

 

[TheWart]

Cell phone companies license IP back and forth all the time. They also sue each other back and forth all the time. This really isn't anything that new. The Apple v HTC story isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be, either.

Yea, pretty much. Combine some polarizing companies with little to nonexistent understanding of corporate patent law and you get....most of the posts on gadget blogs about these lawsuits lol.

 

[DivideBYZero]

why? HTC makes the equipment(1), not the OS.

Why would they want another OS to deal with(2)?

The answer to (2) is (1). They make the hardware and have no in house OS. This means they are at the mercy of a very cut throat market that is going through some epic battles. Any or all of the OSes availble to them could dissapear or be withdrawn from use by HTC overnight.

(2) If they OWN an OS they can drop all others. Now they are masters of their own universe, and by all accounts WebOS is pretty good, so WIN/WIN.

 

[dguy6789]

I don't believe that there is any chance of Android just disappearing for whatever reason for HTC.

 

[Pliablemoose]

HTC has already said they're not interested in Palm.

I've followed Palm for a long time, and they were insanely popular back in the day, but they've always been poorly managed and resistant to a realistic buyout offer.

From the rumors, RIM is the front runner at the moment.

It would be a good move by RIM, and future proof them a bit. They've been playing catch up for a while now and are at risk of not jumping on the touch screen bandwagon seriously enough to keep marketshare.

 

[TheWart]

HTC has already said they're not interested in Palm.

I've followed Palm for a long time, and they were insanely popular back in the day, but they've always been poorly managed and resistant to a realistic buyout offer.

From the rumors, RIM is the front runner at the moment.

It would be a good move by RIM, and future proof them a bit. They've been playing catch up for a while now and are at risk of not jumping on the touch screen bandwagon seriously enough to keep marketshare.

I was thinking about this when I first heard RIM's name in the latest buyout rumor mill. Do you think RIM would pick and choose parts of WebOS to bring to their Blackberry OS? Would they basically rename WebOS to Blackberry OS and just take some of the enterprise functionality from their own work? Would they split and have an enterprise line of BB phones and "consumer" BB phones that run a modified webos? questions questions.

 

[Deeko]

I was thinking about this when I first heard RIM's name in the latest buyout rumor mill. Do you think RIM would pick and choose parts of WebOS to bring to their Blackberry OS? Would they basically rename WebOS to Blackberry OS and just take some of the enterprise functionality from their own work? Would they split and have an enterprise line of BB phones and "consumer" BB phones that run a modified webos? questions questions.

I imagine the enterprise features of BBOS are too deeply ingrained to yank out and stuff into WebOS. I think more likely is that they would take elements of WebOS and insert them into BBOS as needed.

However, I personally don't see RIM buying them.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I was thinking about this when I first heard RIM's name in the latest buyout rumor mill. Do you think RIM would pick and choose parts of WebOS to bring to their Blackberry OS? Would they basically rename WebOS to Blackberry OS and just take some of the enterprise functionality from their own work? Would they split and have an enterprise line of BB phones and "consumer" BB phones that run a modified webos? questions questions.

There's a massive US and worldwide market for traditional BB's, they could slim down their offerings just a bit in that market, and release some killer consumer oriented touchscreen phones based on Palm's current stuff.

I think RIM is afraid, and likely rightly so of straying too far from the OS they've refined on the traditional BB to keep the faithful happy.

 

[theeedude]

MS is an Apple wannabe. If you can't innovate, whine and sue. I guess one more reason for HTC to buy Palm.

 

[DivideBYZero]

There's a massive US and worldwide market for traditional BB's, they could slim down their offerings just a bit in that market, and release some killer consumer oriented touchscreen phones based on Palm's current stuff.

I think RIM is afraid, and likely rightly so of straying too far from the OS they've refined on the traditional BB to keep the faithful happy.

Not going to happen. The Torch mobile purchase is about more than a nice webkit, tabbed browser with flash and pinch zoom, it's a webkit rendering engine that can be leveraged throught the OS, by widgets, apps, you name it. That's the trick most have missed with the new announcements on BB 6. They would want WebOS like a dog wants fleas.