Samsung to Pay Microsoft for Every Android Device Sold

Have you ever witnessed one of those moments in history, like Ali doing the rope-a-dope?
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That just happened
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MS Ali has been on the ropes bobbing back and to while Google Foreman thumps hell out of it, now it seems with this deal Foreman has run out of steam and Ali is going for the knockout

about time...it's time to see some quality phones with a quality OS...i really don't like microsoft, but the desktop version on win7 is one stable OS

Oh come on Samsung...grow a pair!!

I don't know what those 'elements' are but I suppose changing them would put Android way behind??

Extortion. That sums it up.

I really wish Microsoft would get their asses handed to them in regards to this royalty crap, when all they have done is *claimed* infringement, and not proven it. Utter bullshit. And dont get me wrong, I like Windows 7 and some of their other stuff, I just hate their business tactics, which amount to bullying other companies around, much like Apple.

Did I get it wrong or is Samsung abandoning android and adopting windows for their future devices? If that's really true, it's much bigger news than paying royalties. And very bad news indeed, at least for those who admired samsung android devices.

Perhaps Samsung is realizing it is more lucrative to cater to a supported closed system like iOS or Windows Phone 7 rather than an open and easily side-loaded system like Android.

I also agree we are seeing a moment in history, but it is a larger part of an ongoing battle to gain ownership of ideas and advancements as "value added" products. It is the notion that we are serfs, we don't own what we own but merely "lease" it from out kind landlords - but unlike feudalism, these landlords don't have any obligation towards us peasantry.

Great day for MS for sure.

Making a deal with the devil (MS) often has unintended consequences. Interpret that however you like.

Nah, Samsung will continue to make Android, Bada and WP7 devices. No way they would abandon the other OS' since in terms of phone sales it goes Android (by far), Bada and then WP7 (way down at the bottom).

Samsung also sell Windows laptops and maybe desktops in some markets, so they are definitely somewhat tied to MS.

I guess expect to see Tizen devices from Samsung in the future as well as Windows 8 tablets.

Why would 'admire' Samsung devices at all. They make cheap plastic chinese build subpar quality devices with one (or perhaps 2) outstanding features (usually the screen). Without much support or longevity for these devices at all. They lack any vision or forward thinking and just dumb their shit on the world. They don't care what device you buy or what OS it runs as long as THEY sell it. I loathe Samsung and am glad they finally get their ass kicked!

As for M$ and Android. It's clear that Google's "linux variant" is quick rehash using more than free/GPL-code. Propably in their own effort to cash in on it. So much for "open source". Appareantly it's so open that M$ has enough cause to retrieve fees.

A reason enough to steer away from it. If this continues then I hope at least RIM has the guts to stay alive and defend their own OS because that's gonna be the only alternative left.

eh?! Why would it matter. They pay Microsoft anyway regardless whether Samsung use Android or Windows Phone 7 on their devices. So what's the big deal? It's obvious that both Apple (indirectly) and Microsoft (directly) want Android (and probably Google with it) of this planet.

Secondly I don't get. Ppl have been complaining about Microsoft for ages. Windows Mobile sucked big time and now suddenly it's all kiss and make up. WTF! Are you folks braindead or what? Microsoft are bad guys remember! THEY enforced the world into DOS/Windows while other much better alternative OS's and computersystems have been totally wiped out.
Ask any RISC OS user, any Psion Series 5 owner, or even any Amiga/Atari owner which system they prefered. Particularly the demise of RISC OS system is a real SHAME for the European IT world. It was amazingly fast, very simple userfriendly and yet amazingly simple of structure. Unlike ANYTYHING else on the world. They invented low power high performance RISC-based desktop computing and it was British! Yet no one praised it. Now whenever there's a new fucking iPhone all the lemmings stand inline for hours with their glazed eyes waiting to get their paws on yet another hyped up geeky toy. It's disgusting!

Shouldn't "Mac OS" be "iOS", and shouldn't "Windows" be "Android"???

Sorry "Windows" should really be "Windows Mobile" or something to make it clear that Android is serious competition for smartphones.

Kudos to author for the '80s "all your base are belong to us" reference. Nerd humour rules!

Samsung is very happy with how its Android phones are selling. They're just hedging their bets (and why shouldn't they?), so no matter what happens with Android or Windows, they'll still have a strong product portfolio left.

And for like 95% of users out there, Android is as "closed" as any other OS.

In any case, if HTML5 does what it's supposed to do, the line between sites and apps will blur and it won't really matter that much which OS you're using.

Android quickly proved a lot of competition for Mac OS and Windows ? what?

you either meant Chrome their instead of android (which isn't providing any competition), or you meant it's competing the iOS and Windows Phone (which wasn't even released when android was, so I think you meant RIM)

naming fail..

I wont buy samsung again.. Not because of this but my experience with there products was poor. They are very buggy! I changed to LG and love it, it isnt running the latest version of android but at least everything works as it should! I think there are too many companys producing android products and some have to go for the sake of the others. If samsung go its not that much of a loss. HTC Motorola and LG FTW!

i guess Google may just have to find someone else to make there nexus phones now

On the one end, this is leading to a monopolistic world where true creativity suffers. On the other end, this is leading to a monopolistic world where standardization is the norm. There are pros and cons to this, however, I think I would err on the side of creativity rather than standardization.

In the US at least, what would have to change are patent laws. It is the patent laws that enable suing others for "supposedly" using your IP with "greed" as a prime motivator. The last I knew, M$ had a lot of money in the bank, and simply does not need the royalties from Samsung.

The question is, why did Samsung agree to this? If there were an answer to this out there, then maybe we would be able to see things from Samsung's standpoint. I cannot see Samsung exclusively making products based on WM for many reasons. So, this sounds like that even though Samsung will collaborate on new WM devices with M$ that they will still be making Android devices. From what I know, it sounds like Samsung will prevail against crApple; time will tell.

That is awesome. lol. Definatly Microsoft pulled a rope-a-dope here. lol. Say by by to Android. Microsoft made more money off of Android that Google did.

I really like Samsungs TV's but every single device that I have bought from them beyond that has been buggy. From Universal remotes to Windows Extenders to washer and dryers. Issues with all of em except for the TV's which have been fine.

The phones feel cheap event though they have good specs and a good screen. Holding a IPhone, BlackBerry, or a HTC phone next to a Samsung phone you can really feel the difference.

I agree ap3x their monitors / tvs are great!

This is sort of like Nokia and Microsoft. Samsung used to use Nokia's Symbian to power it's phones.

FU M$, and people wonder why I despise that convicted monopolist. Samsung just fell off my list of preferred electronics companies.

agreed. I didn't think I'd see that around anymore. that gave me extra incentive to read the article

Samsung have a strong history of producing Windows Mobile handsets based on the previous generations of the operating system - particularly for sale in US markets.

I'm not sure why some people seem to think that them working with Microsoft is something new?

Samsung simply opted for Android as it was progressing at such speed and popularity and Windows Phone 7 was relatively ignored by consumers in the market.

I think that Samsung are actually a bit ahead of the curve here - with Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), the operating system is a lot more mature. Let's not forget that Nokia are still a huge company with a massive amount of experience engineering smart phones and when they start dropping their Windows Phone 7.5 devices into the market the operating system will no doubt receive a huge boost.

My prediction is that in the next twelve months the big three OS providers (Microsoft, Apple, Google) will gradually get more involved in the lawsuits and the situation will come to a head. We've already seen Google providing patents to HTC they acquired from Motorola Mobility in action against Apple.

They're all going to have to concede that they infringe on each others patents, and the companies that end up paying for all that will no doubt be the equipment manufacturers paying heftier licensing fees.

In twelve months, I think Windows Phone 7 will have a significantly higher market share than it does now - and I wouldn't count out Blackberry just yet. The Bold 9900 stock is due in the UK in approx 1 week.

I don't have any background in this, but I always found it strange that google was able to come into this market and do a better job in a few years then the competition which has been in this market for a decade. Same goes for Chrome.

Has anyone considered this all might be a very clever play by Google?

1. Get Microsoft suckling the Android teat by creaming a few dollars off every manufacturer.
2. Completely annihilate WP7, leaving MS no other leg to stand on
3. Allow Apple to win a few patent cases
4. Bait Apple into a massive patent attack on Google
5. Who comes to the rescue of Google? MICROSOFT. $500m-$1b a year buys a lot of MS patent protection!

Hilarious!

If Google has the power to do so, they need to go after MS directly, rather than letting the little guys (the handset makers) fight these skirmishes.