Motorola is 'open' to developing Windows Phone 7 devices, but only if the OS proves compelling
10/07/2010 02:11:00 AM
kenmouse
, Posted in
In case you somehow missed it, Microsoft lodged a complaint with the ITC on Friday, alleging Motorola's Android smartphones infringed on nine of its precious patents. You might imagine that'd sting the pride of Moto's chief exec Sanjay Jha, but nothing could be further from the truth. Describing such turf wars over intellectual property as "part of business," Sanjay explains that his company is willing to work with Microsoft on developing a handset based around its new OS, so long as the offering is "compelling." He notes that the first call he received upon becoming co-CEO and handset division chief back in 2008 was from none other than Steve Ballmer, but Microsoft's failure to deliver a new OS in '09 is what compelled him to go the Android route (we doubt he regrets doing it, mind you!).It's no coincidence to our eyes that Microsoft went after the one top-tier Android phone maker that didn't sign up to the Windows Phone 7 utopia project. We recall HTC was in hot water with the Redmond team back in April for similar reasons, and its resultant licensing of Microsoft's patents seems to have been embedded into the WP7 partner agreements -- which is why we're not seeing the likes of ASUS and Samsung being served with similar complaints. So basically, if things get too hot and steamy, Moto could just kick out a token Windows Phone handset, get the accompanying licenses in order, and this whole thing blows over nice and peacefully. Marvelous.
Palm hasn’t introduced a single new device since April this year, when the company was bought by HP – which now also owns WebOS.
With two careers that keep them on the road, Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher haven't had much together time since their July 10 wedding, but the singer says for her, marriage is a perfect fit.
Firefox's direct pipeline to Google search results is Mozilla's dominant revenue source, but the next version of the open-source Web browser will also get Microsoft's Bing as an alternative.
