Microsoft has successfully sought royalty payments from a number of Android device makers and the next company that will likely pay up is Pantech, South Korea's third largest handset manufacturer. According to Yonhap News, Pantech is currently in talks with Microsoft regarding the patent usage in its Android smartphones but the details have not been finalized yet.
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‘Microsoft’ Stories
Pantech next to pay Microsoft over Android patents
Is Skype the Windows Phone Wildcard?
That Windows Phone lacks a Skype app is, like Apple’s fixation on the word “Magical” and the rampant popularity of Justin Bieber, one of life’s great conundra. Microsoft is desperately seeking “must have” apps to showcase its smartphone platform, and yet it already owns a VoIP company putting out what could legitimately be described as just that on iOS and Android. Delivering Skype for Windows Phone would certainly answer one great criticism of the OS, and cross a further reason off the wait-and-see list for many buyers. Still, it’s the promised deeper integration of Skype into future iterations of Windows Phone, however, that could signal the turning point for the “third platform.”
Samsung SUR40 with Microsoft Surface 2.0 now shipping
The Samsung SUR40 multitouch table, first unveiled last CES and once again this past CES 2012, is now finally ready to ship. The tabletop features a massive 40-inch Full HD 1080p LCD display protected by perhaps the world's largest piece of Gorilla Glass. It runs Microsoft's second-generation platform called Surface 2.0 along with Microsoft's PixelSense touchscreen technology.
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Windows 8 tablet drawbacks mount: ARM locked-down, x86 overpriced
Windows 8 is shaping up to be the best OS Microsoft has had in years, but limitations around ARM-based tablets and concerns over x86-based model pricing could sour the platform's launch later this year. Microsoft has mandated that ARM Windows 8 machines - expected to be the bulk of low-cost Windows 8 tablets - must have their Secure Boot system locked down, ComputerWorld reports, or in order words users must not be allowed to load non-Windows platforms onto ARM hardware.
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Deep Skype integration promised in next-gen Windows Phone
Not only is a Windows Phone Skype app incoming, but Microsoft will "further integrate" the VoIP service into future versions of its smartphone OS, according to Skype CEO Tony Bates. Details on the nature of the deeper integration are still unclear, though the assumption is that - just as Android allows outgoing and incoming calls to be routed over either traditional mobile networks or via VoIP - Windows Phone will give users the option to choose the cheapest route for their calls, as well as presumably sync Skype contacts with the handset's address book and show presence status.
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Skype for Windows Phone coming soon says Microsoft
There's been a bit of a tip from no less that Microsoft's own VP of products, Rick Osterloh, on what may very well be coming soon for their Windows Phone mobile platform: Skype! There are a select few applications out there that are so important that the very fact that they're being released on a new system is newsworthy, and Skype is certainly one of them. Microsoft recently acquired Skype (this past October) and has not been vocal about if or when they'd be creating their own version for Windows Phone made to run like a whip for your video chats galore.
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Apple loses Motorola patent strike in preliminary ruling
Apple's patent violation claims against Motorola Mobility have been rejected in a preliminary ruling, with the US ITC suggesting that none of the infringements alleged by the Cupertino company hold water. Although still relatively early in the process - with a final decision yet to be settled upon by the US International Trade Commission - the preliminary ITC ruling [pdf link] indicates that Motorola hasn't overstepped the mark with regards to three patented technologies Apple claims have been infringed by the DROID line of devices.
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AT&T Lumia 900 due March tips Nokia newsletter
The AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 will launch in March, according to Nokia's Developer Newsletter, which revealed the release schedule for the LTE Windows Phone despite both carrier and company staying mum about details this week at CES. "[Lumia 900] will become available exclusively through AT&T in March" the coder-targeted newsletter confirmed, far more specific than "the next few months" as Microsoft, Nokia and AT&T have committed to.
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Kinect HD set-top box tipped for Xbox LIVE TV plans
Microsoft’s Xbox TV plans continue to trickle out, with talk of a Kinect-based set-top box for 2012 that would offer streaming multimedia content with a voice and motion controlled UI and sub-$200 price tag. Variously codenamed “Live Xbox”, “Kinect Box” and “Kinect HD”, the new STB will resemble a low-profile version of the existing Kinect, The Daily‘s sources suggest, with a larger base to accommodate power, HDMI and USB ports. Availability has been “pushed back” it’s said, from an original early-2012 window, though it should arrive prior to the next-gen “Xbox 720.”
Xbox 360 gobbled 40% of all 2011 video game and hardware sales
Microsoft really put a beat down on the other major game consoles in 2011 when it came to game and hardware sales. AllThingsD reports that in 2011 the Xbox 360 platform software sales totaled 40% of all games sold. That means that consumers spent about $6.7 billion on Xbox games and hardware during the year. The breakdown shows that the majority of that money was on video games.
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How Much Longer Will Consoles Be Around?
After Sony’s gaming leader Kaz Hirai said at the Consumer Electronics Show recently that his company would not be unveiling new hardware at the E3 Gaming Expo later this year, a slew of people took to the Web to wonder when it might finally offer up a new console. Some say it could happen next year, while others think it could be 2014. There are even some folks who say Sony won’t release its new console until 2015.
Microsoft goads Google over Android patent deals
Microsoft isn't content to pick up a few dollars on each and every Android handset sold by Samsung, HTC and now LG; it wants Google to eat its words about "dubious" patents being a "tax" on innovation. Shortly after announcing its patent licensing deal with LG earlier today, some of Microsoft's senior execs took to Twitter to needle Google about the so called "patents-as-weapons meme."
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