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Microsoft Sells 1,500 Patents To Xiaomi To Build 'Long-Term Partnership' (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Software maker Microsoft Corp is selling about 1,500 of its patents to Chinese device maker Xiaomi, a rare departure for the U.S. company and part of what the two companies say is the start of a long-term partnership. The deal, announced on Wednesday, also includes a patent cross-licensing arrangement and a commitment by Xiaomi to install copies of Microsoft software, including Office and Skype, on its phones and tablets. Wang said the acquisition of Microsoft patents, which included voice communications, multimedia and cloud computing, on top of some 3,700 patents the Chinese company filed last year, were "an important step forwards to support our expansion internationally." Florian Mueller, a patents expert who consulted for Microsoft in the past, said it was rare for Microsoft to actually sell its patents, adding "it's possible Microsoft found it easier to impose its Android patent tax on Xiaomi as part of a broader deal that also involved a transfer of patents."
Has a phone deal with Micro$oft ever worked out for anyone? Other than the competitors, of course.
Is it me or has Microsoft been going off the rails lately in its decision-making process? First, ramming Windows 10 down everyone's throats and now selling off patents to China?
There's something terribly wrong here.
part of what the two companies say is the start of a long-term partnership.
Translation: This is the start of the eventual destruction and liquidation of Xiaomi
I can only hope someone has warned the executives at Xiaomi about whom they are dealing with, but apparently they either don't know or don't care
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I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
Thanks for explaining to us who microsoft is, they are new here.
<quote>Quotes <i>seem</i> to</quote>
How the hell does this guy still have credibility after his 100% wrong calls, for years, on SCO's claim on Linux?
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Microsoft get's a lot of money from other people's phones.
I think this deal is about finding a way to squeeze every other chinese vendor even harder. Microsoft can't sue from the outside because the Chinese gov't knows how to tilt the tables. But if a chinese company sues another one, that's a whole different ball game. MS gives Xiaomi some exclusives and now they all of a sudden want to keep them exclusive. Xiaomi is an ambitious hungry company that is competing at the low end the market. Not just for phones but for all the components of the integrated electronic living space. Microsoft is offering them a way to not only glue all that together in a way that is an instant standard-- equivalent to say, compaq running MS dos that runs IBM lotus 123 out of the box with no changes. Now they can compete not just on price but on being better. And they will want to protect that advantage for themselves.
So now MS has a club to beat up all the other non-paying patent violators that's a chinese company
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
"it's possible Microsoft found it easier to impose its Android patent tax on Xiaomi as part of a broader deal that also involved a transfer of patents."
Perhaps "easier" in the sense that the PRC government hinted that Microsoft could find itself highly inconvenienced in China, if it acted otherwise? Or perhaps they didn't hint anything, and Microsoft is choosing to be pro-actively obsequious.
I can't see Microsoft as either Humphrey Bogart or Claude Rains. Peter Lorre, maybe if I squint hard enough... but if I was going to pick someone from that era to be Microsoft, it'd probably be Oliver Hardy.
#DeleteChrome
If you are thinking these thoughts very often there are redtube and related video sites to help you get off.
There is no such thing as the Google Play Store in China (yet). So Xiaomi has filled the void with their own Mi Store.
So now's a perfect time for Microsoft to catch a ride on the hottest smartphone train outside iOS. Google Play will be joining the fight later this year, so this is a move by Xiaomi to strengthen their position before that.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
I find this title and summary are best read while listening to the theme of Jaws or The Omen.
With MS giving up on the phone wars, why not sell patents related to things you already lost in exchange for getting your next generation of software out there? The next market is when the device goes away, and MS needs to be there not on it's own third rate phones.
...Backdoor Lover. Or at least it should be with this new partnership.
Microsoft still evil, still stuck in quasi legal twilight zone. Xiaomi was introducing Linux laptops, hence this new trust making activity. Same old Microsoft, same old tricks.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
[Microsoft next move ](http://readnews247.com/detail/20914)
I got a Xiaomi phone recently. At first I was a little wary, but it grew on me immensely.
First - it comes pre-rooted. The built-in "Security" app can be used to simply grant root to any app that requires it. The bootloader is fully unlocked too, if you choose to replace the whole OS.
Then - Extras. Dual Sim, SD slot, FM radio, and all the typical essential goodies, plus some extras like gyroscope. A HUGE battery. IR sensor/LED for using as remote. A normal, generic earphones jack. Decent camera and a strong LED which you can use as a flashlight without installing 3rd party apps or risking damage.
And then a similar Samsung of the same release date and the same price has half the features. Xiaomi has roughly 2x the screen resolution (although not AMOLED), 8 cores instead of 4, 2GB RAM instead of 1.5, twice as much flash.
With entering the western markets en masse, I imagine Root and unlocked bootloader will get the axe first. Then the price will get jacked up to match phones of similar amount of features.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Xiaomi. On your new Global Mother Fucking Spyware.
Been using them for years, often vastly cheaper and exceeding expensive products in quality. Great stuff. Hope MS doesn't ruin this.
Which model specifically?
Are there projects to get third party ROMs available for it?
Did you try loading third party ROMs on it?
Something like OmniROM for example?
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
"Florian Mueller said...."
Who dug this idiot up again? Next story.
"Hey, let's get Skype on as many more devices as we possibly can at any cost" said the company that has no clear friggin plan on what they plan to do with Skype...