ZTE licenses Microsoft's Android-related patents
Just last week Microsoft added Foxconn's parent company to its growing list of licensees for patents it asserts are key to Android, and now ZTE has inked a deal with Ballmer and Co. as well. Now that the pact is in place, Microsoft says it's struck patent accords with roughly 20 hardware makers, and that 60 percent of phones sold with Google's open source OS are covered by such licenses. With HTC and LG already paying Redmond royalties for devices using Android, that leaves the likes of Google, Motorola and Huawei as the odd manufacturers out. If Motorola has its way, however, that won't change.
