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Microsoft inks a patent and software deal with Lenovo
Microsoft is dipping its fingers into the coffers of yet another Android device manufacturer. The company has just announced a partnership with Lenovo, which will put its apps in the Chinese's manufacturer's Android phones. It also includes a patent cross-licensing deal that covers Lenovo's -- and Motorola's -- devices' giving it right to use some of Microsoft's intellectual properties. According to Redmond, its new partner has agreed to preload Office, OneDrive and Skype on select Android phones. It didn't specify which models are getting those apps, but company exec Nick Parker mentioned that they'll be loaded onto the company's "premium devices."
Honeywell next up to get a patent license from Microsoft, goes the Android handheld route
Stop us if you've heard this one before: a company that wants to start using (or keep using) a Google OS strikes a patent licensing deal with Microsoft to avoid the legal barrage that will invariably follow if it says no. It's Honeywell singing the tune this time, and the company has reached an agreement that will let it use Android or Chrome OS on devices like a new edition of the Dolphin 7800 rugged handheld (shown here) without perpetually looking over its shoulder. Neither side is going into the specifics, although Microsoft has steered Honeywell into using its boilerplate copy about royalties trading hands. The truce won't help the prices of Honeywell devices; even so, it's good news for developers and customers who've been part of the company's official Android feedback program. We're still yearning for the day when we can get root access on a Honeywell thermostat.
Apple and Liquidmetal hug it out, lengthen their pact until 2014
The deal between Apple and Liquidmetal was originally supposed to be a short-term fling. Technically, it expired in February this year, less than two years after the couple first met. There must have been a spark, as the two have just decided to extend their licensing deal through to February 2014. Of course, simply having a deal isn't the same as putting it to use, and there's no certainty that we'll see anything exotic materialize out of it: the last time Liquidmetal's extra-sturdy alloy was used in an Apple product, it wound up in a SIM card ejector tool. Still, Apple must have found something it wants to make in order to keep its union going forward, whether it's another tiny pack-in with an iPhone or (once costs allow) something a tad larger.
HTC and Samsung license entire Intellectual Ventures patent portfolio, gear up for war
Looks like HTC and Samsung are taking some aggressive steps to protect themselves from Android patent litigation -- in the past week both companies have entered into long-term patent licensing agreements with Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures. (Mhyrvold was once Microsoft's chief technology officer, but he's arguably more famous for Intellectual Ventures.) Both HTC and Samsung now have access to IV's entire portfolio of "more than 30,000 IP assets" to wield against current or potential legal opponents -- like, say, Apple or Oracle -- and IV also plans to help them manage their existing patent portfolios. It sounds to us like HTC and Samsung decided that they needed more patent muscle in order to survive in the now crazy-litigious smartphone market, and indeed, the PR announcing the HTC deal flatly says the smartphone maker is "working with IV to mitigate its patent risk." Of course, this is also a bit of a deal with the devil -- Intellectual Ventures might be the most infamous patent troll in history, and HTC and Samsung have essentially decided the risks and cost of doing business with IV are more favorable than the risks and cost of going to court. Either way, we'll see how this all shakes out -- and we've got a feeling that the Apple / HTC lawsuit is about to get seriously interesting.
Pixel Qi and OLPC to share all current and future screen tech
Our man Nicholas Negroponte was certainly excited about pushing the state of the art forward with future versions of the OLPC when we hosted him on The Engadget Show earlier this month, and now he's got one more tool to help make that happen: the OLPC Foundation and Pixel Qi just signed a permanent and free cross-license on a slew of next-generation screen technology patents, including Pixel Qi's sweet dual-mode displays. If you're recall, Pixel Qi's Mary Lou Jepson actually developed part of the 3Qi screen tech while at OLPC, so there was some mild confusion over who owned what -- but the two organizations have solved that problem by cross-licensing all future and current IP covering multi-mode screens. See, it's easy for two tech companies to get along... especially when one is actually a charity that's not at all concerned with profits. Super simple. So -- let's get working on that OLPC XO-3, shall we?
