Samsung pays MS $1 billion in royalties for using Android. wtf.

[superboyac]

So I've seen these stupid headlines now for a few days.  My first reaction: wtf.  Ok, so I know patents and lawsuits and technology is a good recipe for confusion of the dumbassest variety.  But what I can't seem to glean from any of the articles is what "features" is Microsoft collecting royalties on as it relates to Android?
The most reasonable explanation I found was on reddit:

Hilarious amount of butthurt and missinformed nonsense in this thread.

Let me give a little history lesson to those of you who were apparently born after 2010 and have no idea how mobile industry has developed:

    Microsoft has been in mobile bussiness since early 2000s, long before anyone heard about Android or iPhone, or in fact, long before average person had any idea what smartphone even is. They've developed hundreds of their own patents in that time.

    Google ripped of their patents when creating Android and started giving it away for free to hardware vendors.

    Google then went and bought Motorola for 12 fucking billion $ to have enough patent cushion to prevent them from being sued.

    Microsoft, in a brilliant move (you can have moral objections, but as far as business goes its a sheer stroke of genius), starts targeting Android-based hardware vendors with a lawsuit-protection racket.

    For every Android device out there, the vendors have to pay Microsoft. If vendors don't pay, they'll be sued. Rumours are, its 5-10$. Off every device. Think for a second just how much money they make of this. As such, MS doesn't bother with additionally suing Google, because that would ruin their little scheme.

    Google is helpless to stop it. While Motorola gave them a bit of a cushion, they can't sue Microsoft because they'd be ripped to shreds in open court battle.

    Vendors can't stop it because they're basically in the wrong. They're using Microsoft patented technology on their phones. You can't exactly hide that shit.

TL;DR - all of this happens because Google was trying to rush Android to the market and stolen bunch of key technologies in the process.

[Deozaan]

Links? Sources? etc.?

[mwb1100]

I don't know how much comes from Samsung, but MS definitely makes a ton of money licensing intellectual property to Android device makers:

  - http://www.businessi...yalties-2013-11?op=1
  - http://www.fosspaten...ts-21st-android.html

Update: a link to some Samsung details, including documents filed in court by MS: http://www.fosspaten...-over-1-billion.html

Apparently one of the patents that applies to Android devices is the patent on long file name support in FAT file systems.  I'm sure that there are a number of other ones.

[superboyac]

Links? Sources? etc.?

-Deozaan (October 06, 2014, 02:42 PM)

Sorry, was in a hurry.  No links in particular, I was just reading several different articles, none of which were clear what exactly the payment was for.

Thanks mwb for the links, explains some of the business behind it.

[Shades]

And with that almost half of the MS - minecraft deal is already paid for...