back to article Cram my freebies into Android phones and get a royalty discount, says Microsoft (allegedly)

A new report claims Microsoft hasn't been offering Android device vendors any money to bundle its mobile apps on their phones and slabs; rather, it has offered to reduce the tolls it collects from the mobe-makers. Citing sources among supply chain players in China and Taiwan, DigiTimes Research says Redmond has offered to cut …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    the truth comes out

    Neat how it's Microsoft that gets to extort Android manufacturers when they barely push any rectangles.

  2. Graham Marsden
    Thumb Down

    Nice OS you've got there Squire...

    ... oh you know the rest...

  3. Tristan Young

    Just waiting till a safe root is produced that doesn't trip KNOX (or fixes it), and then I'll be jettisoning Microsoft's crapware from my phone. Honestly, If I wanted Microsoft's apps on my phone, I would install them myself. I don't ever plan to use them. For now, they have been disabled or hidden.

  4. Mark 85
    Unhappy

    Same old MS, different platform.

    Reminds of the similar stunts they pulled on the early PC builders. Different stunts, true. But still ends up with MS stuff on everything that will run it.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Maybe Google should have worried a bit about patents before convincing all the equipment manufacturers to pile in to Android. If they had, Microsoft would not have this leverage.

    But Google does not seem to care about anything as long as they can capture and sell their users data...

    1. Richard Plinston

      > Maybe Google should have worried a bit about patents before convincing all the equipment manufacturers to pile in to Android. If they had, Microsoft would not have this leverage.

      It was the manufacturers, and their customers, that decided to 'pile in to Android', Google just made it available. For example Amazon, Barnes and Noble, many smaller companies and even Nokia made Android phones that avoid Google and use their own services.

      Barnes & Noble challenged Microsoft over the 'patents' and got a $300,000 'investment' from MS, apparently because they did not want them tested in court. The main 'patent' is on FAT32 long filenames which runs out soon. If an SD card is included it seems that it is easier for the manufacturer to pay a couple of dollars.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yeah I'm sure they didn't consider patents at all.

      Not one second.

      Not a jot.

      Didn't even know what the word meant.

    3. joefranelli

      but that's googles strategy throw shit against a wall and see if it sticks. If it doesn't who cares, but if it does... Awesome

  6. Mikel

    exFAT is required for SD

    That is the only serious patent - and the patent is for dual namespace for long filename and 8.3 filename. I.e. it goes back to DOS.

    Chinese companies have taken to calling the expandable storage Trans Flash now, so no SD and no exFAT problems.

    1. MrDamage Silver badge
      Meh

      expandable storage Trans Flash

      Now why does that sound like something that happens when you finally get the miniskirt off that :girl" you picked up in a Bangkok bar?

  7. king of foo

    will only work for noobs

    For "new" android users moving from winphone or iOS this preloaded bloatware strategy makes sense, but established android users will likely end up importing all the apps/settings from another device during initial startup - along with whatever existing/established alternative to ms that they've been using for the many years prior to ms' lightbulb moment.

    Unless the ms equivalents are actually "better" I can see those apps just wasting space/never being used.

    *I use kingsoft/WPS office and IMHO it's vastly superior to the ms apps but YMMV.

  8. tony2heads

    Bundling crapware

    Does anyone have a patent on that?

  9. IGnatius T Foobar

    Racketeering

    This is racketeering, plain and simple. All of the top brass at Microsoft should be serving jail time.

  10. Bob Vistakin
    Linux

    Don't be evil

    As if anyone had any doubt who Google had in mind when it took on that slogan.

    1. RyokuMas
      FAIL

      Re: Don't be evil

      Too bad they've now become the very thing they were supposed to be standing against...

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