

Microsoft's Anti-Android FUD Campaign in Full Swing - emilsedgh
http://www.osnews.com/story/23872/Microsoft_s_Anti-Android_FUD_Campaign_in_Full_Swing

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rbanffy
This is not surprising. Ballmer doesn't like the idea of losing his job in
disgrace and Windows 7 Phone, while competitive, is still based on Windows CE.
If you ignore the GUI, the underlying OS is every bit as sophisticated and
modern as... Symbian.

These are the patents Microsoft mentioned to the International Trade
Commission. They may or may not the the patents mentioned in the Motorola
lawsuit.

5,579,517: Common name space for long and short filenames

5,758,352: Common name space for long and short filenames

6,621,746: Monitoring entropic conditions of a flash memory device as an
indicator for invoking erasure operations

6,826,762: Radio interface layer in a cell phone with a set of APIs having a
hardware-independent proxy layer and a hardware-specific driver layer

6,909,910: Method and system for managing changes to a contact database

7,644,376: Flexible architecture for notifying applications of state changes

5,664,133: Context sensitive menu system/menu behavior

6,578,054: Method and system for supporting off-line mode of operation and
synchronization using resource state information

6,370,566: Generating meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile
device

I wonder what Google could do to invalidate these patents...

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awa
From what I read as part of the comments in the article, it seems Google
already licensed some if not all of these patents (for Nexus one) and hence
kind of validate them.

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zacharypinter
Is it only for exchange server support? Or did they license some of the more
general/ridiculous patents?

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billybob
This really seems doomed. Yes, Android's "free" status got it traction. But it
appears that people like it. So if Win7 can't surpass it on that measure,
manufacturers are still going to want to use what their customers will buy.

I mean, even if there are patent fees, that just means the phone is a bit more
expensive, right? And you'll pay more for something you want than for
something you don't want, right? Price does not seem to me to be the driving
factor in the handset market.

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spinchange
Microsoft is championing this FUD, but I think it's worth remembering that it
didn't start with them. Apple and Oracle have set the "hidden cost of Android"
conversation in motion with their lawsuits.

Redmond actually has some room to make this kind of case since some of these
patents have already been licensed by HTC and (from what I read here) Google.

Go figure.

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CWuestefeld
If WM7 is so important, why is it that Microsoft explicitly does not support
syncing with 64-bit Outlook? This has led me to conclude that they've already
given up, and when my PocketPC dies, I'll be looking for an Android.

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jcromartie
> syncing with 64-bit Outlook

How is that even _a problem in the first place?_ I really will never
understand some of the situations Microsoft gets themselves into.

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wmf
I have no idea what causes this particular problem, but Office is notorious
for just writing in-memory data structures to disk and calling it a "file
format", which would make 32-bit and 64-bit incompatible.

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glhaynes
I've heard people say that, for example, the fact that a Linux system is made
of pieces from a million different projects is beneficial to its evolution
because doing this kind of crap simply isn't an option. Solid, well-defined
interfaces between components are a _must_ (and if they aren't an absolute
must, they won't exist - not necessarily because of laziness but because of
deadlines) in systems that are made from lots of independent groups'
components.

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wmf
I think there is some merit to that idea, but Linux may have taken it too far
when adding a syscall is like negotiating a multilateral treaty between the
kernel, glibc, and applications.

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lkjuhygthyujk
Isn't this like taking out a giant ad saying win7-mobile is so technically
poor - we have decided the only way to compete with Apple and Android is in
court with software patents?

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keithwarren
No. It is more like taking out a giant ad and saying we own lots of patents
and rather than sit on a wall with a plaque we intend to extract value from
them, because that is what our shareholders demand.

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lkjuhygthyujk
So one business model = Apple

Another = Unisys

Looks like the beginning of the end....

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sgk284
Apple was one of the first to sue Android, followed by Oracle, and now by
Microsoft.

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bhiggins
Microsoft used to say that Linux TCO was lower than Windows. Clearly that
argument it totally inapplicable to consumer phones. Their choices are very
limited at this point, so I expect the patent shakedowns to continue. So far,
it is working like a charm... Amazon, Salesforce, HTC, etc. I see no reason
why they'd stop.

Oh sure, they could try competing based on the quality of the product. But I
think they realize this is too difficult for them to pull off now.

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DjDarkman
Windows Phone 7 is a really good vapor-ware. And ridiculous patents + broken
patent system are the key to success

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keithwarren
vapor-ware? seriously? The OS has shipped to OEMs already. It actually does
exist.

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DjDarkman
Ok, ok, it's just crapware.

