Microsoft signs Android royalty agreement with Dell

It has been widely reported that Microsoft makes perhaps as much as $2 billion per year in Android patent fees due to the patents it owns. Some of that is based on assuming certain factors, but one cannot help but appreciate the irony of Microsoft making money off of Android devices.

Microsoft apparently holds patents that it claims are relevant to Chrome OS as well, but that is something Google is understandably challenging. In the meantime, Microsoft has made it position clear to OEMs that make all these gadgets.

Among them, Dell, who has just signed a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft. This is not just another one-way street though, since this also involves patents Dell owns and are relevant to the Xbox gaming consoles.

Dell has agreed to license intellectual property for Android and Chrome OS hardware it builds and sells while Microsoft has agreed to reciprocate for technology used in the Xbox. “Our agreement with Dell shows what can be accomplished when companies share intellectual property,” according to Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of the Innovation and Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft.

This arrangement may have something to do with the possibility of Microsoft wanting to expand Xbox Live functionality into Android and iOS environments.  An agreement such as this may dot the "i's" and cross the "t's."

Of course, Dell and Microsoft have had a relationship for decades even though the companies do compete with each other at certain levels. Gutierrez further noted, “We have been partnering with technology manufacturers and vendors for many years to craft licensing deals, instead of litigation strategies,” a statement obviously pointed at Google who refuses to play nice with Microsoft.

Dell, for its part, has dropped its Windows Phone plans for the time being, but continues to offer tablets and PCs running Windows. Dell also makes Venue tablets powered by Android in a variety of configurations.

source: Microsoft