Will you trust this man?
WE HAVE posted literally dozens of times about Microsoft imposing a patent tax on phones running Linux. This only applies to phones from Samsung, LG, HTC, and Kyocera Mita (Asian companies where software patents have some legitimacy).
“Microsoft also wishes to control the software which runs on these Linux-powered phones and MonoDroid is one option for achieving this.”According to news which reached Slashdot some hours ago, Microsoft is now promoting this route, offering even more endorsement to Mono. "Miguel de Icaza is not concerned about legal challenges by Microsoft over .Net implementations, and even recommends that Google switch from using Java," says the summary from Slashdot. Earlier this month we showed that Microsoft MVP de Icaza was twisting and lying about the Java lawsuit [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], as we last noted two days ago.
So, why is Microsoft so desperate to make Android Microsoft dependent? Well, it's because their own phones are failing and market share is falling. Microsoft's mobile reality is gloomy. Vista Phone 7 [sic] won't change much, definitely not with its reliance on Silverlight. OpenBytes expects Microsoft to throw yet another $400 million (or more) down the drain:
Cast your mind back to some of the Microsoft adverts of the past. Lets reminisce with a wry smile at the shoe commercials that were supposed to be funny. Let’s remember the Windows 7 party adverts that were so wooden, that they made an episode of Home & Away look like a cinematic masterpiece. Then we had the “Kin” the f’Kin (sic) phone that must have hurt Microsoft badly when not only did the advertising fail to impress, but the phone itself was dumped shortly after (allegedly after pushing only a few more than 500 units).
It appears Microsoft just can’t relate to people with many products or its advertising in my view. For example, it’s very easy to tout success with Windows 7, when as my recent article touched on, you get no choice over what comes pre-loaded on your machine when you enter a store. I could tout millions of deployments of my operating system if I was able to preload it on all the machines at a retailer.
That aside though, its been reported that Microsoft is to stuff 400 million dollars in the war chest to pimp their next experiment (Windows Mobile 7) and it will be investors (I would assume) who are thinking that with this figure, plus the giveaway of phones to Microsoft employee’s should prove very costly if Win Mob goes the way of the Kin. After all, Windows 7 Mobile is said by some to be its “next of Kin”