Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Reportedly Uses Patent Blackmail Against Android to Force Samsung to Spread Microsoft Spyware (Incorporated Into Android) (Updated)

Samsung at risk of climbing back into Microsoft's bed

Samsung Mouse



Summary: Microsoft is reportedly pressuring Samsung, by means of expensive patent lawsuits, to turn Android into "Microsoft Android" (Microsoft spyware installed by default)

THE clown called Microsoft, which claims to "love Linux", is still attacking Linux in a big way. Usually this is done more or less covertly, so enough "useful idiots" won't see it and even defend Microsoft.



The other day we saw Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols addressing Microsoft's attack on Android through Cyanogen. Microsoft wants the world to believe that it 'owns' part of Android as it even claims to be 'licensing' Android, despite having nothing to do with Android development. Microsoft actively attacks Android from multiple directions and as Vaughan-Nichols put it:

The only thing that makes me take Cyanogen's plans seriously is that Amazon and Microsoft appear to be looking into investing in Cyanogen to help create an Android software eco-system that's not under Google's control. But, honestly, even if Amazon and Microsoft backed Cyanogen to the hilt, would that really matter?

Both companies have tried, and failed, to produce a popular smartphone. Indeed, Amazon's Fire smartphone lost approximately $170 million.

As for Cyanogen, its most well-known efforts to contract with phone vendors ended up with Indian phone giant Micromax and Chinese company Shenzhen OnePlus Technology locked in a lawsuit in the Indian courts. McMaster also made no friends for Cyanogen when he declared that "Samsung couldn't build a good OS if they tried." Since Samsung is the world's number one Android phone vendor and Kondik's former employer, this doesn't strike me as a way to win sales partners and influence carriers.

[...]

Only Microsoft with Windows Phone has seen even 2 percent of the mobile market. That's not enough. Even Windows Phone fans, given the lack of support for the platform from carriers like Verizon, have given up on Windows Phone. Major companies, including Chase and Bank of America, are also no longer supporting Windows Phone.


Cyanogen will fail just like similar attempts at disrupting Android at Microsoft's behalf. But it doesn't make the above any less harmful.

Samsung, based on some sources, is again leaning to Microsoft, which may blackmailing the Android leader (in terms of market share) into the agenda of "Microsoft Android" (extortion by Microsoft so as to get its way, as usual).

Engadget, for instance, wrote that "[q]uite a few smartphone fans will tell you that a Samsung phone's Achilles' heel is its software -- you'll find a ton of (frequently unwanted) apps and features that do little besides chew up space and slow things down. You may get to wave goodbye to that cruft when the Galaxy S6 shows up, however. A SamMobile source claims that Samsung is yanking a lot of its usual pre-installed bloatware, making the GS6 "amazingly fast" compared to a weighed-down phone like the Galaxy Note 4. The titles wouldn't go away forever, but you'd have to download in-house apps if you did want them. Instead, the focus would be on a host of included Microsoft apps: Office, OneDrive, OneNote and Skype would give you some solid productivity out of the box. It's not clear if the Microsoft deal has any connection to a recent truce with Samsung over patent royalties, although it wouldn't be surprising."

Samsung was the first devices company that publicly subscribed/signed up for Microsoft's patent attack on Linux in 2007, so we wouldn't be shocked if Samsung indeed decided to play ball for Microsoft, much as Nokia and Facebook had attempted (both Microsoft-owned, at least in part).

Update: Mary Jo Foley is Distorting or Making Up 'Facts' About Microsoft's Patent Attack on Android/Linux



An article by Paul Hill, linking to this widely-cited article, says that Microsoft is trying to hijack Android. He writes the following: "It looks like the two companies settled under the condition that Samsung will pre-load Microsoft’s apps on their Android devices.

"It’s likely that the next Samsung flagship smartphone will squarely try to appeal to corporate users as Samsung is already extremely popular with casual users. The device is expected to be launched on March 1st at Samsung’s annual ‘Unpacked’ event at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona alongside the Galaxy S Edge, an offering with curved edges that look as though they may give quick access to apps, but for obvious reasons, this isn’t clear."

It has been clear that Microsoft would try hard to make Android users dependent on OOXML and other Microsoft traps, but ZDNet, which is owned by CBS, continues to distort some facts and we must respond to that. The company's Microsoft booster (one of many) Mary Jo Foley promotes the infiltration by saying that "SamMobile claims the Galaxy S6 will remove pre-installed Samsung apps like S Voice, S Health, S Note and Scrapbook. These will be replaced by Microsoft apps like OneDrive, OneNote, the new standalone Office mobile apps and Skype."

Putting aside the crucial observation that this is not yet confirmed (see context above and bear in mind that SamMobile is scarcely known and hasn't acquired reputation), she adds some nonsense to it all by not introducing the full history of Microsoft and Samsung, including that old patent deal which apparently was more to do with FAT than anything else. ZDNet posts a summary [1] linking to the booster's [2] biased claims that add to the unsubstantiated smear, repeating the lie that has Microsoft portrayed as making billions out of Android, despite there being no concrete evidence (it's most likely that scaring OEMs is the goal). Given the patterns of Microsoft propaganda in ZDNet, we are not too shocked to see this. We do need to respond to these perceptions that are propagated to damage Android/Linux. These perceptions are mostly created and spread by sources that are aligned with Microsoft, as we've demonstrated in past years.

Related/contextual items from the news:


  1. Top Android news of the week: Shipments drop, Android Wear not big, royalty battle ends
    The suit against Samsung over royalty payments for Microsoft's patents has been settled. It involved payments to Microsoft that Samsung had stopped paying due to claims that the former's purchase of Nokia's handset business was a breach of the royalty agreement.

    Neither company disclosed terms of the settlement.


  2. Microsoft, Samsung settle contract dispute over Android patent payments
    Samsung is one of about two dozen companies selling Android, Chrome OS and/or Linux devices that are paying patent-royalty licensing fees to Microsoft.


Recent Techrights' Posts

Double-Dipping the Docket for Microsoft Glory and Censorship of Microsoft Critics
same lawyer, same barrister, all US, all Microsoft
IBM: Less Than a Month's Severance for Each Decade of Service
Yes, decade!
The EPO, Europe's Largest Patent Office, Admits Outsourcing to Microsoft Slop
Their sole goal is to make more money
 
Microsoft's "FUD-as-a-Service" (Against Linux) Not Functioning Well
This is the kind of contribution companies like Microsoft and Google have to offer to society
Betanews Becoming a Slopfarm is "Betanews Growing Alongside You", According to Betanews
Their first 'article' in over two weeks is 52% "AI-generated" (slop), 33% mixed (edited slop), 18% human-written, says an advanced scanner.
Coffee Day and LLM Sloppers
The LLM slop "bros" are a lot like fake-money bros; they lie to people, they boast that they lie to people, and they're generally bad people, BS artists in colloquial terms
TheLayoff Censorship of IBM Threads Has Gone Truly Ludicrous
we do not argue that TheLayoff should not cull LLM slop
More Stallmanites Added to FSF Board and Summer Fundraiser Commences
There's some good news from the FSF
Gemini Links 17/06/2025: Consistency and Notes About NixOS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 16, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 16, 2025
July 2 2025 Would Not be First Big Wave of Microsoft Layoffs Before Major National Holiday
July 2 or 3 mark the start of a very long weekend in the US
IDG's NetworkWorld Seems to Have Just Become LLM Slop
If IDG (now controlled by China) does that in at least one site, why not the rest? Only a matter of time?
Gemini Links 16/06/2025: Free Lunches and Bookmarklet for Mastodon
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Turns 6 on Friday
Active (online) Gemini capsules are estimated by Lupa at over 3,000
Taking a Lesson From Denmark and Greenland? Iceland Shows New Lows for Windows, All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
If Microsoft sabotages systems of judges at the Hague (in order to appease the insane man who wanted to invade Greenland), why won't its neighbour Iceland take note?
BetaNews Has Just Deleted Its Latest 'Article' or Got Cracked Again and Restored From Outdated Backup Again
BetaNews seems to be in some serious trouble right now
Software Freedom is "Activism" Because the Corporate Agenda Revolves Around Bribery, Deceit, and Betrayal
At the end Software Freedom will win because it's on the same side as truth and lawfulness
Links 16/06/2025: EchoLeak and NASA Teaming up With India
Links for the day
The Better the Understanding or the More Nations Understand the Threat Posed by Microsoft, the Faster It'll be Eradicated
We believe that the thing to advocate is self-hosting and Free software... A lack of simplicity or absence of alternatives is a form of vendor lock-in
A Week of Sunlight
They say transparency is like sunlight to a vampire
"Linux" Sites That Went Astray
there are even worse things than shutdowns
Links 16/06/2025: Climate, Wildfires, Breaches, and Monopolies
Links for the day
Links 16/06/2025: Summer in Finland and Misunderstandings
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 15, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 15, 2025
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: Rainy Season and OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Military Games, Parade, and Actions
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Windows TCO, Openwashing, and Wars
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: "AI Fatigue and Crappiness"
Links for the day
When Abusive Law Firms (Working for Microsofters Against Us) Assert That Someone Writing in Social Media About Himself is Confidential Information
There was no reason to throw "GDPR" into 2 SLAPPs; they know it, but the goal was to increase the cost of a Defence and lessen the incentive to challenge the SLAPPs
Microsoft Attack Dogs Against Watchdogs and Guard Dogs in Software
Last year Microsofters hired attack dogs or "guns for hire"
Slop Cannot Replace Domain Expertise
All this "AI" hype (it's not even intelligence, it's all a misnomer, as many of us have insisted all along) will fizzle and be written off as a failed experiment
IBM's Fresh 'PIPs' (Action Before Layoffs)
At times like these, even once-reputable employers resort to PIPs and other procedures/tricks for denial of workers' rights
Microsoft is a Problem Not Just for Denmark
Every country should consider what Denmark is doing, why Denmark is doing it, and then do the same
The Slopfarms' Self Detonation
If more sites like BetaNews go under, then maybe we can still salvage some of the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 14, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 14, 2025