Microsoft Puts the Squeeze on Samsung

[ECTNews]

 Microsoft has reportedly trained its Android patent guns on Samsung Electronics, demanding $15 for every Android-based handset the Korean manufacturer produces. If true, this could be the highest fee demanded by Redmond for its Android patents so far. Microsoft is reportedly getting royalties of $5 per Android device from Taiwanese mobile device giant HTC. The move on Samsung comes on the heels of Microsoft's signing up two other companies -- General Dynamics' Itronix division and Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron -- to cough up royalty payments for using Android and, in Wistron's case, Google Chrome in their devices. "Redmond has figured out how to successfully milk the Android cash cows," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, told LinuxInsider.