license

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgxyreJRLj8

Samsung is already using the Immersion haptics technology in a couple of its products including the Galaxy S3, but today the two companies announced a multiyear licensing agreement that would allow Samsung to bring Immersion’s TouchSense and Integrator technology to new devices.

“We are very pleased by Samsung’s broad adoption of our haptic technology, and we believe that this agreement marks an important milestone in our strategy to monetize our technology more fully within the mobile market,” said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas.

The Integrator tech works together with Immersion’s TouchSense technology, and it is described by the company as an option for OEMs “that automatically add haptics into the Android UI and applications and provides an easy way to customize the overall tactile feel of the device.”

The press release also noted that the deal extends to “Samsung’s prior and future use of simple forms of haptic effects, sometimes referred to as Basic Haptics, in its smartphones and other mobile devices.”
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Microsoft is not stopping on its mission to sign patent licensing agreements with just about every Android vendor around from Samsung to Acer, and over 10 others. As of its latest agreement with LG, the company now collects royalties from over 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the United States. According to a deal with HTC inked in May, that figure could be as much as $5 per device sold. Now, Microsoft is apparently in talks with Pantech, South Korea’s third biggest smartphone vendor, for a similar licensing agreement.

Pantech confirmed the discussions to Yonhap News (via The Next Web):

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This morning word broke that Microsoft and Samsung entered a cross-licensing agreement that would see Samsung paying royalties on their smartphones and tablets running Android. This prompted the following statement from Google:

“This is the same tactic we’ve seen time and again from Microsoft. Failing to succeed in the smartphone market, they are resorting to legal measures to extort profit from others’ achievements and hinder the pace of innovation. We remain focused on building new technology and supporting Android partners.”

After these claims of extortion, Microsoft’s head of communications Fran Shaw took to Twitter (above), to respond. His second Tweet read, “I would encourage the folks in MV in slowly read graf 5 of our blog on the topic today. Here’s the link again: bit.ly/oZbi3X”

The paragraph he’s referring to is below, which clearly shows Microsoft’s intent to continuing pursuing these types of deals with other Android vendors.

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It’s no secret that Microsoft makes more money off Android then their own quickly failing phone business, thanks to licensing agreements with HTC which see a royalty paid to the company for every Android HTC device sold. A new licensing agreement with ViewSonic will see Microsoft again collecting royalties off ViewSonic’s smartphone and tablet devices running Android or Chrome.

Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing Horacio Gutierrez had the following to say about the agreement:

“We are pleased that ViewSonic is taking advantage of our industrywide licensing program established to help companies address Android’s IP issues,” he continued, “this agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercially reasonable arrangements that address intellectual property.”

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