Tech buddies Microsoft and ASUS have been getting along famously so far, so the two have chose to take their friendship to the next level by expanding upon an earlier patent license agreement.
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Asus will pre-install unspecified Microsoft “productivity services” on its Android-based smartphones and tablets. Interestingly, a similar deal appears to have happened with Samsung which settled with Microsoft and subsequently began bundling Office as well.
Just one day after Microsoft announced it had put an end to its legal battle with Google, the company issued a press release stating that it has reached new a patent licensing agreement with Asus. It is true that since the arrival of Office on the iPad for example, it has become hard to see what could justify the use of Apple’s own office suite (iWork) in a pro environment since the apps offered are lacking in features compared to Microsoft’s apps; the same point could also be made about Android devices.
This expands on a private deal that was previously brokered between the companies, according to ZDNet.
Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft technology licensing, said: “This agreement delivers significant value for both companies”.
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Vincent Hong, General Counsel at ASUS, believes in this partnership and said, “This agreement will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers”. The two companies settled their dispute over Android patent licensing but did not disclose any terms.
