Microsoft announced Thursday it expanded its Exchange ActiveSync IP licensing program and posted technical documents to spur development of prototype applications that link to its Exchange Server and Exchange ActiveSync-enabled mobile phones.
The Exchange ActiveSync software is designed to allow mobile phones to receive wireless push e-mail, as well as synchronize calendar, contacts and tasks. It also aims to allow companies to manage wireless devices and enact security policies.
The software giant also posted the protocols on the Microsoft Developer Network and expanded the licensing program to establish greater clarity on the steps and licensing terms that are needed when other companies want to commercialize the ActiveSync applications.
Microsoft ended a patent-infringement fight against Primax Electronics Ltd. of Taiwan after the Asian company agreed to pay royalties on computer-mouse technology.
Microsoft had filed a complaint in July at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, seeking to prevent Primax from selling its mice in the U.S., and a civil suit in federal court seeking cash. The Redmond-based company said it acted after the two sides failed to reach a licensing agreement.
The case marks a rare instance in which Microsoft has sued others for patent-infringement. It more frequently defends itself against lawsuits by patent owners. Microsoft said more than 30 companies have licensed its mouse technology, which is part of a broader company program to license hardware patents.
Microsoft and Alcatel-Lucent SA have settled most of their patent litigation, officials of the two companies said.
Financial terms weren't disclosed. The agreement covers six lawsuits, including one that resulted in the largest patent verdict in U.S. history before it was thrown out by a judge. Microsoft will continue its appeal of a $368 million verdict it lost that swelled to $511.6 million in June, the companies said.
The companies have been fighting since 2002, when Lucent, then a standalone concern, began demanding royalties from Microsoft customers Gateway Inc. and Dell Inc. over features in the Microsoft Windows operating system. A federal jury in San Diego in one case awarded Alcatel $1.52 billion -- the largest patent verdict ever -- over digital music technology.
One of Yahoo!'s biggest investors this week demanded that the company sell its Internet search unit to Microsoft. Ivory Investment Management LP, which owns 21.4 million Yahoo! shares, says that such a move could double the value of Yahoo!.
"We believe a search deal with Microsoft could deliver value to Yahoo shareholders of $24-29 per share, or more than double yesterday's closing price of $12.19," a letter from Ivory managing partner Curtis Macnguyen wrote in a letter to the Yahoo! board of directors.
"We envision a deal whereby Microsoft would acquire all of Yahoo's search assets and enter into a perpetual agreement for Microsoft to be the search provider for all Yahoo properties.
Microsoft plans to issue a "release candidate" of the new standards-driven Internet Explorer 8 early in the first quarter, with final release pegged for the first half of the coming year.
The RC, as it's called, will also add a new feature aimed at making IE8 more transparently handle sites created using differing Web standards, company officials told InternetNews.com today.
When Microsoft releases the RC, the next major version of the company's browser will be all but finished. As long as no "showstopper" bugs are found at the last minute, IE8 will be released to the public.
Microsoft's upcoming Frankenstein's monster of a mobile device, called Zune Mobile internally at the software giant, may or may not debut next month at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. I guess it all depends on which rumors you believe. The rumors are so prevalent, in fact, that Microsoft actually commented on them this week: "No Zune phone at CES," Zune group manager Brian Seitz said. Which, when you think about it, isn't the same as saying "no Zune phone."
So to clear up the misconceptions, allow me to tell you what's really happening. Microsoft is indeed moving forward with its plans for the Zune Mobile platform, which is based on Windows Mobile (obviously) and will include Zune digital media playback functionality (obvious) and a Zune-inspired crossbar UI (also obvious).
Microsoft on Monday released a near-final version of its Windows Live Essentials suite, which bundles several Windows applications and services into a single installation. The company plans to ship the final version of the suite next month.
"We're getting very close to the final release," the Windows Live team wrote in a blog posting announcing the release. "But before we get there, we're refreshing the beta versions one more time to make sure we've ironed out all the kinks.
"In a face-to-face meeting last week, Windows Live Senior Director of Product Management Ryan Gavin referred to this week's update as a "release candidate," underscoring how close to release the products are.
IT cloning software for Windows Mobile 6.1 devices and below has been launched by Sprite Software, which reported its Windows Mobile backup solution is in use by more than 10 million users of the Microsoft mobile operating system.
Announced last week by the New Zealand-based software firm, Sprite Clone 6.5 enables IT departments to mass deploy various performance improvements across multiple users. "Sprite Clone 6.5 an organization the ability to mass deploy corporate applications, security configurations, and other policy-approved customizations in a fraction of the time and budget of setting devices up manually," said Kevin O'Toole, Sprite's head of enterprise sales, in a statement.
Microsoft said a release candidate version of its Internet Explorer 8 browser is imminent and developers ought to get ready for it. Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer at Microsoft, said Microsoft will soon release an RC version of the IE8 browser with enhanced standards support, better tooling and other new features added since the beta 2 release of the technology.Microsoft said a release candidate version of its Internet Explorer 8 browser is imminent and developers ought to get ready for it.
When Microsoft hired Qi Lu to run its online business last week, the company trumpted the fact that Lu holds 20 patents.
Patents are far from rare at Microsoft--many developers and researchers hold them--but the online business has typically been led by people with a business or marketing background. That hasn't been working out too well, so they're putting a geek in charge.
Qi Lu The Seattle Post Intelligencer's Microsoft reporter, Joe Tartakoff, did a little digging on Tuesday to uncover exactly what kinds of patents Lu holds. Most interesting to me, one of them relates to music.