Posts tagged exchange
Microsoft and Amazon announce open-source patent agreement, trinkets in exchange for air kisses
Feb 23rd
Mention “Microsoft” and “open-source” in the same breath and you’re guaranteed to create a suspicion interrupt within the Linux community. Toss in “patent agreement” and out come the irate spokesmen. So imagine the response to the announcement that Microsoft and Amazon have reached a cross-patent agreement that gives Amazon the right to use open-source software in its Kindle in exchange for an undisclosed tithe to Redmond. Microsoft also gains rights to Amazon’s patent portfolio.
The move prompted Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, to claim that Microsoft appears to be trying to, “create uncertainty around Linux.” Mind you, this isn’t just tin-foil worry from the wire colander collective, Microsoft claims that free and open-source software . A big enough stick to coax a number of companies — like , , , Apple, and HP — into striking agreements with Microsoft or risk litigation as was the case . Agreements that Canonical’s Mark Shuttelworth called, “,” or “” if you prefer Sun Microsystems’ take.
originally appeared on on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:51:00 EST. Please see our .
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Bell’s Palm Pre now free — in exchange for three years of your life
Jan 24th
How long does it take for a smartphone to go from two hundred bucks on contract all the way down to a big, fat goose egg? If you’re Bell — and the phone is the — the answer is right around five months, apparently. Following its and a couple of , Bell’s now making Palm’s first webOS-based device available for free just as long as you’re willing to commit to three years at a minimum spend of CAD $50 (about $47) a month. The move likely comes on the announcement of the , perhaps as a preemptive strike against any of its competitors planning on carrying it — and if we were Sprint right now, we’d be paying very, very close attention to these guys.
originally appeared on on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:59:00 EST. Please see our .
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