14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft continues its efforts to make Windows Phone (or Windows 10 for phones, as its mobile platform is now being called) a more powerful rival for iOS and Android, and the software giant has just found a way to do this with help from one of the world's leading phone manufacturers: Samsung.
Microsoft has long worked together with Samsung on a number of projects, but it's no secret that as far as Windows Phone is concerned, the South Korean company has never been quite a big supporter of Redmond's mobile platform.
Sure, Samsung launched the ATIV lineup of Windows Phone models, but newer and high-end devices are still missing from its portfolio, which is pretty much living proof that Android remained its top priority in the last few years.
And yet, things are going to change very soon, as Microsoft and Samsung are becoming closer friends, not on purpose, but because of what seems to be a very well-thought-out strategy of the Softies.
An anti-Samsung lawsuit
Microsoft started a legal action against Samsung in 2014, claiming that the South Koreans refused to pay their Android royalties following its takeover of Nokia.
Since Microsoft is one of the biggest Android patent holders out there (and it makes around $2 billion each year out of them without moving a finger), the company took a dispute with Samsung to court, trying to get its money back. But it appears that this wasn't all the software giant was going after.
A couple of months ago, we've heard some rumors (which our sources could not confirm) that Microsoft's executives prepared a very interesting offer for Samsung.
“Microsoft to Samsung: here's an offer you can't refuse – we drop the lawsuit if you launch new Windows phones.”
Basically, Microsoft agreed to settle the legal dispute against the South Koreans if Samsung agreed to focus more on Windows and launch new devices powered by Windows Phone. Once again, this information wasn't confirmed, but there are signs that such negotiations indeed took place behind closed doors.
If Samsung indeed decides to launch Windows Phones, this could be not only a major win for Microsoft, which thus brings on its side of the biggest phone manufacturers in the world, but also a hit for Android, which is pretty much Microsoft's biggest rival right now in developing countries.
And an offer Samsung could not refuse
Little was said about the negotiations between the two companies, but recently Microsoft announced that it settled the lawsuit with Samsung. Without providing any other details, that is.
And yet, here we have some rumors claiming that Samsung Galaxy S6 could come with Microsoft software pre-installed. Samsung all of a sudden decides to drop bloatware and give its buyers a number of apps developed by Microsoft, including Office and OneDrive, on ALL devices.
Right now, there's no evidence that Samsung's decision to bring Microsoft's products on its devices is in any way related to the settled lawsuit between these two, but it's hard not to think about this. This, coupled with the information we had a few months ago, could be a sign that Microsoft is playing its card right to make some of its products more successful.
So the big question right now is related to Windows. Is Microsoft forcing Samsung in any way to bet more on Windows?
It's difficult to give an answer right now since officials of both companies are completely tight-lipped and don't want to offer any kind of information in this regard, but there's no doubt that if there were indeed some talks between Microsoft and Samsung on future devices, Windows 10 for phones was one of the key topics.
With Windows 10 for phones, Microsoft gets the second, and probably the last chance to become relevant in a market that still belongs to Android and iOS and joining forces with Android, a top Android supporter, is clearly a smart move.
Of course, making Windows 10 for phones successful depends on much more than that, but Microsoft is trying to think this out carefully, and in addition to partnerships with companies that would support the new release, Redmond is also hard at work to make the operating system a bit more advanced.
A technical preview is up for grabs already and Microsoft guarantees that with help from its users, it would get this one right. We're only a few months away from getting an answer to this.