Will new Android devices from Lenovo be packed full of helpful applications from Microsoft or will they be bogged down with Redmond’s bloatware?
The answer will come soon as premium Android devices from Lenovo will be equipped with Microsoft’s productivity apps, according to a deal between Lenovo and Microsoft announced recently. The deal will also apply to mobile devices carrying the Motorola brand, which is owned by Lenovo.
Microsoft Office, Skype and OneDrive will be pre-installed on millions of Lenovo devices that run the Android operating system, according to the partnership between the companies. Lenovo plans to ship millions of these Android-based devices worldwide over the next several years, according to the announcement from the two companies.
“Our collaboration with Microsoft will create new opportunities for our customers to take advantage of some of Microsoft’s most popular apps,” Christian Eigen, leader of corporate alliances at Lenovo, said in the statement. “Installing Microsoft apps and services on our devices will bring additional value to consumers around the globe.”
More Bloatware?
The patent cross-licensing agreement is part of Redmond’s push to inject its software across multiple brands of hardware to get as many PC and mobile users deploying Microsoft apps as possible. It’s not clear yet exactly which of Lenovo’s mobile devices will have Microsoft apps built into them.
The move might draw the ire of some users of Lenovo devices since it wouldn’t be the first time the PC maker’s gadgets have been pre-packaged with software that buyers didn’t necessarily request.
Last year, Lenovo caught heat for pre-installing advertising software called Superfish Visual Discovery that not only sent ads to device users but also opened up Lenovo gadgets to hackers. The browser add-on tampered with Web sites’ security certificates, making devices with the software installed less able to tell phony Web sites from legitimate ones. Millions of Lenovo laptops came with the ad software.
Lenovo worked with Microsoft and McAfee to repair the vulnerability, but faced a class-action lawsuit in the matter and later apologized and promised to never release devices with such adware again.
Licensed Worldwide
Lenovo is only one of 74 original equipment manufacturers in 25 countries that have signed patent licensing deals with Microsoft. Other hardware manufacturers that have been licensed to use Microsoft’s productivity tools on the Android platform include Samsung, Dell, Asus, LG, Sony and Acer. Android device vendors have paid as much as $1 billion in patent royalties per year before Microsoft’s major effort toward patent cross-licensing.
The growing presence of Microsoft applications on Android phones might be a way for Microsoft to pick up the slack from the relatively muted reaction it has gotten from its own mobile operating system, Windows Phone. Lenovo and Microsoft didn’t release any financial details about their deal.
Pictured above: Concept of Microsoft’s productivity apps on Android device from Lenovo.
