Nelson Ocampo
03-08-2011, 08:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microsofts-Windows-Phone-7-paidcontent-3736378008.html?x=0&.v=1' target='_blank'>http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Micro...8.html?x=0&.v=1</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT - News) won a huge new partnership with Nokia (NYSE:NOK - News) that could light a fire under its mobile division, but it will come at a price: over $1 billion. The five-year agreement between the two companies—which somehow still hasn’t been signed—will see over $1 billion transferred from Microsoft to Nokia to encourage the production of Windows Phone 7 handsets, although it’s not all one-sided: Nokia will pay a licensing fee per handset to Microsoft that could eventually make the deal profitable for Microsoft, according to a report from Bloomberg. Still, the payments will start before the first Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets arrive, which means that they’ll have to sell in decent volume for Microsoft to eventually see a payout."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1299606182.usr117767.jpg" style="border: 0; vertical-align: middle;" /></p><p>While this may seem like a lot of money, it is equivalent to only 5 percent of the profits Microsoft made last year.</p><p>So, what is Microsoft really buying for the $1 billion? It isn't only Nokia's love, support, and marketing that they'll be getting, but also rights to Nokia's huge library of patents. Nokia has been in the handset game for a while, and they have quite a few innovations themselves. And now MS will have access to them without having to worry about possible lawsuits from Nokia. <a href="http://www.gadgetreports.info/mobile/688/" target="_blank">Something Apple wasn't as lucky with.</a> </p><p>Check out the link for the full scoop. </p>