Tech giant inks deal with ASUS to install Office on its Android phones

Last year, ASUS reportedly dropped several laptop/tablet hybrid devices that dual-boot Windows and Android at the behest of Microsoft.

Thanks to a new patent licensing deal, ASUS will now install Microsoft Office and other “innovative product solutions” from Microsoft on its new Android phones.

The new deal builds on an already existing private deal over Android phones between the two companies, according to a report by ZDNet.

Although it holds majority of the patent cards, Microsoft generously said the pact "opens the door to the kind of collaboration between Microsoft and ASUS made possible only through mutual respect and alignment on intellectual property."

Last year, ASUS reportedly dropped several laptop/tablet hybrid devices that dual-boot Windows and Android at the behest of Microsoft.

 

Several media reports reveal that Microsoft is not afraid to flex its muscles as head of the Rockstar patent consortium that includes Apple, BlackBerry, and Ericsson.

 

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, recently resolved to stop focusing on beating Google in their smartphone OS wars, as former CEO Steve Ballmer did. Instead, Nadella plans to get Microsoft products onto as many Android phones as possible, a strategy that is working out better.

ASUS joins other tech giants like Samsung, LG, Sony, and 20 or so other manufacturers that have signed deals with Microsoft to bundle Office apps on Android devices.