[Am-info] At it again

[Gene Gaines]

Embrace, suck the good stuff out, then destroy.
My concept of Microsoft innovation!

I don't remember a mention of what is happening to Sendo on
AM-INFO, so below is a piece from Brian Livingston's "Window
Manager" InfoWorld.com enewsletter of Monday, Jan. 13, 2003.

Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia

...
"Telephony or just phony? I wrote early last year about
Microsoft's Smartphone software -- a bid to make
Windows the dominant OS on the new generation of
full-color cellular handsets. (See
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/02/04/01/020401opwinman.xml
.)

Beating Microsoft in the market so far is Symbian, a
platform that's been adopted by every major cell phone
maker, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Panasonic.

This is important because the cell phone is the new
PDA. Handhelds such as Palms and Pocket PCs sold 12
million units in 2001, but 400 million cell phones
were bought that year. Ka-ching!

At the time of my earlier column, the only serious MS
Smartphone maker was Sendo, a British startup.
Remarkably, Sendo switched to Symbian, then filed suit
against Microsoft last month. The suit alleges that
Sendo trade secrets somehow got to another Microsoft
partner, Taiwan's High Tech Computers (HTC). The
evidence? In October, just before Sendo's first
Smartphone was to ship, European cellular carrier
Orange came out with a similar phone made by HTC.

The suit reveals that Microsoft has a contractual right
to gain a royalty-free license for Sendo's technology
if the latter firm files for bankruptcy. That may come
soon, the documents say, because Microsoft has
withheld $14 million in payments.

Microsoft executives have declined interviews on the
suit. But Reuters a few weeks ago quoted officials as
saying allegations of misuse of Sendo's proprietary
information were without merit.

Brian Livingston is co-author of 10 Windows Secrets
books. Send tips to brian@secretspro.com. Subscribe to
Window Manager and E-Business Secrets at 
http://www.iwsubscribe.com/newsletters.