Samsung "Knows It Can't Rely On Google" Says Exec

Samsung has lashed out at Google over Android patent issues, with an executive at the company claiming it signed the Microsoft licensing deal because "Samsung knows it can't rely on Google." The unnamed official dismissed suggestions that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility would be beneficial to the ecosystem of Android device manufacturers at large, telling The Korea Times that "if Samsung truly believed that Google's takeover of Motorola Mobility was going to be helpful ... it would have waited until that deal was closed before concluding the license agreement with Microsoft."

"We've decided to address Android IP issues on our own" the source concluded. Other execs at Samsung basically confirmed that, to Microsoft, the cross-licensing deal was a way to lock the Korean firms not-inconsiderable might into producing handsets running its own Windows Phone OS. "As long as Samsung builds devices running Windows Phone," the Samsung sources confirmed, "it will benefit from Microsoft's patents."

Samsung's decision to ink a deal with Microsoft's lawyers didn't meet with glee at Google. Yesterday, the search giant accused Microsoft of "resorting to legal measures to extort profit from others' achievements and hinder the pace of innovation." Microsoft, meanwhile, said Google was being a crybaby, with head of communications Frank X. Shaw taking to Twitter to condense its rival's accusations into a single word: "Waaaah."

For Samsung, more platforms is apparently being seen as more defense against an increasingly hostile market. "Samsung is securing multiple mobile OSs to put it in a better position in its fight against Apple" an anonymous source told The Korea Times, highlighting that the firm has also thrown in with the new Tizen platform which will include Intel's MeeGo.

[Thanks Paul!]