Catching up with news from the UK night, Microsoft and Samsung have apparently ended their dispute over patents and royalty fees. Android uses a number of patented Microsoft technologies but Samsung halted making payments after Microsoft acquired Nokia. See the press release below - exact terms weren't disclosed, but clever money says that this should ease the way for more Samsung-made Windows (10) phones in the future.

From the very short Microsoft press release:

“Samsung and Microsoft are pleased to announce that they have ended their contract dispute in U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration. Terms of the agreement are confidential.” – Samsung’s Jaewan Chi, Executive Vice President and Global Legal Affairs & Compliance Team and Microsoft’s David Howard, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel.

The reason for the initial halting of royalty payments was that Microsoft was effectively becoming a competitor to Samsung in the mobile space, something which was prohibited in the original royalty agreements for Android. It's still a competitor, of course, so hopefully Microsoft has exercised common sense and cut Samsung a little slack in what it thinks the company still owes.

One by one, the legal spats that threatened to cripple the mobile industry are being put to one side, thankfully. As to whether all this does lead to more Samsung Windows phones, let's hope so - the ecosystem needs more involvement by other major companies and not just Microsoft (and HTC in one region).