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Top Android news of the week: Galaxy phones coming, Microsoft apps, Motorola guilty

In Android this week was news that Microsoft apps will be preinstalled on Android phones, Galaxy S6 gets an availability date, and Motorola was found guilty of patent infringement.
Written by James Kendrick, Contributor

Cyanogen gets funding for taking Android from Google
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The company that started as a custom ROM builder for Android has received $80 million in funding. Cyanogen has made it clear it will try to free Android from Google, by making it open to all. The funding will help the firm give that a good try.

Google has firm control over Android by integrating its services into the heart of the OS. Cyanogen doesn't like that and intends to build its forked version that lets users integrate other services as they see fit.

Source: Forbes

Dell to preinstall Microsoft apps on Android

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The folks in Redmond are getting a boost from Dell with an agreement to preinstall Microsoft apps on Dell's Android devices. This agreement is in line with Microsoft's drive to put its apps on other platforms.

The apps on Dell's Android devices include among others Office, Skype, and OneDrive, some of Microsoft's biggest apps.

Microsoft is also going to preinstall its apps on some Samsung Android devices.

Source: CNET

Jury: Motorola guilty of patent infringement

A jury in Delaware found that Motorola infringed on a patent held by patent troll Intellectual Ventures. The patent involved multimedia text messaging. Motorola was found to not infringe on a second patent related to wireless bandwidth.

Damages for the infringement are to be determined at some time in the future.

Intellectual Ventures owns 70,000 patents and regularly sues those it feels are violating them.

Source: Reuters

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Galaxy S6 phones to be available April 10 in US

The next generation Galaxy phones, the S6 and S6 Edge, will hit the US on April 10 according to Samsung. Pricing info is just starting to emerge.

The new phones will be important to Samsung's bottom line. That will be aided by the fact that Samsung uses its own screens and processors in the S6 and S6 Edge, which will help the firm across divisions.

Source: ZDNet

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