One week after announcing a similar deal with Quanta, Microsoft on Sunday revealed a new licensing arrangement with consumer electronics original design manufacturer Compal Electronics, Inc. The Redmond, Washington-based software company has reached a deal with Compal whereby it will receive royalty payments on sales of Compal’s tablets, cell phones, eReaders and other devices powered by Google’s Android or Chrome platforms. With this new deal in place, Microsoft also now holds licensing agreements with more than half of the worlds Android and Chrome ODMs. ”We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Compal, one of the leaders in the original design manufacturing, or ODM, industry,” Microsoft’s deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said in a statement. ”Together with the license agreements signed in the past few months with Wistron and Quanta Computer, today’s agreement with Compal means more than half of the world’s ODM industry for Android and Chrome devices is now under license to Microsoft’s patent portfolio. We are proud of the continued success of our licensing program in resolving IP issues surrounding Android and Chrome.” Microsoft’s full statement follows below.

Microsoft and Compal Electronics Sign Patent Agreement Covering Android and Chrome Based Devices

Agreement provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 23, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. and Compal Electronics, Inc. have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for Compal’s tablets, mobile phones, e-readers and other consumer devices running the Android or Chrome Platform.  Although the contents of the agreement have not been disclosed, the parties indicate that Microsoft will receive royalties from Compal under the agreement.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Compal, one of the leaders in the original design manufacturing, or ODM, industry.  Together with the license agreements signed in the past few months with Wistron and Quanta Computer, today’s agreement with Compal means more than half of the world’s ODM industry for Android and Chrome devices is now under license to Microsoft’s patent portfolio,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft.  “We are proud of the continued success of our licensing program in resolving IP issues surrounding Android and Chrome.”

Microsoft’s Commitment to Licensing Intellectual Property

The patent agreement is another example of the important role IP plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant IT ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, the company has entered into more than 700 licensing agreements and continues to develop programs that make it possible for customers, partners and competitors to access its IP portfolio. The program was developed to open access to Microsoft’s significant R&D investments and its growing, broad patent and IP portfolio.

More information about Microsoft’s licensing programs is available at http://www.microsoft.com/iplicensing/.

Just one short day after Nokia and Intel bestowed a great non-announcement upon us all, rumors are already flying. Bloomberg, citing the hit-or-miss Commercial Times as its sourceless source, suggests this morning that Nokia has placed orders with both Quanta Computer Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc. for netbooks/smartbooks.

June 24 (Bloomberg) – Nokia Oyj ordered netbook computers from Quanta Computer Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc., the Commercial Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

The Quanta netbook will use Intel Corp.’s Atom chip and will go on sale in the third quarter at the earliest, the Taipei-based, Chinese-language newspaper said.

Compal will make the so-called smartbook computer for Nokia using Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) Inc.’s Snapdragon chip, the newspaper said.

Nokia is the world’s biggest mobile phone maker. Taiwan-based Quanta and Compal are the world’s two biggest makers of laptop computers.

An Atom-based Nokia netbook in Q3? A Snapdragon-based smartbook? Sounds nice. If these rumors do have any credence, perhaps the latter will materialize as a Snapdragon-powered Internet Tablet as opposed to a “smartbook”. Enter wait-and-see mode… Now.

[Via IntoMobile]

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According to a recent Digitimes article, the China-based Commercial Times is reporting Compal may be forced to delay upcoming shipments of smartphones to Palm. The source states:

Shipments of Palm’s two smartphones will be delayed as Compal is waiting for Qualcomm’s new chipset solutions that will enable better performance, said the paper.

Such a vague statement is bound to get the rumor mill churning at light speed as people interpret one of the smartphones to mean “Palm Pre”. Good news for Pre fans as this rumor can be debunked before it even gets off the ground. While it is true that Palm has been rumored to have placed a large order for several models of smartphones from Compal, these handsets are supposedly Windows Mobile smartphones — not the WebOS-powered Palm Pre. In fact, the Pre, according to an earlier Digitimes article, is expected to be assembled by Chi Mei, a small Taiwan-based manufacturer known for assembling Motorola handsets. Further debunking the “Pre delay” rumor, the Pre is expected to contain a Ti OMAP processor and not a Qualcomm processor which is the source of the rumored delay. So, Pre fans, dry those eyes and consider the Palm Pre to still be on track for a 1H 2009 release.

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Last week, rumors were flying about a mysterious device with a swivel screen that was tentatively identified as the Palm Roteo. The folks over at Blog Times in Korea have dispelled that rumor however, and have identified the mystery device as the Compal Tabasco MID, a 4.5-5 inch touchscreen device with swiveling display that made its debut as a non-functional prototype at Computex 2008. The Compal Tabasco sports dual cameras with a front facing webcam and a rear 3.2 megapixel camera with 2x optical zoom and a flash. It also comes in with MID-sized dimensions of 160(W) x 85(H) x 33~35(D) mm, a mini touch pad and a 35 key QWERTY keyboard. It is not clear whether this device ever made it out of the prototype stage but we highly doubt that it will show up as the Palm Roteo come 2009. Then again, Palm was rumored to have placed a large order with Compal back in August so you never know. Hit the jump for a few more shots.

[Via Pocketables]

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