Android will stay free, says Schmidt

Google Executive Chairman, never one to walk away from an open microphone, toured South Korea yesterday and told reporters that the Android operating system will continue to be free to developers. So if you’re making a new phone, a new tablet, a new whatever, and you want to use Android as your OS, have at it. On the house. It’s one of the reasons that Android has become the most popular OS in the world for mobile devices, even though Apple makes a lot more money on smartphones than Google does.

Schmidt also used the occasion to gripe about Microsoft’s ongoing patent litigation aimed at companies who make Android based devices.

From the WSJ:

To protect against claims by Microsoft that Android violates its software patents, Samsung has reached a patents-sharing deal that involves the payment of royalties to Microsoft for Samsung’s Android-based smartphones and tablets.

When asked about the deal, Schmidt didn’t address it directly but he criticized Microsoft’s litigation against cellphone makers that are using Android. “Microsoft is not telling the truth on this issue, and they are using tactics to scare people because they are scared of the success of Android,” Schmidt said.