Foxconn has agreed to license patents that Microsoft holds relating to Android and Chrome OS. Neither company has announced details of the deal, but the Taiwanese manufacturing giant — which makes over 40 percent of the world's consumer electronics devices, many in China — will be paying Microsoft royalties on its devices that run either Google operating system. According to Ars Technica, the agreement means that Foxconn is now the biggest licensee of Microsoft patents.

While Microsoft already has similar deals with several OEMs such as Acer that use Foxconn for manufacturing, the company will reportedly only collect fees once per device; both licensees will work out who pays the fee as part of their contract. The two companies have had their legal tussles in the past — Microsoft sued Foxconn in 2011 over the Nook e-readers it makes for Barnes & Noble — but the new alliance should mark a fresh start for both parties.