An Android developer claims Apple warned Google not to use multitouch controls in its Android mobile OS. Find out if a deal shadier than a football transfer went down after the jump.
A report over at Venturebeat suggests that Apple asked Google directly not to include multitouch in Android, and the search giant complied. Hence the clunky one-finger zooming on the T-Mobile G1, even though we know the technology is in place to recognise more slick pinching motions, or more than one poke at a time.
True? It’s certainly feasible – Apple has issued an open warning, which we think was directed mainly at Palm, in recent weeks over multitouch after it bagged a patent in the technology. What’s more, Google and Apple are increasingly living in each others’ pockets: iLife 09 has YouTube support built in, as does the iPhone, which also includes a Google search bar in its Safari browser.
Oh, and there’s the small matter of Google CEO Eric Schmidt sitting on the board at Apple.
But if this is the case, it’s still perfectly legal – Google is simply avoiding a legal quagmire by not wading in until another company has taken on Apple (and its army of lawyers) and risked the legal bill for finding out how broad Apple’s multitouch patents are. Will it be Palm? We’ll have to wait and see.
Out TBC | £TBC | Apple (Via Stuff)
Tags: Android, Apple, G1, Google, HTC, multitouch, Palm, patent, pre, T-mobile G1