Apple succeeded in persuading Internet giant Google to not include multi-touch features in Android, the open source cell phone platform, a report suggested Tuesday.
Multi-touch, which gives a handset the ability to convert multiple finger touches into instructions, was apparently bypassed by Google in an attempt to avoid legal entanglements, VentureBeat reported, citing an unnamed member of the Android development team.
In late January, Apple was awarded an omnibus patent covering its multi-touch technology used by the iPhone and the iPod touch. Apple has also threatened companies that might infringe the patent. The comment was seen as a not-so-subtle jab at Palm, which recently unveiled it’s iPhone rival touch-screen Pre.
Google’s decision may also go beyond simply staying out of a courtroom. Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits on Apple’s board of directors and the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet firm has released a number of services aimed at iPhone users.
On Monday, Google introduced Google Sync, a feature allowing iPhone owners to update their Gmail and Calendar accounts. Google also has updated its Google Book Service, allowing iPhone owners to read public domain works from their handsets.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
