Apple may have pressured Google to drop multi-touch for Nexus One

22nd January, 2010 by adina
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The latest Windows Weekly episode gives some hints that Apple may have put some pressure on Google and HTC in order to make them drop multi-touch for Nexus One. Co-host Leo Laporte claims that Apple “politely” asked Google to omit support on the US territory for concerns regarding its patent portfolio. Apple is supposed to have a weak patent covering the Nexus One and to try to avoid initiating fights it might loose.

Other sources suggest that Google has narrowed down the date of the release of the CDMA-capable Nexus One in Verizon’s network to March 23rd. The timing reveals that a GSM version for Vodafone’s frequencies as well as a GSM version would be ready at the same time. The rumour has not been commented either by Apple or Google.

Although unverified yet, the news has roots in Motorola’s strategy behind the Motorola Droid. In the United States, the handset lacks default multi-touch applications and uses many third-party applications with this feature. The European and, in the future, Canadian equivalent, the Milestone, supports multi-touch out of the box no matter what hardware differences would exist.

Apple and Google are supposed to have maintained an informal agreement in order to avoid legal battles considered unnecessary by both parties. However, no action has been taken against Palm, with its Pixi and Pre, both of them supporting multi-touch in the United States. Palm claims to have its own patents and, according to critics, may use them as bargaining chips against an eventual Apple lawsuit.


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