Dave's Download

Google “Favor” Shows We Need Palm Pre vs. Apple iPhone

By David LaGesse

Posted: February 11, 2009

Google's reported favor in dropping multitouch support from its Android phones emphasizes why we need the Palm Pre to succeed. Palm flicked two fingers at its Silicon Valley rival and says it's ready to fight any legal claim that Apple might mount over its multitouch patent.

Google's fingers, meanwhile, are stuck in so many pies that it runs into inevitable conflicts. The VentureBeat report summed up a few, including Google wanting to keep its search, maps and other services on Apple's iPhone.

Palm's is a purer play in handsets. It has more motivation to buck Apple and force a healthy airing of the iPhone maker's multitouch claim.

Nuclear patents

Anyone with any familiarity with the industry (or willing to spend a some time researching the topic) will know that Palm's patent portfolio has far, far more megatonnage than Apple's. But when nuclear war breaks out, both sides lose.

Apple knows this, and they have (or should have) the institutional memory of the 90's "look & feel" lawsuits to remind them of the consequences of overplaying their IP hand.

Palm can violate Apple's patents all they want (though I have not yet seen anything in the Pre that can't be traced to prior art) and Apple, if they are rational, can't do a stinkin' thing about it, beyond the investor-PR saber rattling we have seen so far. Of course, "if they are rational" is not a given at Apple, which is why Cooligan is playing it so cool. He wants to run a successful business; bankrupting Apple with counter-suits is Dr. Strangelove's (or SCO's) job.

The Conductor of NY @ Feb 13, 2009 13:17:31 PM

Bring it on Apple !

Google hasn't backed down to anybody.

They are playing well with the Apple sandbox boys so as to permeate the smart mobile market in its infancy with Google product... $$$ it's all about mobile ad revenue $$$

Besides - Apple doesn't have a pot-to-piss-in in this patent case. So let someone else set the precedent first... like ... oh... Palm... who is a long time player and would wipe Apple's @$$ in a patent case.

Bring it on Apple !

PulSamsara of CA @ Feb 12, 2009 19:40:21 PM

Copying Apple???

Didn't Apple "rip off" Creative Labs? And didn't Cisco own "Iphone" first. Maybe? Maybe not? I dunno isn't that what they all "really" do anyway. Is there really any truly new IP out there anymore? The higher ground argument seems sound to me. Let Apple, Palm, RIM, and whoever else battle through innovation. The market will ultimately decide who wins as it usually does. Apple fanatics should have nothing to worry about if the iPhone is truly superior to everything else.

Andrew of NY @ Feb 12, 2009 10:55:35 AM

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Our in-house gadget guru, Senior Writer David LaGesse, checks out the latest technologies and gizmos, from computer software to GPS systems -- and reports back to you in plain English.


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