iPhone Daily News Digest

The New York Times has a full length feature up about the state of the Apple vs. Google rivalry and how it’s getting personal. We’ve heard similar several times before, of course, and Apple has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Android manufacturer HTC. But the details here are interesting:

As Google’s plans took shape, Apple and Google executives either met in person or spoke on the phone on multiple occasions about Apple’s concern about Android, executives on both sides say.

Many of those meetings turned confrontational, according to people familiar with the discussions, with Mr. Jobs often accusing Google of stealing iPhone features. Google executives said that Android’s features were based on longstanding ideas already circulating in the industry and that some Android prototypes predated the iPhone.

At one particularly heated meeting in 2008 on Google’s campus, Mr. Jobs angrily told Google executives that if they deployed a version of multitouch — the popular iPhone feature that allows users to control their devices with flicks of their fingers — he would sue. Two people briefed on the meeting described it as “fierce” and “heated.”

It’s undeniable that Google bought Android before Apple released the iPhone (though Apple was reportedly working on the iPhone/iPad technology for 2-3 years already by then). It’s also undeniable that the early Android prototypes we saw looked more like BlackBerry or Windows Mobile Standard, yet when Google debuted the G1, it was a full screen, capacitive touch device with the same screen resolution as the iPhone. From the Hero to the Droid to the Nexus One, similar form factors have followed while the BlackBerry-esque devices have yet to be seen.

Many other incidents, such as the still-unapproved/rejected Google Voice app for iPhone, Google CEO Eric Schmidt leaving the Apple Board of Directors, and Google buying (and paying a premium for) AdMob after Apple expressed an interest in the company, are all said to result from this souring in relations.

The two remain successful partners for now, and Google keeps saying everything is “stable”. The NYT suggests, however, that someone like longstanding Google mentor and Apple board member Bill Campbell, formerly of Intuit, needs to act as a peacemaker to bring the two giants back together. Otherwise, rumors persist of Steve Ballmer and Microsoft’s Bing standing poised to take Google’s place as Apple’s default search engine, map provider, and ally.

It’s a long article but well worth a read, especially the parts about how Google founders Sergy Brin and Larry Page, and Steve Jobs used to enjoy a close relationship. Check it out and let us know what you think…

Apple vs. Google is Getting Personal is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Much to the chagrin of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Devices and Entertainment honcho Robbie Bach, the Wall Street Journal reports that even publicly stomping on employee iPhones hasn’t stamped them out:

Nearly 10,000 iPhone users were accessing the Microsoft employee email system last year, say two people who heard the estimates from senior Microsoft executives. That figure equals about 10% of the company’s global work force.

Outside of specific development units like Bing for iPhone, while using an iPhone at Microsoft isn’t forbidden, it’s discouraged. Microsoft will only re-emburse expenses for Windows Phone-based devices. Likewise, several executives have spoken out against using iPhones, including Ballmer who quipped that his father worked at Ford and so his family always drove Ford.

While a few use the openly, others hide them in generic cases — or make sure not to answer them if they’re in a room with Ballmer. (Or use them if they’re a member of the Gates family!)

Apple employees, of course, are not thought to be using Windows Mobile devices in any perceptible quantity. Could Windows Phone 7 Series change that…?

10% of Microsoft Employees Secretly Using iPhones? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook stepped up and filled in for Steve Jobs during Jobs’ leave of absence last year, and has been given a discretionary bonus of $5 million, along with 75,000 shares of Apple stock (currently worth just shy of $17 million), by way of thank you bonus.

Keeping Apple not only stable but thriving during the absence and then-uncertain future of their famous CEO, however, was no doubt invaluable to Apple and its shareholders.

Congrats to Tim Cook then. Don’t spend it all on iPad pre-orders (though that would certainly explain the 91,000 units in the first 6 hours!)

Tim Cook’s Bonus: $5 Million Cash, $17 Million Stock. Filling in for Steve Jobs: Priceless is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Loopt v2.2 is expected to hit the App Store at any moment today, which will expand on the app’s Pulse feature to help you find even more local events that you can share with friends. The update will be arriving just in time for all of you SXSW goers.  How convenient?

By accessing the now conveniently placed Pulse tab, you will be able to find, check-in at, share tips, and RSVP to tens of thousands of events with ease.  You will also be able to see which of your friends are currently at these events, and which are going to be attending.  For some music events, you will even be able to a hear a sample of the band playing from within the app.

“Locally-relevant content is crucial for helping people to truly discover the world around them,” said Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt. “By adding Events to our Loopt Pulse, our users can now not only find great places to eat and drink, but also discover music, movies, dance, comedy and theater events going on in their neighborhood right now.”

For those attending SXSW in Austin, Texas, this update will come in very handy.  Loopt v2.2 will feature a full guide to the music, events, and celebrations at the event, allowing you to check in at certain SXSW venues for opportunities to win giveaways and other special offers.

Loopt v2.2 is basically about adding new content partners in order to provide more location-based events.  The new content sources include SonicLiving (connects music fans to local concert listings, song samples, tickets and other listeners), Zvents (a leading producer of entertainment guides online, powering a network of more than 285 media partners), and Metromix (a local entertainment guide spotlighting bars, restaurants, and entertainment across more than 60 U.S. metropolitan markets).  That’s on top of all of their current partners, including Zagat, CitySearch, Bing, and TastingTable.

Finally, the Loopt update boasts expanded sharing through Facebook and Twitter, improves functionality around checking-in and sharing locations, and adds a handful of searching options to help you more easily find places and events.

Will this update make you take a second look at Loopt for your iPhone, or are you already quite settled in with your other location-based service?

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9to5Mac has the full, header’ed exchange between a Swede who emailed Steve Jobs about iPad tethering, and the answer he received from Apple’s CEO.

First, the question from Jezper Söderlund:

Will the wifi-only version [of the iPad] somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

And the answer?

No.

Sent from my iPhone

[Slashhat.se via 9to5Mac]

Will the iPad Support Tethering? Steve Jobs Answers! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

9to5Mac has the full, header’ed exchange between a Swede who emailed Steve Jobs about iPad tethering, and the answer he received from Apple’s CEO.

First, the question from Jezper Söderlund:

Will the wifi-only version [of the iPad] somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

And the answer?

No.

Sent from my iPhone

[Slashhat.se via 9to5Mac]

Will the iPad Support Tethering? Steve Jobs Answers! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

9to5Mac has the full, header’ed exchange between a Swede who emailed Steve Jobs about iPad tethering, and the answer he received from Apple’s CEO.

First, the question from Jezper Söderlund:

Will the wifi-only version [of the iPad] somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

And the answer?

No.

Sent from my iPhone

[Slashhat.se via 9to5Mac]

Will the iPad Support Tethering? Steve Jobs Answers! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

9to5Mac has the full, header’ed exchange between a Swede who emailed Steve Jobs about iPad tethering, and the answer he received from Apple’s CEO.

First, the question from Jezper Söderlund:

Will the wifi-only version [of the iPad] somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

And the answer?

No.

Sent from my iPhone

[Slashhat.se via 9to5Mac]

Will the iPad Support Tethering? Steve Jobs Answers! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple has officially announced that the Wi-Fi models of the iPad will be available in the U.S. on Saturday, April 3rd. The Wi-Fi + 3G models won’t be available until late April in the U.S., which is about the same time all models of the iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. U.S. Pre-orders for all iPad models are set to begin on March 12th. Did you get all of that? Hurry, mark it on your calendars.

“iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Apple has also revealed that its iBooks app, which offers access to the iBookstore, will be available in the U.S. App Store on April 3rd for free.  Other countries will get the app “later this year.”

So now that everything is official, I think it’s time to gauge everyone’s excitement once again.  Our last “which iPad are you buying poll” indicated that nearly 67% of our readers who chose to participate in the poll intended to purchase some kind of iPad model.  Let’s see if that percentage has changed at all over the last month.  Record your vote below.

Now Which iPad Are You Getting?

(polls)

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Without being asked, Google decided to whip out an email to TechCrunch anyway and comment on the Apple vs. HTC patent lawsuit announced yesterday:

“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it.”

This is interesting in light of suggestions that the real target of Apple’s patent offensive isn’t HTC but rather Android and Google. While some maintain it isn’t like Apple (or at least the crunchy, hippy Apple they hold dear) to use patents offensively, when combined with HTC (read: Google) as target, could it begin to make more sense?

With Nokia, Apple merely counter-sued, to go on the attack against HTC has led to speculation that, because of Google, it’s personal.

The Apple/Google relationship has been the subject of a lot of chatter lately as the once closely-tied partners have become increasingly competitive. As Gizmodo pointed out yesterday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt sitting on the Apple board — whether or not he recused himself from iPhone discussions — and then turning around and releasing Android and Chrome OS, when coupled with allegations that Steve Jobs told employees he believed Google was trying to “kill the iPhone“, more than hints at a possible motivation.

9to5Mac also notes the lawsuit was filed one month to the day after Google enabled multitouch on the Nexus One, which was 6 months after Eric Schmidt resigned from the Apple board.

Sure, Steve Jobs made it a point to defend Schmidt at the recent Apple shareholder meeting, and Google keeps saying things are “stable“, but the best of friends can become the bitterest of rivals. Given the current patent system, Apple has a right to defend their technology — in the case of Google, they could have far more incentive too as well.

If that’s the case, then Apple hasn’t changed at all — when’s the last time we heard about feeling screwed and not retaliating?

Google Comments on Apple vs. HTC Patent Lawsuit is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

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