Apple iPad Versus Android Honeycomb Tablet Review

Compare iOS and Android Honeycomb

When it comes to a footrace, the design and development teams over at Apple have done a fantastic job getting a major head start with Apple's release of the iPad. With close to 20 million iPad tablets sold so far, the demand and appeal of the iPad is staggering. However, in a race reminiscent of the one between the tortoise and the hare, Google's new Android operating system, called Android Honeycomb, could end up coming from behind in the tablet race.

Here, our Tablet Buying Guide review team takes an in-depth look at a host of features, form and functionality to compare the Android Honeycomb versus Apple iPad.

User Interface

Apple radically altered the way that consumers and business think about a tablet device. Thousands upon thousands of applications are created by third-party developers specifically for the iPad user. Users customize their tablet with applications that they need for their personal use, whether it be for information, computation, business or entertainment purposes. Apple's search browser, Safari, comes pre-installed on the iPad and there are apps to add other browsers to a users liking.

Google's Android Honeycomb user interface uses a holographic theme where applications appear on the tablet in almost 3D quality. Applications or, a user's book listing for example, appear in a 3D revolving fashion, like the jukebox, only digital. Because Honeycomb is specifically created for “devices with larger screens”, aka tablets, developers made a full on-screen keyboard, where the earlier Android versions developed for smart phones could not provide this feature. Through a floating apps bar at the bottom of the screen that Google terms the Honeycomb interaction model, the OS comes standard with items like email, widgets, web search and notifications.

With the Apple iPad (and the latest version of the iPhone), users can finally operate multiple applications at once, and say, go back and forth between a contact list and a restaurant finder application without losing your place marker. Android Honeycomb takes the multiple applications scenario and ups the game by allowing for true multitasking. This means that, for example, Honeycomb users can simultaneously play several movies at once with live switching between the running videos.

Advantage: Android Honeycomb for its next generation multitasking ability.

Applications, aka, Apps

Before launching the iPad, Apple worked with some of the largest content producers, giving them access to the development platform. When launched, the iPad immediately had hundreds of solid apps written expressly for the iPad tablet. Users immediately have a much more expansive experience on the iPad versus a smartphone and developers are using the iPad tablet in interesting ways.

Similar to the approach from Apple, Google gave developers access to the Android Honeycomb OS, which is made specifically for larger screen tablet devices. The result is that thousands of applications for use on Android. Several tablet manufacturers are using earlier Android OS versions, Android 1.3 and Android 2.2, for instance, to create tablet devices. Tablet users with earlier Android OS versions have an experience closer to what users expect from a smartphone, albeit with a larger screen. This may limit tablet functionality until Android Honeycomb rolls out on new devices.

Advantage: Apple iPad iOS 4.2, because their closed development and device manufacturing created an immediate tablet user experience. This however will change when more tablet devices come preloaded and created for Android Honeycomb.

Broad Selection of Tablet Device Manufacturers

Apple's development is centered around its own proprietary devices and software. The iPad is unique to Apple and its iOS 4.2 operating system software is only available on Apple iPads. So far, this has been an incredibly successful model because consumers have taken to the entire lineup of Apple's music players, smartphones and related systems like the Apple iTunes software. iPads can operate with WIFI or WiFi plus 3G, and this data plan is currently only available through AT&T.

Contrast this approach with Google's Android Honeycomb, which will be available through multiple tablet manufacturers, including Samsung, Motorola, Acer and others. Quickly, there are multiple tablets that operate with the Honeycomb OS and have multiple data plans on available through multiple service providers. If a consumer wants a smaller display size or larger display size, it's up to them. Consumers choosing Android Honeycomb will be able to add a 3G data plan, and for their tablets with their current phone service provider, for instance.

Advantage: Android Honeycomb tablets, for the more varied device selection and data plan providers.

Data Portability Over Multiple Devices

The appeal of apple may be less in the devices than it is in Apple software. Apple iTunes quickly overtook the digital market because of its sleek user interface. The team at Apple have also created true synching functions with multiple devices, which means that users can play music on their iPad, iPhone or iPod, whichever they choose. Apples MobileMe synchs the devices together.

Android Honeycomb will benefit from Google's infrastructure as well. Apps will follow users around from one device to another as long as users have their Google login. The difference for Google users is that the tunes will be held out on the cloud, rather than downloaded to one device which is the Apple model.

Advantage: Both, with Apple iPad and Android Honeycomb users more likely to stick with one “family” of devices to create ultimate portability.

Tablet Camera

The Apple iPad table, in its current form, lacks a camera, although several apps do allow an iPhone to operate as the iPad's camera through a wireless synch. We anticipate that Apple will heavily consider a camera in its next iPad version.

Android Honeycomb tablets will have an on-board camera, which includes flash, zoom, focus and exposure options. It's like a large manually optimized camera that fits within the Honeycomb tablet.

Advantage: Android Honeycomb, because a camera is included and users have several picture control features.

Enterprise security Advantage

One are that has until recently been an Achilles heel for Apple is the lack of business system IT support. This is because Apple iPhone smartphones were deficient in providing enough email security to satisfy IT teams. The iPad is making great strides in the enterprise with added features in Apple iOS 4.2 of greater security and now wireless printing.

In general, Android operating systems have been developed with IT administrators in mind. We anticipate that Android Honeycomb tablets will quickly emerge as a top popular device for users and will quickly assimilate into the IT enterprise architecture because Honeycomb supports enterprise-level encryption and password management.

Advantage: BOTH, however Android Honeycomb slightly outpaces Apple iPad, as more business IT teams are already comfortable with Android smartphones. Eitherway, businesses in general are finding greater uses for tablet devices and we see acceptance into IT support structure growing.

Tablet Connectivity

Apple iPad really revolutioned the way that consumers access the internet. The WiFi or 3G plus WiFi iPad tablets changed and improved the comfort level of users to access the internet in a real way in more places than ever before. The introduction of a true keyboard on the iPad also set manufacturers on their heels having to come up with something as functional. The wireless printing feature also became a game changer.

Startling late off of the blocks, Android Honeycomb will include features like built-in Media/Photo Transfer Protocol support, which means immediate synchronization with a camera, desktop or other device over USB and no need for an external storage device. Honeycomb, like the iPad, will access the web through WiFi or 3G and Honeycomb has a feature that improves scan times to find WiFi access.

Advantage: Both Apple iPad and Android Honeycomb, although Honeycomb may outedge Apple with its external device synchronization feature.

 

by Sophia Schmidt 

 

Google+ reaches 62M users, still not giving Facebook a run for its money

Google+ has reached 62 million registered users and is signing up 625,000 new users per day, according to unofficial Google+ statistician and Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen.

For a social network that was invite-only until July 2011, those numbers are not bad. However, Google+ has a long way to go if it wants to catch up to Facebook’s 800 million users.

Google+ has been adding new users by the tens of millions just about every month since it became available to the general public back in July, according to Allen’s report. So far in December, Google+ has registered 12 million new members.

Allen says that based on the current rate of growth, Google+ can expect to see 100 million new users by the end of February, and 293 million members by the end of next year. But Allen is expecting accelerated growth for the social network which could put Google+ at 400 million users by the end of 2012. What’s the reasoning behind Allen’s predictions? He points to the approximately 700,000 Android devices that are activated each day, which he contends will draw more users to Google+.

A Google spokesperson told VentureBeat that the company does not “have any additional metrics to provide based on Paul Allen’s estimates,” but that more than 40 million people have signed up for the social network. That number comes from Google’s latest earnings call which took place on October 13.

Even if Allen’s predictions are correct and Google+ hits 400 million users by this time next year, it still won’t compete with Facebook’s 800 million (and counting) very active members. While this growth is good news for those who want their friends and families fill up their Google+ streams, its unlikely that Google’s social network will overshadow Facebook anytime soon.

In an attempt to garner more attention, Google+ rolled out a new ad campaign over the holiday season. The ads featured NBA annoucers and the Muppets to highlight Hangouts and other cool features of the social network. Perhaps the ads were enough to remind people that yes, Google+ does still exist and help it nab those 12 million extra users for December.

Google sees 700K+ Android activations daily

According to Google’s Android chief, Andy Rubin, you’re one of a growing mob of people tuning in and turning on to the open-source mobile operating system.

 

“There are now over 700,000 Android devices activated every day,” Rubin stated late last night on his Google+ page.

 

This statistic has more than doubled since last year, when Rubin tweeted that 300,000 new devices were being activated daily.

 

And during the company’s July 2011 earnings call, Google CEO Larry Page noted that the company had reached the 550,000 activations per day milestone. Around that time, Rubin stated Android’s rate of growth was growing by 4.4 percent every single week.

 

All these activation stats add up to some serious domination. Earlier this month, we reported that Android devices accounted for half the total mobile market for smartphones in the United States. Apple came in a distant second at 27 percent.

 

Also (and this likely has an impact on both the OS’s growth and total market share), Android overtook iPhone as the most desired mobile platform earlier this year. According to numbers from Nielsen from January 2011 to March 2011, more than one third of consumers indicate Android as their preferred operating system. That number had leapt up from around one quarter just a few months before.

Windows Phone is still in trouble

Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform now has more than 50,000 apps available — a significant milestone, but one that still puts it far behind Apple’s 500,000 iOS apps and Google’s more than 380,000 Android apps.

At least things seem to be picking up for the platform on the app front. It took Microsoft over a year to reach 40,000 apps on Windows Phone, but only 40 days to add another 10,000, reports All About Windows Phone. But apps alone won’t sell consumers on Windows Phone, especially during its do-or-die year of 2012.

So what’s keeping the platform, which is reportedly still seeing slow sales, from finding the success of the iPhone or Android? As former Windows Phone general manager Charlie Kindel sees it, the real problem with Windows Phone doesn’t stem from hardware or software (which he deems “superior” to the competition), but instead is due to Microsoft’s inability to play nice with carriers.

The company has imposed strict hardware restrictions on hardware partners, which has led to only a few devices being developed, and it has removed carriers entirely from the Windows Phone update process. Those two elements have led to carriers preferring to push Android and iOS devices, instead of Windows Phone.

“Carriers own the marketing money and spend billions a year,” Kindel wrote in a blog post yesterday. “The money is provided by the other sides of the market: OS providers & device manufactures, but the carriers get to spend it; they are the aggregation point where the money actually gets spent. The carriers choose what devices get featured on those TV ads.  They also choose what devices to train their RSP (retail sales professionals) to push.”

While I don’t deny that carrier marketing efforts have influenced Windows Phone sales, the situation seems much more complicated. First of all, Microsoft was way too late to the game, launching Windows Phone at the end of 2010, while the iPhone and Android hit the market in 2007 and 2008 respectively. MG Siegler argues that particular point nicely.

Kindel also fails to mention the explosive failure of Microsoft’s Kin phones earlier last year, which surely turned off many consumers to any future Microsoft mobile platform. I also think consumers are more savvy than the marketing sponges Kindel takes them for. He assumes people will buy what carriers tell them to, when in reality having a product that is clearly superior to the competition (which Windows Phone certainly isn’t) is more important.

You can say that Windows Phone is superior as much as you like, but so far Microsoft has failed to prove that to consumers.

One of the big reasons Microsoft has failed to make much of a splash with the platform is that it’s going after the same market as the iPhone and Android, when it should be focusing more on users who haven’t yet considered smartphones. I previously argued that Nokia’s Lumia 800 is an incredibly important device for Microsoft, but in many ways its cheaper sibling, the Lumia 710, is just as significant.

The Lumia 710 opens the door to a wider market of users who don’t want to spend over $100 on a new phone (T-Mobile will offer it in the US for just $50 with contract). And its inexpensive hardware also makes it more suitable to the prepaid market, a quickly growing segment in which Microsoft desperately needs to find a foothold.

Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia also makes it well positioned to expand Windows Phone into international markets as well — though those will admittedly be less lucrative than dominating the U.S., Europe and Asia.

 

Verizon Challenges Applying Net Neutrality To Wireless

The Net-neutrality plan adopted by the Federal Communications Commission has been challenged by Verizon Communications. Verizon's lawsuit was filed in the same court that struck down a FCC ruling against Comcast. Verizon had joined with Google to propose a neutrality plan similar to the FCC's -- but it exempted wireless providers.

Verizon Communications announced Thursday that it has filed a legal challenge to the Net-neutrality plan adopted by the Federal Communications Commission. The company said it is "deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself."

Approved last month, the FCC plan requires network providers to treat all content the same, without favoring some kinds of content which could, for example, compete with the provider's own offerings. Despite the legal move, the company said it is still "committed to preserving an open Internet," adding that it has worked extensively with "all players in the Internet and communications space to shape policies that ensure an open Internet."

By Barry Levine

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12000B12HDJC

CEO Schmidt Will Step Aside for Google Cofounder Page

In a surprise announcement, Google CEO Eric Schmidt will become chairman while cofounder Larry Page moves up to CEO. Schmidt, who will become chairman, said he and Google's founders are clarifying their management roles. Google also reported a jump in revenues, and analysts are questioning whether Page is ready to lead.

In a move that surprised industry analysts, Eric Schmidt will step down as Google's CEO. Google cofounder Larry Page will take over as chief of the company while Schmidt settles into the chairman role.

While Page takes on the day-to-day management, Schmidt will focus externally on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach, and technology thought leadership. Internally, Schmidt will continue to act as an adviser to Page and cofounder Sergey Brin, who will focus on strategic projects, in particular new products. The changes will take effect on April 4.

By Jennifer LeClaire

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=77002&full_skip=1

China Unlikely To Budge Despite Google's Threat

A Chinese official has affirmed the nation's censorship goals despite Google's threat to pull out of the country. Minister Wang Chen wrote on an official Chinese web site that controlling information ensures national security. Dropping 30 percent of China's search market could hurt Google, but it might return in a different business form.

Two days after Google threatened to stop doing business in China, the nation's leadership is not budging. A senior Chinese government official left little reason to believe Google can find a compromise with the communist country.

Wang Chen, the minister of the State Council Information Office, did not address the Google incident directly. Rather, his statement was posted on an official government web site and in state-controlled media.

"China's Internet is entering an important stage of development, confronting both rare opportunities and severe challenges. The Internet is bringing massive changes to social life, as well as making life much more convenient for many, but at the same time problems with Internetsecurity are increasingly stark," said Chen, noting a severe threat to the physical and mental health of minors from Internet pornography.

China: Internet Should Nurture

As Chen sees it, ensuring the secure operation of the Internet and its information flow ensures national security and the fundamental interests of the people.

In some sense, he said, the greater the reach and influence of Internet media, the greater are the demands for security and reliability, and the greater the responsibilities officials shoulder for Internet security. He said the Internet must fully grasp the major significance of ensuring security and constantly enhance its sense of responsibility, urgency and mission.

"We must make truly improving our capacity to guide opinion on the Internet a major measure for protecting Internet security. Our country is at a crucial stage of reform and development, and this is a period of marked social conflicts. ... Properly guiding Internet opinion is a major measure for protecting Internet information security," Chen said.

Chen added that Internet media need to make nurturing positive, progressive mainstream opinion an important duty. Currently, he added, the Internet allows spreading rumors, issuing false information, and other actions that diminish confidence, and this is causing serious damage to society and the public interest.

China Can't Capitulate

Chen's words may the best picture of China's motives for censoring the Internet. The ability to weed out dissidents is very important to China -- and it doesn't want a revolution, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. He doesn't see much wiggle room for Google in its face off with China, despite support from activist groups for human rights and privacy.

"China has to a large extent subordinated consumer rights to government rights, and if Google wants to stay there they'll have to live under that. Most other companies have bowed down to it," Enderle said. "China is not in a position to capitulate. If they did it for Google, they'd have to do it for everybody."

China has more than 360 million web users and Google owns about 30 percent of the search market. Leaving China may not be the most profitable move for Google, but it may be the most palatable for the company. And Google may be able to return in different business clothes.

"If Google leaves, they lose one of the largest economies of the world and going back in is very difficult," Enderle said. "But they could find a way. They would have to partner with another company to separate their brand from the business if they wanted to go back."

By Jennifer LeClaire

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=03200001CRGG

SideWiki: Visitors can Comment on Web Pages

Google has added SideWiki to the Google Toolbar to let Web surfers comment on any Web page. Participants will be able to comment on anything from doctors to Web security next to pages containing information. SideWiki comments appear as a browser sidebar, but it doesn't work with Google's own Chrome browser. Relevant topics will be moved to the top.

Google wants to know what you have to say on everything from medical problems to cities visited. On Wednesday, Google launched SideWiki, a toolbar feature that allows users to add information or thoughts next to any Web page.

Users are being encouraged to contribute insights on important decisions, tips on various topics, background information, and added perspective on new products and technologies.

"Many people visit the same pages looking for the same information, and much of the Web browsing is a one-way experience," said Eitan Bencuya, a Google spokesperson. "Google SideWiki helps open up the Web experience by allowing everyone, from a local expert to a renowned doctor, to share helpful information with others about any page on the web."

SideWiki appears as a browser sidebar once a user downloads the updated Google Tool bar, and is combined with Google Profiles so users can find information about the entry's author.

"Under the hood, we have even more technology that will take your entry about the current page and show it next to Web pages that contain the same snippet of text," wrote Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management, and Michal Cierniak, lead engineer for Google SideWiki, in a Google blog post. "We also bring in relevant posts from blogs and other sources that talk about the current page so that you can discover their insights more easily, right next to the page they refer to."

However, before users share their knowledge on a specific topic or Web page with the world, Google has developed a mechanism to put relevant topics higher in the sidebar. Those entries considered most useful will be listed at the top.

Repeating History

Engineers are not sifting through the entries to decide their SideWiki ranking.

"Rather than ordering entries chronologically, we use a unique algorithm that incorporates various signals about the entries to rank them in terms of usefulness," Bencuya said. "We also use community-monitored flagging as part of the algorithm so that you can vote entries up or down, or flag posts that are inappropriate."

Google has been tinkering with SideWiki for a long time, and observers say this technology has been tried in the past and failed. The free Windows-only Web browser plug-in, Third Voice, was introduced in 1999 and was not well accepted.

"Web-site owners hated it, as it they had no control over users placing content or comments over their content," said Michael Gartenberg, an Interpret analyst. "It will be interesting to see if Google is able to overcome the resistance that had plagued earlier efforts."

By Patricia Resende

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=69144

FCC To Hear Fight Over Internet Calls

Consumers who use Android, the Google-developed operating system for wireless devices, can't use Skype, a leading Voice over Internet Protocol service. A pioneer in free Internet calling, Skype allows you to talk as long as you want without draining cell phone minutes. Android users get Skype Lite, a watered-down version of the original.

By Leslie Cauley

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=112006L7URLS

Google tries jump-starting 3D Web with O3D

Google on Tuesday released software called O3D to bring accelerated 3D graphics to browsers, a significant effort but not the only one to try to endow Web applications with some of the computing muscle that PC programs can use.

O3D is a browser plug-in for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome that works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, but Google hopes that eventually, the technology will be built directly into browsers. It provides an interface that lets developers' Web-based JavaScript programs tap directly into a computer's graphics chip, which could mean better games and other applications.

Google touted the technology in a blog post. It includes a video demonstration, complete with a soothing voice-over and a spacey ambient-music soundtrack, for those who don't want to install the plug-in.

by Stephen Shankland

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10224078-2.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Microsoft, Yahoo Ponder a Display-Advertising Deal

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz are reportedly discussing still another deal on search advertising. Yahoo might take over Microsoft's display advertising. Microsoft and Yahoo are looking for ways to take on search-ad king Google. An analyst thinks Microsoft is after Yahoo's much larger market reach.

In the deal that refuses to die, Microsoft and Yahoo are reportedly in talks once again about joining forces in search advertising.

This time, it's not a merger or a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo's search assets. Rather, Yahoo might take over Microsoft's display-advertising business, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Yahoo's stock rose 6.5 percent in early trading on the news.

According to the Journal, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz have discussed what a potential partnership might look like. A variety of ideas are being explored, but a full acquisition of Yahoo is reportedly not on the table.

"We have to take all these rumors with a grain of salt. We've heard all of this before. What's different this time is the personnel change at the top of Yahoo. That makes it possible for the two companies to talk and consider how they might work together in a less emotional way," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "In a way, it would be irresponsible for Carol Bartz not to have a conversation with Microsoft."

Targeting King Google

Yahoo is the leader in display advertising, and the Journal reports Microsoft may turn over some of its display-advertising operations to Yahoo as part of a larger collaboration that includes the overall search-advertising market.

It appears that the companies are looking for ways to leverage their combined strengths against rival Google. Microsoft has a small percentage of the search- and display-advertising markets, but has resources to use in a Google battle. Yahoo has seen a slight uptick in its market share and offers Microsoft the ability to reach a broader audience.

"It would make sense for Yahoo and Microsoft to form sort of a partnership because they are the number-two and number-three players in search advertising," Sterling said. "The issue is going to be how much of its search assets Yahoo is willing to give up to Microsoft. What Microsoft really wants is the reach that Yahoo can provide. Marketers are generally happy with the performance of [Microsoft] adCenter. The issue is the lack of volume that Microsoft offers comparatively."

By Jennifer LeClaire

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=65917

Google Slashes About 200 Jobs in Sales and Marketing

Google has slashed about 200 more jobs, this time in sales and marketing. Vice President Omid Kordestani admitted to staffing mistakes as Google grew rapidly by acquiring other companies. In January, Google reassigned engineers and let 100 recruiters go. Since 2001, Google has acquired 53 companies, and continued buying last year.

Google has announced another round of layoffs, this time for about 200 people in sales and marketing. The move comes two months after the search giant said it would scale back hiring of recruiters.

"Just under 200 were affected with about half those working in North America," said Matt Furman, a Google spokesperson. "Everyone affected was told yesterday. Each person will be given a chance to find another job at Google and if they can't or they choose to leave, they will be given severance."

The company also offered the affected employees outplacement support.

By Patricia Resende
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=65598

Second Android Phone Is More Elegant than T-Mobile G1

HTC insists the HTC Magic mobile phone for Vodafone is better than its original Android-powered T-Mobile G1 handset. Reviews of the Magic are mixed, but an analyst says the appearance and operating system are improved. He called the G1 the Apple, Inc. iPhone for the poor man. More Android mobile phones are likely.

It's certainly not the G2, but is it a far cry from the T-Mobile G1? HTC is insisting its second Android-powered smartphone, dubbed Magic, is a much-improved model.

Vodafone and HTC unveiled the phone on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

"The Magic is a better-looking phone than the G1. The form factor is more elegant," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. "At the margins, that will attract people. All things being equal, some people will choose a phone with the physical keyboard. But my sense is that a lot of people would prefer this phone. It is a refinement of the first version."

The HTC Magic offers a variety of mobile Internet capabilities, beginning with an Android-optimized Webkit browser. As would be expected, it also features Google applications, Google Maps and Google Search as well as favorites like YouTube. The Android Market lets consumers download games and applications over Vodafone's network.

The Android platform is backed by Google, and although the reviews on the phone are mixed, Sterling said there are improvements in both the physical appearance and the operating system that may cause Vodafone customers to upgrade. "The G1 was sort of the poor man's iPhone," he said. "That's not the case with the Magic. It has a slicker appearance as well as technology improvements."

By Jennifer LeClaire
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=64752&full_skip=1

Google Advocates for Smart Electric Grid

Google wants to organize the world's electric information and make it available online. More smart meters would make collecting the information easier, Google says, and the economic stimulus plan includes money for meters. Google's Bill Coughran said smart meters could help educate consumers about energy savings. By Patricia Resende http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=64601

Apple Reportedly Asked Google To Avoid Multi-Touch

The first Android-based smartphone, the T-Mobile G1, reportedly doesn't have multi-touch capabilities because Apple, Inc. asked Google not to implement that feature. Reportedly the Android team was relieved to avoid an Apple patent lawsuit. But Palm, which has many former Apple employees, went ahead with multi-touch on its Pre smartphone By Frederick Lane http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=64612&full_skip=1