Reports on Wednesday claim that high level talks between the CEOs of Apple and Google have taken place, with a view to resolving a host of patent disputes.
As first reported by Reuters, Tim Cook and Larry Page have engaged in behind the scenes discussions regarding intellectual property matters, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The story was later 'confirmed' by AllThingsD, which consulted its own sources on the story.
Those in-the-know bods revealed that at least one more meeting between, arguably, the two most important men in tech has been scheduled.
Keeping it out of the courtroom
News of the summit comes less than a week after Samsung was found guilty of multiple counts of patent infringement, as alleged by Apple.
Although the award of $1.05 billion strikes at the heart of one of it key manufacturing competitors, many observers believe that Apple's true motivation is to stifle the Android operating system that powers Samsung's tech.
In the wake of the court ruling, Google issued a statement claiming none of the infringed-upon patents relate to 'core Android,' and it would await the results of a Samsung appeal.
As well as its beef with the Android OS, Apple also has pending legal proceedings with Motorola, the manufacturer now, of course, owned by Google.
Any accord the two behemoths could reach, likely through cross-licensing agreements, would avoid another long and expensive courtroom saga for which we would all be grateful.
Playmates
The Cook/Page summit is perhaps the first sign that Google and Apple can play nicely with each other again, without tantrums and toys getting chucked out of prams.
The pair were the best of pals throughout much of the last decade, until Google launched the Android operating system, enraging the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who felt it 'wholesale ripped off the iPhone.'
In his official biography Jobs was quoted as saying he was willing to go "thermonuclear war" and spend "every dollar Apple has in the bank" to right the perceived injustice.
Soured relations
Relations have soured ever since, most recently with Apple removing the built-in YouTube app and dropping Google Maps for its own solution from the latest version of iOS.
Representatives from Apple and Google have so far declined to comment on the reports, but we'll be sure to bring you any updates.
Source : techradar[dot]com
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