According to the Register Google is interested in keeping Apple happy for a number of reasons. This might only be half the truth for a number of reasons :
- First, regardless of the multitouch hype I am not really convinced about it's value. Yes, it sounds cool to have support for zooming in/out and also supporting a couple more of multitouch gestures but hey, I can live without that. I consider for example copy-paste support much more important (not to mention running many apps in the background). Integration with Google Apps and a smooth overall user experience (keep it simple) is certainly most valuable to just supporting multitouch.
- Secondly, both Android as an OS and the G1 device have hidden (not exposed to user) multitouch support according to this video. Google is certainly not afraid of Apple; they could expose the multitouch capability but they choose not to; they are too smart not to copy Apple's multitouch. They need to deferrentiate; they are not used to be the followers they are the pioneers. I am sure they will come up with a better and more valuable solution if this is one of their priorities right now (which I don't think so). There are a number of technologies waiting still for exploitation such as speech interfaces, eye/face tracking or 3D touchless gestures just to name a fiew. I am sure Google is carefully evaluating such technologies and it is just a matter of time to see them revolutionalize our mobile experience!