Google accuses Apple, Microsoft of derailing Android success

Search engine giant Google on Wednesday accused some technology companies of trying to thwart the success of Android by forming a nexus in order to make devices running on Android platform expensive for developers as well as consumers.

Google has said that the nexus is being headed by companies like Apple and Microsoft."Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other’s throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on", Google's Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said in an official blog.

Google's claim rises from the fact that companies like Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and some others are trying to purchase technology patents at a much higher price than its worth, thus forcing the developers who use this technologies pay a higher license fee.

This anti-competitive strategy by the group is also escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they’re really worth. The winning $4.5 billion for Nortel’s patent portfolio was nearly five times larger than the pre-auction estimate of $1 billion.

"They’re doing this by banding together to acquire Novell’s and Nortel's old patents to make sure Google didn’t get them", added Drummond.

He also said that by doing this the group headed by Apple is seeking $15 licensing fees for every Android device; attempting to make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android than Windows Phone 7.

Google has also accused that the 'group' is also planning to sue other handset companies like HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Barnes & Noble. "Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it", added Drummond.

However, Drummond said that Google would do everything possible to stop the group from their ill intentions.

"We’re determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it," said the Chief Legal Officer of Google.

gyanas@cybermedia.co.in