I think it's far more calculated than that: Google's shipping Android builds avoid a lot of basic UI features that Apple did first. HTC then adds most of them through their "TouchSense" modifications, just like they did with WM6 before.

They're trying to keep Google in its place, and prevent HTC from extending it. They're happy with Android being out there for the dorkwads and ideologues (it lets them shed their 'worst customers') but they don't want the public to see a sea of direct clones of their style of multitouch.

I enjoy reading hacker news comments because they tend to be mature and express interesting ideas well. I hope your future comments do not resort to childish name calling as you do in this one.

As for your point, that you feel patents like the multi-touch patent are justified, I would point out that many people disagree with trivial patents such as this, or even software patents in general. It is developers and IT people that are upset with Apples highly controlled development environment. Alienating this group of people may eventually backfire.

C'mon now, as a dorkwad and an ideologue myself, I feel free to refer to my brethren here by those 'childish' names.

I don't feel that the patents are justified -- I'm merely explaining how and why I think Apple is using them.

Apple's 'style of multitouch' is the same multitouch Bell invented in the 60s. Pinch to zoom has been around for decades, Apple's genius is in bringing that to smartphones - unfortunately that's not patentable, so they have to resort to 'using a gesture to unlock a device' and other such specific (and obvious) applications of the concept.

I agree. It smacks of a proxy war.

"if" it were an attack on Google rather than HTC, I wonder what it is that has spooked Apple to bring out such a big gun now, rather than earlier?

The fact that the Nexus One is better, hardware-wise, than the iPhone? (Earlier Android devices were intentionally stripped down for the sake of being inexpensive. The Nexus One is not.)

And that HTC's own-branded Android devices compete and better iPhone in a lot of ways. When I moved from iPhone to hero, my contacts suddenly all had photos from Facebook, I didn't have to open apps to check twitter or stock prices, I could add a shortcut to SMS my girl right onto the home screen, and I didn't have to sync anymore.

I hope apple knows they will lose that fight.