Google knocks Apple for being controlling

It seems everyone is knocking Apple this week, first with US regulators hinting at an antitrust probe, then Adobe’s ad campaign, and now with Google CEO Eric Schmidt calling the firm out for being so freakishly controlling over its devices.
Trying to position itself as an Anti-Apple, Schmidt told the audience at a shareholder conference this week that Google’s open attitude “is inverse to the competition,” and that “If they say no, we say yes.”
Good news for Adobe then, because Schmidt added his firm would be bending over backwards to work with all software developers and device manufacturers who want a piece of the Android OS.
Ironically, Google and Apple used to be the best of chums a while back, with Schmidt even sitting on Apple’s board for three years until his resignation last year. As the smartphone wars kicked off, however, bitterness and competition between the two have abounded, with each trying to outdo the other in terms of mobile advertising, mobile operating systems and even devices.
Apple may still be the clear leader when it comes to apps, but Google’s Android is catching up quickly and the operating system is said to have powered 28% of all smartphones shipped in the US in the first quarter of 2010, second only to RIM’s Blackberry.
Some, however, feel Google is moving a little too fast when it comes to mobile, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) already midway into a probe to decide whether Google’s acquisition of mobile ad service AdMob for $750 million would be anti-competitive.
If the deal fell through at this stage, Google would be forced to cough up $700 million in termination fees to AdMob, something Schmidt doesn’t believe will be necessary, remaining optimistic the deal will still pass.
The ruling is due in a few days time.
“We do not expect to pay any such fee,” Schmidt asserted. “From our perspective, this is a highly competitive market.”