HTC has just announced that they’re counter-suing Apple for infringement, claiming Apple treads on 5 specific HTC patents.

“As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC Corporation. “We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones.”

Apple originally sued HTC for patent infringement on April 2, citing 20 patents in a move widely speculated to be directed towards Google’s Android platform in general. HTC had since agreed to license patents from Microsoft — counter-intuitively — for Android, again speculated to me a move directed towards Google.

Just like the Nokia vs. Apple suit and counter-suit, these types of suits can take months if not years to resolve, especially in the still forming smartphone space.

[HTC via Android Central]

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Apple has sued HTC for patent infringement with Android almost certainly being the target, now it turns out Microsoft believes Android also infringes on their patents and HTC has just paid up.

That means the free-as-in-Google smartphone OS isn’t free anymore — it’s just Microsoft who’s getting the money for it, and from the maker of the Nexus One, Desire, Legend, and Droid Incredible no less. That hurts Android.

How the deal affects HTC’s position in the Apple patent infringement case, however, is unclear. If HTC can point to a licensed Microsoft patent for technology Apple claims HTC is infringing upon then that no doubt helps HTC and hurts Apple and the iPhone.

With Windows Phone 7 series fast approaching, it looks like Microsoft took the opportunity to get more than a little Sun Tzu on their smartphone rivals last night.

Now lets see how Google — and Apple — respond.

[CNET via Android Central]

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Our sibling site Android Central has just published a full review of the Verizon Droid Incredible — the latest Google superphone Android competition to the iPhone. (And yes, it does seem like they’re coming more than once a month now — we feel bad for Phil!).

It’s pretty much a gussied-up Nexus One with Sense UI, which you’d think would make it a Desire but it bumps a few specs (like an 8mp camera with dual LED flash) and a CDMA radio (which the Nexus One was supposed to do but hasn’t yet, and the iPhone keeps being rumored to do but hasn’t yet either).

All three devices are by HTC, who Apple is suing for patent infringement, and their ability to keep dropping high-end Android bombs like this is likely the reason why. Say what you want about software fragmentation, highly restricted app storage, and OLED screens you may or may not be able to see out in the daylight, the absolutely relentless improvements in UI and hardware both is very much in keeping with the robotic nature of the brand.

Apple of course is widely expected to counter this summer not only with the multitasking iPhone OS 4 (see our complete preview and feature walkthrough), but with 4th generation hardware leaps of its own — front facing camera, huge 960×640 display, and only Jobs knows what else.

Whether those iPhone on Verizon rumors finally pan out along with it, or in September, or only in 2011 we don’t know, but our advice to potential buyers remains the same as in our iPhone vs. Nexus One: which should you buy?. Check that post for details, but in broad strokes:

• If you have to get a new phone right now and you want AT&T, the 2009 iPhone 3GS (see our review) remains head of that class. If you want Verizon, however, the Incredible is certainly a credible choice. The original Droid has a hardware keyboard (lackluster though it may be) and the Nexus One has the Google rather than HTC Sense UI (though who knows when it will actually ship?) so it’s an embarrassment of Android riches over in Big Red land. (If you’re on Sprint, it’s EVO 4G ‘natch).

• If you can wait until the summer and aren’t fussy about carriers, Google may have another (two, three?) Androids on the market by then, but we have a sneaky suspicion Apple and iPhone HD (it won’t be called iPhone 4G) along with iPhone OS 4 will be the ones to watch in 2010. Again.

Head on over to Android Central’s complete Verizon Droid Incredible coverage for more, and let us know what you think — is it incredible?

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HTC has sent out a press release in response to the patent infringement lawsuit Apple recently fired in their direction. CEO Peter Chou is quoted:

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.”

The full presser lists out all of HTC’s “firsts” in the industry but gives no indication about what, if any, counter-suit and patent infringement claims of their own they might use to return fire.

We did say this could take years, right?

[via Android Central]

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The New York Times has a full length feature up about the state of the Apple vs. Google rivalry and how it’s getting personal. We’ve heard similar several times before, of course, and Apple has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Android manufacturer HTC. But the details here are interesting:

As Google’s plans took shape, Apple and Google executives either met in person or spoke on the phone on multiple occasions about Apple’s concern about Android, executives on both sides say.

Many of those meetings turned confrontational, according to people familiar with the discussions, with Mr. Jobs often accusing Google of stealing iPhone features. Google executives said that Android’s features were based on longstanding ideas already circulating in the industry and that some Android prototypes predated the iPhone.

At one particularly heated meeting in 2008 on Google’s campus, Mr. Jobs angrily told Google executives that if they deployed a version of multitouch — the popular iPhone feature that allows users to control their devices with flicks of their fingers — he would sue. Two people briefed on the meeting described it as “fierce” and “heated.”

It’s undeniable that Google bought Android before Apple released the iPhone (though Apple was reportedly working on the iPhone/iPad technology for 2-3 years already by then). It’s also undeniable that the early Android prototypes we saw looked more like BlackBerry or Windows Mobile Standard, yet when Google debuted the G1, it was a full screen, capacitive touch device with the same screen resolution as the iPhone. From the Hero to the Droid to the Nexus One, similar form factors have followed while the BlackBerry-esque devices have yet to be seen.

Many other incidents, such as the still-unapproved/rejected Google Voice app for iPhone, Google CEO Eric Schmidt leaving the Apple Board of Directors, and Google buying (and paying a premium for) AdMob after Apple expressed an interest in the company, are all said to result from this souring in relations.

The two remain successful partners for now, and Google keeps saying everything is “stable”. The NYT suggests, however, that someone like longstanding Google mentor and Apple board member Bill Campbell, formerly of Intuit, needs to act as a peacemaker to bring the two giants back together. Otherwise, rumors persist of Steve Ballmer and Microsoft’s Bing standing poised to take Google’s place as Apple’s default search engine, map provider, and ally.

It’s a long article but well worth a read, especially the parts about how Google founders Sergy Brin and Larry Page, and Steve Jobs used to enjoy a close relationship. Check it out and let us know what you think…

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Fortune quotes Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner, who thinks Apple’s patent infringement suit against Google Android and Microsoft Windows Phone manufacturer HTC was a warning shot meant to disrupt competitors’ roadmaps:

“Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing its iPhone-related IP [intellectual property] infringed. The lawsuit filed against HTC thus appears to be Apple’s way of putting a public, lawyered-up exclamation point on a series of blunt conversations that have been occurring behind closed doors.

“Our checks also suggest that these warning shots are meaningfully disrupting the development roadmaps for would-be iPhone killers. Rival software and hardware teams are going back to the drawing board to look for work-arounds. Lawyers are redoubling efforts to gauge potential defensive and offensive responses. And strategy teams are working to chart OS strategies that are better hedged.”

What changed?

“Top-tier handset makers continued to avoid implementing multi-touch, but Apple could safely assume that they were hanging back to gauge Apple’s response to Motorola and HTC. If there wasn’t one, the OEMs would likely read the silence as a green light, especially after Google also moved to enable multi-touch on its Nexus One phone.

It was likely in order to counter that perception that Apple began reaching out to handset OEMs in January and explaining in no uncertain terms that it was now ready to do battle–and not just on multi-touch. It was ready to press its case along a number of axes that had made the iPhone experience unique, from the interpretation of touch gestures, to object-oriented OS design, to the nuts and bolts of how hardware elements were built and configured.”

He believes it’s working, and might end up driving people away from Android and… towards Windows Phone.

Nice.

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