Google’s Schmidt says Android came before iPhone, but is the timeline important?

Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt visited South Korea yesterday and while he was there he was asked to comment on statements by Apple’s Steve Jobs that accused Android of being stolen from Apple. Schmidt managed to dodge the question by using the timelines of the projects, reports John Paczkowski of All Things D.

Google lawyer says Microsoft sues because Windows Phone 7 is failing

The war of words between Google and Microsoft has reached into the media once again, as SFGate has interviewed Google’s patent lawyer Tim Porter. Refuting the claims made by his Redmond counterpart in an earlier interview, Porter said that Microsoft is attacking Android because they feel their own product (Windows Phone 7) is marginalized and threatened. He said that while the meteoric rise of Android hasn’t been halted by Microsoft’s tactics, companies that have to worry about patent litigation can’t focus on innovation.

Google tells Android device makers: We’ll help you fight lawsuits

Google will continue to assist companies using its Android operating system if they are involved in legal disputes over technologies used within the platform, executive chairman Eric Schmidt told reporters during the final day of his visit to Taiwan, Reuters reports.

Australian court forces Apple to hand over private operator iPhone business terms

The latest twist in the Apple and Samsung patent drama has seen an Australian court tell the Cupertino-based technology giant that it must disclose the terms of its deals with Australian mobile operators that carry the company’s iPhone, in effect providing the Korean smartphone vendor with all of its secret business terms and payment agreements.

[Updated] Adobe to cease developing mobile Flash plugin for Android and PlayBook

Adobe is making some big changes today, having issued an "intra-quarter update" that includes significant restructuring as the company attempts to refocus itself on "Digital Media and Digital Marketing." Part of the restructuring also apparently includes no longer updating its Flash plugin for mobile devices, which right now primarily is used on Android and RIM's PlayBook platform. In a statement given to ZDNet, Adobe instead said that it would focus on Adobe AIR apps instead: