Apple asked Google not to use multi-touch in Android?

Apple, which of course makes the signature multi-touch mobile device, the iPhone, apparently asked Google not to implement it, and Google agreed, an Android team member tells us.

This strikes me as odd because, no matter how much Google’s engineers love that device, I’d figured Apple would need Google more than Google would need the iPhone.

However, it could have been a friendly warning from Apple Legal that they were going to be awarded a broad patent over multi-touch, and Google ought to be cautious about going there. While Palm has its own patents that Apple might infringe on, and that particular conflict is likely to be resolved by a cross-licensing agreement, I don’t expect the same would have to happen if Google started stepping on Apple’s toes. More than they already are, that is.