Google chief Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board

The tech world was shocked overnight with the news Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has resigned his position as an executive on Apple’s board, with Apple citing “potential conflicts” between the two companies.

The announcement comes just days after the two companies became involved in the controversy surrounding the Google Voice iPhone app, after Apple blocked the program from its App Store despite reports a senior executive had given the program his personal approval.

The announcement from Apple states that as the two companies continue to compete in similar areas, such as the development of the Android operating system and mobile handsets, Schmidt will suffer from a conflict of interest.

“Eric has been an excellent board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement.

“Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s board.”
Schmidt has released a statement of his own. “I have very much enjoyed my time on the Apple board. It’s a fantastic company. But as Apple explained today we’ve agreed it makes sense for me to step down now.”
Google and Apple have worked together on a number of projects, including the development of native software applications to the iPhone, such as the “Maps” and “YouTube” applications.

Some tech analysts say the move is unsurprising, as Google is moving into product areas that it was not involved with when Schmidt took the board position three years ago.

But some say the move indicates bad blood, as it comes after the Federal Communications Commission said it will investigate both companies for the recent Google Voice debacle.

Apple suddenly removed all Google Voice-enabled apps from the App Store, and blocked an official Google Voice iPhone app from release, despite a Google developer claiming an Apple executive personally approved of the app and apologised for the delay.

But Apple denied responsibility, saying the app was too similar to the features offered by the iPhone’s exclusive US carrier AT&T. However, the telco has also denied a role in the block, with the FCC entering the fray to determine who is responsible.

The FCC has applauded Schmidt’s move to step down, but Bureau of Competition director Richard Feinstein has said the investigation will continue.

“We have been investigating the Google/Apple interlocking directorates issue for some time and commend them for recognising that sharing directors raises competitive issues, as Google and Apple increasingly compete with each other.”

Google Voice isn’t the only recent spat between the two companies. Google recently trashed an iPhone app for its Google Latitude service at Apple’s request, saying it was too similar to its own services.

Meanwhile, Google has been fighting another battle with software giant Microsoft.

After Google announced it will be developing a “Chrome” operating system, Microsoft hit back with the announcement it will be launching a free, online version of Microsoft Office similar to the Google Apps suite.

But now, the internet search giant has launched a marketing campaign titled “Going Google”, encouraging computer users to try its online apps suite containing the Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs apps as an alternative to the Office suite.
Google’s campaign comes ahead of the release of the Windows 7 operating system, with a new version of the Microsoft Office suite due in early 2010.