Near pandemonium has spread among geeks following BusinessWeek's anonymously sourced story of Apple's alleged talks with Microsoft about powering the browser search for iPhones with Bing. Quickly drawn conclusions and conspiracy theories claim a souring Apple-Google relationship has prompted the discussions. There is another theory out there. Its the money.
Yes, Google's CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple's board last August. Also, Google's growing Android and phone market share directly compete with Apple. Microsoft has been competing with Apple with its own device, the Zune, and it has its own emerging app store. There have been rumors of a Zune phone and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer continues to chest thump over Windows Mobile. So the that theory does not hold much water for me.
More likely it is a sound business exploration. Google gets the majority of its mobile ad revenues from iPhone OS devices. Bing being a competent search engine gives Apple the opportunity to see what this leverage can bring them. A deal could also be beyond mobile including Safari for desktops, laptops and ...tablets.
Whatever search engine is loaded as the default be assured that you will still find an option for Google and also Yahoo in the preferences.
Matthew Fortner has been at The News & Observer since 2002. He has a passion for gadgets, cutting-edge technology and all things geek.