Nexus One Getting Multi-Touch Functionality [Google Rolling Out Multi-Touch Support To Android 2.0, Deal With Apple Reached?]

Last week, we told you about the reports that sources within Google were blaming the company’s deal with Apple for the reason that Nexus One phones in the United States didn’t have general multi-touch support. An entry on the Google Nexus One blog revealed that they’ll be rolling out an update today that will enable multi-touch on the phone.

Multi-touch, which Google’s blog entry calls “pinch-to-zoom functionality”, will be rolled out to all Nexus One phones via an over-the-air update. More specifically, the multi-touch will be enabled in the browser, Gallery app and Maps applications. No word from Google on if it will be enabled for third-party apps, and since the news just broke, reports from Nexus One users haven’t come in yet.

Remember that Nexus One handsets in the US had limited multi-touch in the phone’s virtual keyboard only. TechCruch is also reporting that Google is now letting mobile phone manufacturers and carriers decide if they want to enable multi-touch on any currently available Android 2.x smartphone, via a over-the-air update.

As we reported last week, sources within Google were telling the internet press that Google wasn’t including multi-touch on their phones because of a deal with Apple. Apple’s multi-touch patent in the United States is very ‘weak’ and ‘undefendable’.We’ve already seen multi-touch on the Palm Pre (without a lawsuit from Apple), and Motorola’s CEO didn’t seem to be phased by any Apple patents, as he revealed that multi-touch would be coming on Motorola Android phones in the future.

From the outside, it appears that the Google-Apple partnership is deteriorating before our eyes. Google released the Nexus One smartphone – a strong iPhone rival. Apple is reportedly going to replace Google as the default search engine on the iPhone. Google is working on a rumored tablet which would probably compete with the iPad, and now, the Nexus One is going to feature multi-touch, possibly against Apple’s wishes.

Is a corporate rivalry brewing between Cupertino and Mountain View? We’ll let you decide, but if any Nexus One users out there got the multi-touch update, please feel to post your opinions in the comments section.