Apple’s iPhone was used by Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to click pictures at a South Korea press event this week. What comes as a surprise is that he used the iPhone instead of a Google Android handset. Schmidt was in Seoul for DeepMind AlphaGo, Google’s artificial intelligence system, which defeated one of the best players in a 3,000-year old Chinese board game– Weiqi or Go.
Schmidt used iPhone not Android
Osen spotted Schmidt taking pictures with a device that looked like an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s at a press conference for the event. There are some Android devices that bear a lot of similarity to the iPhone though, both in terms of hardware and software, and thus have given rise to lawsuits.
But the device Schmidt was using at the press conference was unmistakably an Apple handset. In one of the images from Osen, Schmidt is seen using Apple’s Camera app, while in another, he is seen selecting a photo to send through text message, email or otherwise.
Some people might be surprised that Schmidt was seen using an iPhone and not an Android device, but it is not entirely unexpected as in the past, he has been seen using a BlackBerry device. At that time, he candidly admitted that he preferred the handset’s physical keyboard.
Connection between Apple and Google
Even though rivalry exists between Google and Apple, the former relies heavily on Apple products for delivery of its goods and services. According to court documents, in 2014, the search giant paid $1 billion to Apple to be the default search provider in Safari.
Until 2011, Schmidt served Google as its CEO, after which co-founder Larry Page took over. Schmidt then began to serve Alphabet as its executive chairman. Starting in 2006, Schmidt served on Apple’s board of directors, but after the competition between Apple and Google got really heated, Schmidt was forced to resign in 2009.
Google’s DeepMind has twice defeated Go Champion Lee Se-dol, making history. Now three games remain, of which Google’s AI needs to win just one to be named the winner. Speaking to the BBC ahead of the first match, world champion Lee Se-dol said that playing against a machine and against an actual human opponent are two very different things.
