Eric Schmidt talks Apple to WSJ, sort of...

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt sat down with the Wall Street Journal's Jessica Lessin last week for an interview. He talked about recent rumors that he might be in line for a Cabinet post (Schmidt says he has "no interest in working for the federal government"), an antitrust lawsuit that might be brewing and Google's relationship with Apple. Many of Schmidt's answers to questions about Apple seemed to be quite evasive.

Regarding the Google / Apple relationship, Schmidt pointed out that "Obviously, we would have preferred them to use our maps. They threw YouTube off the home screen [of iPhones and iPads]. I'm not quite sure why they did that." When it comes to the possibility of a patent-related settlement, Schmidt noted that the two companies are constantly having conversations about legal strategies. He did find it "curious that Apple has chosen to sue Google's partners and not Google itself."

When confronted with the fact that developers earn more with iOS apps than Android apps, Schmidt seemed to provide a non sequitur as an answer, saying "Google Play and the monetization just started working well in the last year, maybe the last six months. The volume is indisputable and with the volume comes the opportunity and the luxury of time."

One other question was about Apple's Siri virtual assistant, to which Schmidt replied "Well, it's competition." Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Eric.