Are Apple and Google doing a little kiss-and-make-up?

Silicon Valley’s corporate equivalent of comic-book archenemies – read Apple and Google – may be starting to make nice with one another.

In a report laced with unnamed deep-throated sources, Reuters revealed Thursday that the two companies’ top execs – read Tim Cook and Larry Page – have been pow-wowing in private in an apparent effort to work out some of their differences over intellectual property claims. And attributing the tip to “people familiar with the matter,’’ Reuters said the competitors’ heated battle over mobile patents is Topic A.

So where has this delicate dialog supposedly been unfolding? An underground parking garage somewhere inPalo Alto? The front seat of a car parked next to the runway at Mineta San Jose International Airport? Well, said the sources, the two CEOS chatted by phone last week while secondary conversations have also been initiated, with the tech titans’ underlings taking meetings to help their bosses sort out their beefs.

The report comes while the tech world is still reeling from Apple’s recent court victory against Samsung, whom it accuses of ripping off its product design ideas and who happens to use Google’s Android software.

According to Reuters, “One possible scenario under consideration could be a truce involving disputes over basic features and functions in Google’s Android mobile software, one source said. But it was unclear whether Page and Cook were discussing a broad settlement of the various disputes between the two companies, most of which involve the burgeoning mobile computing area, or are focused on a more limited set of issues.’’

Apple declined comment on the story, while Google did not immediately respond to an enquiry from SiliconBeat. But the sources did say that Cook and Page are expected to talk again in the coming weeks.

Hold your breath if you like.

Or don’t.

Pat May (154 Posts)

With more than 30 years on the front line of daily American journalism, I'm currently a staff writer with the San Jose Mercury News, covering Apple and writing people-centric business stories from Silicon Valley.