Clearly Eric Schmidt had plenty to say about Apple during Google's Big Tent summit earlier today. After crediting the company as a "tremendous technology innovator," Schmidt addressed the recent rumors of Google Now — among Android's most beloved features — making its way to iOS. Last week, a supposed promotional video surfaced on the web, showcasing an unreleased version of Google's Search app with Google Now functionality baked in.

The clip certainly looked authentic, and Schmidt didn't dismiss the idea of bringing a major Android differentiator over to Apple's platform. In fact, he vaguely hinted that Google is trying to do just that, but implied the necessary update to Search is currently caught up in approval limbo. Asked directly when Google Now may arrive on iPhone, the chairman said “you’ll need to discuss that with Apple. Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of the apps we make they approve and some of them they don't." Schmidt couldn't help but take a shot at Apple's walled garden, chiding "they recently did approve Google Maps, thank goodness." He later declined to get into specifics on the Google Now situation. To hear the comments for yourself, skip to the 17:50 mark at the source below.