A contentious quote, and one that Google has remained silent on since it was first publicized. Until today, when Chairman Eric Schmidt summarily dismissed it. Asked to comment on Jobs’s remark during his visit to South Korea today, Schmidt first declined, and then said simply that Android predated the iPhone.

“I’ve decided not to comment on what’s been written on a book after his death,” Schmidt said. “Steve is a fantastic human being and someone who I miss very dearly. As a general comment, I think most people would agree that Google is a great innovator and I would also point out that the Android effort started before the iPhone effort.”

Which is likely true. Android was founded in 2003 and acquired by Google in 2005, years before Apple debuted the first iPhone in 2007. Perhaps Apple began work on the iPhone prior to 2003. Who knows? That’s not the question here. The real question is whether Jobs’s accusation that Google ripped off Apple’s vision of a mobile device is supported. And Schmidt, by deferring to the historical timeline, dodges it entirely.

A wise move, considering what the company’s prototype Android handset looked like before the debut of the iPhone, and what the first Android smartphone — the HTC Dream — looked like when it finally arrived at market.

What can we expect from this first Android device? Sadly, the HTC documentation doesn’t offer much detail. Those who claim to have seen it, however, say it will feature a trackball and a screen smaller than the one on the iPhone. They also believe it will offer access to an upcoming T-Mobile (DT) App Store similar to Apple’s (AAPL) App Store for iPhone/iPod Touch applications. The Dream will support push email, but only via Google’s Gmail service. Finally, it will use Google’s advertising platform to serve up ads based on user interests and location. Which, as far as Google is concerned, is the whole point here. “We can make more in mobile than desktop, eventually,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said recently. “The reason is because the mobile device is more targeted. Think about it: You carry your phone with you everywhere. It knows all about you. We can use that to do a very, very targeted ad. Over time, Google will make more money from mobile advertising.”