Steve Jobs planned 'Holy War' on Google before he died

Steve Jobs said there would be a 'Holy War' between Apple and Google in a letter he wrote to top Apple executives before he died in 2011.

The email was revealed during the latest court battle between Samsung and Apple about patent infringements. Apple is demanding $2 billion (1.2 billion) in damages for five patents it claims Samsung infringed, while the South Korean tech giant has responded by claiming $6.9 million (4.15 million) from Apple for two alleged patent infringements.

Jobs told 100 Apple employees the company needed, "to catch up to Android where we are behind."

He wanted his team of engineers to include better notifications, tethering and speech as three priorities.

"Apple is in danger of hanging on to old paradigm for too long," he said. "Google and Microsoft are further along on the technology, but haven't quite figured it out yet."

Jobs believed Apple could overtake Google's Android operating system by just improving a few features and making Siri a big focus on its iDevices.

The Apple chief, who died in October 2011, told his senior executives in the same memo the PC industry was dying so the company needed to lock customers into its ecosystem, ensuring they want the full set of Apple products.

Jobs also spoke about the need for a better Apple TV, which originally launched in 2007. The second version of Apple TV was announced the month before Jobs wrote the letter to his executives. It said the vendor needed to improve the product to, "stay in the living room game and make a great 'must have' accessory for iOS devices."

Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing chief, said the points exposed in the memo were a general outline of strategies and not "set in stone."