In its letter to the FCC Apple says that “contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it”. It then goes on to describe its issues with Google Voice....Apple closes out this description with “The following applications also fall into this category”, and then lists the three third party Google Voice apps that were yanked from the App Store.
Presumably the applications in “this category” are all being pondered over too, and have not been rejected, right? But that’s simply not the case. Riverturn Inc, the developer behind the VoiceCentral application that was listed in Apple’s FCC response, has sent us a screenshot of its ‘rejection’ status that is quite clear.
Now when one reads all of the volumes of posts on the topic, the first thing that occurs in one's mind is that if you get an Apple iPhone, you can't use Google Voice.
Technically, not correct. And just to check to make sure my understanding was accurate, I tweeted this:
OK, I have a dumb Google Voice/iPhone related-question. Here it is: http://ff.im/-8aSbY
The ff.im link leads to this FriendFeed discussion that I started as follows:
There was a big brouhaha about Apple rejecting the Google Voice application for the iPhone. My question - why couldn't an iPhone user just surf over to the Google Voice web page and use Google Voice from there? The implication during the brouhaha was that Apple and/or AT&T were preventing iPhone users from using Google Voice. Unless I'm missing something, iPhone users can use Google Voice any time they want via the web.
I mean, let's face it - if I can use Google Voice on my three-year old Motorola Q, certainly people with the ultracool Apple iPhone should be able to surf to the web page just like I can, shouldn't they?
Jeffrey Welch entered the conversation at this point to clarify things:
Not a dumb question. I wondered until I started using it. The web page for google voice can't actually place the call.
Just to clarify for those who don't have Google Voice. Let's say that I want to call my wife, but that I want my Google Voice number (rather than my actual cell phone number) to show up on her phone. I go to my really really old web browser, select the contact whom I want to call, then tell Google Voice where to call ME. I then wait for my phone to ring, and once I answer, Google Voice places the call to my wife.
Jeffrey explained to me that the Google Voice app can actually place the call without going through that intermediate "call me first" step. Let's go back to Jeffrey:
That is part of it's usefulness. It needs to place the call. Now some apps for google voice seem to also be placing the call over a wifi connection eliminating the need to use the cell phone's minutes. Thats why people think its #ATT blocking the app.
So an iPhone user can use Google Voice; it's just a little harder. But, as Google notes, it isn't all that hard on some non-Apple platforms:
[AND I GUESS THAT IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER OF MY FULL DISCLOSURES. A FORMER CO-WORKER OF MINE AT MOTOROLA HAS LEFT THE BIOMETRICS WORLD AND IS NOW PART OF THE MOTOBLUR PRODUCT TEAM, FOCUSING ON ANDROID APPLICATIONS. SHE, IN FACT, IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO INSPIRED ME TO TRY OUT GOOGLE VOICE. BECAUSE I LIKE AND RESPECT THIS PERSON, I HAVE A NATURALLY POSITIVE INCLINATION TOWARD ANDROID APPLICATIONS, AND THEREFORE PROBABLY HAVE A SUBCONSCIOUS BIAS TO PROMOTE SAID ANDROID APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING GOOGLE VOICE, TO EVERYONE EXCEPT BRUINS AND FORMER BRUINS. FOR MY FORMER CO-WORKER, YOU SEE, IS A USC GRADUATE, AND AS SUCH PROBABLY QUESTIONS WHETHER BRUINS HAVE MASTERED THE ART OF PHONE CONVERSATION, OR ANY MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION.]
Of course, if someone invests a lot of time in Google Voice, it's quite possible that Apple's stance, or AT&T's stance, or whoever, might drive business away from Apple & AT&T. In fact, I'm sure that some people, including my former co-worker, are fervently hoping that Apple's refusal to approve Google Voice will dominate the news, causing people to look away from the iPhone and toward other phones. In fact, even on The iPhone Blog, a post about Android 1.6 asked the question, presumably to iPhone users:
[I]t’s great to see Google keeping up with the updates. Anything in there that makes Android more compelling to you?
One commenter responded:
Yes, there is something that is compelling… F*ing Google Voice support.
And that person wasn't the only one to express that opinion. Take a look at this comment:
I’m planning my move away from AT*T, and I’ve been keeping an eye on Android since really before it was available. I’ve been pleased to see that major phone manufacturers are now releasing Android-based phones. I’m looking to Android to get a combination of cell phone and OS that doesn’t really care what carriers want on their network. (I agree that Google Voice is one reason to be looking around.)
Nokia is also pretty close with the N900, but I have until July 2010 to decide, so I’m going to wait and see.
And yes, that's how the cellphone industry is in the United States these days. You get locked into a particular carrier with a particular phone for two years, and some people who are "locked in" feel like they're in a jail. And as they sit in there...cell, they plan what they're going to do once they're set free.
And speaking of jail, there's the whole art of jail-breaking - or getting your iPhone to work with another carrier. Apple and AT&T obviously don't want you to do that, but now there's another incentive for people to do so:
All I really need jail breaking for now is Google voice, if they would give it to me, I could upgrade to 3.1 and be able to use app management, why apple why.
However, my former co-worker would presumably be happy to say that her Android phone doesn't put you in jail. Well, maybe if you're in Westwood...
