Google says Apple killed Voice app
Google’s confidential reply to the FCC in the matter of its rejected Voice app says that Apple did indeed reject the telephony app because it duplicated what Apple calls a “core iPhone function.”
That, of course, is not what Apple’s testimony, previously released, said in every particular. Google today relinquished its right to confidentiality relative to its comments in reply to questions about the non-approval of the app, according to a Bloomberg story. Google’s reply to the FCC said, in part, “Apple believed the application duplicated the core dialer functionality of the iPhone. Apple’s representatives informed Google that the Google Voice application was rejected.”
Apple’s reply brought up the issue of core iPhone functionality, but did not go so far as to say that the had rejected the Google Voice app. It seems that at least some of the argument is semantic. Google is saying that Apple rejected the app. Apple is saying that they have not yet approved it, implying that there is some ongoing consideration. A spokesman for Apple said today of the Google statements, “We do not agree with all of the statements made by Google in their FCC letter. Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application and we continue to discuss it with Google.”
Google Voice is a telecommunications service from Google. The service provisions a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations from any of a user’s Voice-configured telephones, or from a Google web-based application. Inbound and domestic outbound calls are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice Web site.
Thus, in a way, Google voice does indeed replace a core function of the iPhone: it essentially replaces the cell phone functionality itself. This could, of course, make changes in usage patterns that could affect both Apple and AT&T. It is not, however, much different in many ways from the Skype iPhone app, which was approved some time ago and remains available and usable on the iPhone. Since this is not a court case, but instead a relatively informal FCC inquiry, the public may never see all of the involved back and forth. That is a shame. Since it will be fascinating…
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September 19th, 2009
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