Apple repeats denial in Google Voice dispute
updated 04:35 pm EDT, Fri September 18, 2009
Insists app has not been rejected
Apple has already issued a response to today's release of an uncensored Google submission to the FCC, according to Silicon Alley Insider. "We do not agree with all of the statements made by Google in their FCC letter," reads a statement from an Apple representative. Reiterating an earlier point of view, the representative adds that "Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application and we continue to discuss it with Google."
The FCC has been probing allegations that Google Voice was rejected from the App Store due to pressure on Apple from AT&T. The carrier may have felt threatened, some suggest, by the prospect of people using Voice to make cheaper calls outside of AT&T minutes. While Google supports the notion that AT&T was not involved, it does insist that Apple has formally rejected the app.
"Apple's representatives informed Google that the Google Voice application was rejected because Apple believed the application duplicated the core dialer functionality of the iPhone," reads Google's response to the FCC. "The Apple representatives indicated that the company did not want applications that could potentially replace such functionality."
Should the Google statement be true, it may also highlight a double-standard. A number of VoIP apps are present at the App Store, including Skype and Truphone. These directly substitute for the iPhone dialer, though users can only make calls via Wi-Fi, rather than GSM, EDGE or 3G.
Apple has no grounds
09/18, 06:19pm reply
No grounds to reject Google under those conditions...considering they have allowed other VOIP software that has their own dialers. Total BS. They are simply trying to stop Google from using the 3G network for this service. I wish these companies would just stand up and tell the truth...just once.
lamewing
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2004
Why not?
09/19, 09:16am reply
Google voice isn't a regular VOIP, it practically re-brands the AT&T service. Apple has the right to refuse whatever app they want, just like any other hardware maker. Most of the others don't even allow 3P apps at all, its a new era in the mobile phone business and all of this is a passing phase.
Peter Bonte
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Re: Why not?
09/21, 01:10pm reply
Apple has the right to refuse whatever app they want, just like any other hardware maker.
So when Apple said they were going to change the phone industry, this wasn't part of it? And selling out to a carrier to get your subsidized phones wasn't it either. Exactly how is Apple changing the cell phone industry again?
Most of the others don't even allow 3P apps at all, its a new era in the mobile phone business and all of this is a passing phase.
When you say "most of the others" are you talking about smartphones, or lumping in all cell phones into one big pile to make a point? Because most smart phones allow 3rd party apps.
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001