Google Jan. 26 rolled out an HTML5-based version of its
popular Google Voice application for Apple's iPhone several months after Apple
rejected Google's original submission to its App Store.
Google Voice is a Web-based phone management application that lets users route calls to their
home, work and mobile phones from a special Google granted number. The free Web
app, which also lets users make low-cost long-distance calls, has been
incredibly popular since Google began slowly rolling it in June and has more
than 1.4 million users.
Google software engineers wrote a version of Google Voice
for the iPhone platform and submitted it to the App Store in June, only to have
it
rejected for competing with iPhone's SMS and dialing features.
That app was designed as a native program for the iPhone,
meaning it would be downloaded directly the devce. When Apple
rejected it, it prompted an
inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission and fueled Google to
write a version anyone may access through a mobile Web browser.
That version is now live for both the iPhone
OS 3.0 and higher and smartphones based on Palm's WebOS, Google said via a blog
post. Based on the vastly improved HTML5 Web markup language, the app's AppCache
will let users interact with Web apps without a network connection and store
data locally on the device.
The app will let Google Voice users do pretty much what
they can do with the desktop version of the app, including listen to voicemail
and read voicemail transcripts, send and receive text messages, and make inexpensive
international calls.
Users can also add shortcuts to Google Voice features such
as the Dialer, Compose SMS, Inbox or Contacts, to their iPhone home screen or
Palm launcher.
The new Web app also lets users display their Google
Voice number as the outbound caller ID so that return calls come back to their special
Google Voice number.
Users must have a Google Voice account and a voice plan
on a cell phone to place calls with the app. Those who want to try the app can
point their browser to m.google.com/voice and sign in to their Google Voice
account. Google Voice is still available in the U.S. only.
The Google Voice app represents a definite workaround to
Google's standoff with Apple's App Store, which is incredibly strict if
not inconsistent in its treatment of submissions. The App Store has
been known to
accept and summarily bounce apps that fail to meet its rigid
requirements for
quality and other criteria.
Google and Apple are increasingly competing online,
particularly on the mobile front. Google Jan. 5
launched the Nexus One smartphone, which many liken to Apple's iPhone.
Meanwhile, Apple has acquired Web properties
such as
music provider LaLa and mobile ad maker
Quattro Wireless, ostensibly to compete with Google and others in the mobile
Web cloud.
Messaging and Collaboration 
