What's Apple Got Against Google Voice?

Yet another example of a "technology" company suppressing technology.
I hate to see apple continuing down this ugly path.

BTW, have you noticed how buggy Safari has become?

so..... you want to know why android, which is a google product, has not banned google voice apps?

Rick, I think you are misreading the article. He is talking about the android version of Google voice being banned by the carriers.

Andriod is not a google product, it is an HTC product and a t-mobile product, not google, it is powered by Google. And why is anyone surprised about Apple trying to corner a market in which they control the pricing? They are notorious for doing that. Look at ipod - not compatible with any other devices, the songs don't transfer, if you buy a song on Itunes and your ipod breaks (which they do) then you have to buy it again if you don't replace it with another ipod. So why are we surprised?

It's obvious that AT&T has fixation with potential lost revenue but only via iPhone since that's their main booster right now. And Apple seems to be tied in to their demands in a vicious dysfunctional relationship.

Maybe they feel comfortable in AT&T's orbit rather than Google's. The devil you know...

Wrong Ewan.. iTunes Plus files have no DRM... so you can use them on any player.

@Ewan You haven't used iTunes lately have you? 1) iTunes supports MP3 and has always supported MP3, as has the iPod. 2) How many months has it been since iTunes store songs had the DRM locks removed? They can now be converted directly into MP3s. 3) Lose or break an iPod, you don't have to buy anything to keep your music working....it lives on your computer...in fact several computers. Plus? The music I buy on Amazon and eMusic and HDTracks works perfectly fine on the iPod.....This constant carping I hear about how "closed" the iTunes-iPod system simply has no basis in reality and frankly never did.

bollocks if someone says its ATT that blocked GV app. It HAS to be Apple. If not, how come Blackberry working on the same ATT allows GV app? Apple is a Microsoft only with lesser consumer base. If I had to choose one evil, I'd pick MS over Apple anyday. Man, do I regret buying into iPhone crap today..

John Gruber at Daring Fireball, who is well-connected, confirms that AT&T required the removal of Google Voice from the iPhone. I would have bet it was Apple's decision, but not so.

http://daringfireball.net/2009/07/google_voice#update-13:40

So why not allow the App for the iPod Touch?

First I've ever heard of it. Not a big goog fan.

The Status Quo Vs the inevitable end of their business model due to technical innovation!!!

Corporations stick their heads in the sand trying to pretend technology will just go away, instead of taking the initiative.

None of this technical evolution is all that hard to see coming, they only have themselves to blame as they delay their own INEVITABLE demise! You wouldn't want to own shares in Vodaphone these days!

How many industries are we seeing this in at the moment?

Arik, You obviously don’t know what an “open system” is. Apple is and probably will always be a closed system at least until Jobs stopping running the show. The IBM PC and LINUX/UNIX are open systems. Is iPod compatible with anything other than iTunes? Can iTunes be used on other MP3 players? Do you see 3rd party companies producing iTunes compatible MP3 players based on a hardware standard such as the IBM PC? The answer is NO to all of those questions. Just because they removed DRM and now use a the MP3 standard instead of their own CODEC doesn’t it is an open system. It is a closed system that supports and open standard If Apple where a political system it would be The Communist Party. APPLE IS A CLOSED SYSTEM AND A CLOSED COMPANY. Check out www.anythingbutipod.com

Ewan - You are confusing hardware and software.

HTC makes hardware - the phone.
Google make Android - the software.
iPods play most any media files - they don't need to be purchased by iTunes. I've purchased 99.9% of my songs from Amazon and play them on my iPod. All of those songs can be played on any MP3 player.

I find it amusing that the federal government charges billions for the right to use the frequencies used for cell phone transmission. The cell phone companies pass those charges on to their customers so they can stay in business. When a company like Skype or Google wants to joyride and the companies say no they are the bad guys. If the US government wanted cheap cellular calls they would have offered the airwaves for free. Gripe at them but don't believe poor little Google can't play in the sandbox.

Just like desktops or laptops, consumer using iPhone should be able to install any application at their discretion instead Apple dictates what goes into iPhone. If this does not warrant antitrust inquiry, i dont know what will.

@Arik Hesseldahl I would advise you to read your EULA. The DRM may be removed - unlike what you say it did use to be there. BUT if you loose your hard drive you have lost your music according to Apple.

@Arik - you use eMusic? Didn't the price increase / download decrease peeve you in any way? After I collect my free booster pack, I'm gone - moving on to streaming music.

With regard to GV, does it allow you to use WiFi to place VOIP calls?

I agree with Betnag. This is limiting competition. AT&T and Apple both should be investigated.

Let's not forget about streaming video, other smartphones are allowed to do, but not the iPhone.

Write your congress person.

http://www.house.gov/

I don't think you can put this all on AT&T. Apple has enough leverage with AT&T to pull the plug on their agreement or work an alternate deal with Verizon. The fact plainly remains that Apple is feeling the competition sqeeze from Google and it will continue to feel it as long as Google continues to stretch it arms into every aspect of digital information.

@Jason : What's not open about supporting MP3? How that Apple has removed the Fairplay DRM locks from the music it sells, those AAC files are now compatible with any player that supports AAC files, which notably includes the Microsoft Zune, Sony PSP, players from Cowon and SanDisk and Creative. The iPod has from day one supported MP3 files, WAV files, AIFF files, on the video side it supports MP4 files. I can buy music from Amazon, HDTracks, EMusic or anywhere else that sells music in MP3 or other formats and it will play just fine. The iPod touch is open to developers. You're speaking as if nothing has changed on the iPod - iTunes platform, and frankly it's no longer true. The iPod is the most open media player platform in existence and is only likely to become more open. The one exception is that Apple locks out devices like the Palm Pre. Maybe one day they'll stop doing that too, but you must remember that iTunes exists not to sell music, but to encourage the adoption and sale of iPods and the iPhone, so there's a business incentive to include some exclusivity.

"Can iTunes be used on other MP3 players?"

There isn't any such thing as an "iTunes", you dolt. MP3s sold at the iTunes store can be used with ANY MP3 device and even when they used the better AAC codec you could still write to disc and rip to MP3 for poorer audio quality.

PC is an open system? That is why Intel constantly sues companies manufacturing their own x86 processors, amirite?

Today the Macintosh is simply a PC using EFI instead of BIOS.

Quit your whining and go buy a zune, you b*tthurt dolt.

What I am amazed with is how easy people in US fall for misleading slogans, like "one phone number for life".
First this feature was available for years from multiple VOIP providers usually called "Find Me/Follow Me". Anybody was excited about it? No, right? Because there was no massive campaigns with "one phone number for life" crap.
Second, why for life? People in US never move? So once you move you have to buy another number with local area code from "cool" GV for "just" $10.
What is GV generally useful for then? Getting rid of your privacy and let Google read all voice mails and phone calls for a set of "cool" features??

i think iphone is the wise choice, i think there should be a few more options with it

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