Google Voice is a great online service which allows users to make cheap international calls and consolidate multiple telephone numbers through one unique Google number. Voice mail messages are recorded, transcribed and emailed to the user. So why have Apple refused to allow the Application to be available through the iTunes Store?

The decision has caused massive amounts of controversy, preventing iTunes users from easily downloading and using Google Voice. Apple have refused to comment on the decision which has sparked an outcry from the internet and Apple communities. PC World accused Apple of “Control Freak Tendencies.” TechCrunch called Apple “Rotten to the Core.” So why did Apple put its self forward for the firing line by making such an unpopular decision?

It seems as though Apple were protecting their business partner AT&T, the telecoms provider, from potentially losing revenue from lost calls, which would result from its users choosing to make a call by Google Voice and not the phone network carrier.

“There’s some turf to protect,” said Martin Pyykkonen, an independent technology analyst. “From Apple’s standpoint, why embrace something that could end up being a competitor down the road?”

Google Voice, previously Grand Central, is currently a free to use service and at present Google has not released information about how it plans to make revenue from the product. The service was reintroduced two weeks ago and was by invitation only.

“We work hard to bring Google applications to a number of mobile platforms, including the iPhone,” said Carolyn Penner, a Google spokeswoman, who noted that users may still access the application through the phone’s Web browser, even if they can’t download the application from Apple’s online iTunes store. “We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users, for example by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers.”

The problem is that if Google Voice becomes too popular, network providers could potentially lose revenue.

“If you use Google Voice tremendously, it would take away from AT&T’s minutes,” said Richard Doherty, an analyst with Envisioneering, a technology research firm. “The fear is that Google could dump you into a chat room with all of your friends and you may end up not needing AT&T.” Taken from LA Times.

Could this be seen as AT&T monopolizing and controlling how its users make calls in order to make more money? Surely a user should be able to make a call, using whatever service they feel is appropriate?

Article by Creative SEO UK

Google Latitude is a clever application which shows the location of your phone on a map. As you move in real time your icon moves on the map. A user can allow a single person or a group of people to watch and follow their location and see exactly where they are. What’s even better is a group of people can all follow each other on a single map, so they can all see exactly what each other is doing. This could be particularly fun for a group of friends who were out for the night and wanted to keep an eye on each other, or for a family to keep track of their children. The best thing about the software is that it’s completely free.

“Our Latitude web app provides all the core functionality you might expect: you can see the location of your friends on a map and modify your privacy settings so that you control how your location is shared and with whom. In fact, if my friends and colleagues back in London haven’t yet noticed my absence, they’ll see in Latitude that I’m currently vacationing on the beach in Australia. Hi guys, remember me!?” Google Mobile Blog.



Google Latitude has been available on Blackberry, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian for some time. The Iphone has been a little harder to work with and unfortunately there has had to be a small reduction in functionality.

“Unfortunately, since there is no mechanism for applications to run in the background on iPhone (which applies to browser-based web apps as well), we’re not able to provide continuous background location updates in the same way that we can for Latitude users on Android, Blackberry, Symbian and Window Mobile. Nevertheless, your location is updated every time you fire up the app and then continuously updated while the app is running in the foreground. And, of course, you can check in on where your friends are, so we think there’s plenty of fun to be had with Latitude.” Google Mobile Blog.

Click here http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/latitude/intro.html to find out more about Google Latitude.

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Google is expanding its advertising program to include ads for Mobile Applications on iPhone and Android Mobile devices.

It was announced this Wednesday that after a successful small scale test, using a handful of developers including Urban Spoon, Shazam and Saga, the Google Adsence for Mobile Applications service will now be launched in Beta and is available to developers. The service will initially be restricted to developers who have a minimum of 100,000 daily page views. In order to qualify developers will need to offer there program for free, be able to implement the Service immediately and agree to participate for a minimum term of 3 months. Google is encouraging all developers to register and will be opening the service to everyone in the future.



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Facebook connect finally lands on the iPhone. Its a web development tool which has been designed to help sites add social networking. The application is currently directly in competition with Google Friend Connect. The Facebook Development team have now released a version for the iPhone application developer. This will allow developers to incorporate social networking into there applications. The features include:

- Making Api Phone Calls allowing your app to access user profiles and share information
- Publish directly to Facebook
- Ask other users to extend permissions for offline access and interaction with data

It will be interesting to see how the next wave of iPhone Applications will utilise this technology.