According to TechCrunch, Google Voice won't be coming to the iPhone any time soon, and when it does finally make an appearance, it may very well have many of its best features stripped.
While Google had assurances from the top levels of Apple that the app would be approved, Apple officially blocked the application this week. Google Voice mimics some functions of telecom companies, such as cheap long distance calls through Voice over IP technology and free text messaging.
Did AT&T block Google Voice?
It's easy to point the finger at AT&T over this move. If Google Voice had the okay from high up in Apple, something must have changed in the intervening weeks, and that something very well could have been AT&T disliking the idea of free text messaging and cheap long distance. I wouldn't be surprised if the contract between AT&T and Apple holds assurances that Apple will ban apps that mimic AT&T services, which is part of Apple's terms of service for app developers.
The one wrinkle in all of this is the increased focus of the government on the Apple-AT&T union. The Department of Justice is already looking into the exclusivity deal, so any act that either stifles competition (like banning Google Voice) or gives the consumer the short end of the stick (also like banning Google Voice) might just brighten that spotlight.
As for Google, they are committed to bringing Google Voice to the iPhone, and may very well work on a browser-based version of the service. Google Voice is already available on Blackberry and Android-powered devices, and Google Voice apps are also available to jailbroken iPhones.
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