Well, something clearly broke down behind the scenes in the ongoing Apple/Google negotiations over Google Voice on the iPhone, because Google released one of two nukes it has been holding back. In a letter to the FCC today, Google disclosed previously unpublished information about Apple’s rejection of their Google Voice application.
There’s no longer any question – either Google or Apple is flat out lying to the FCC:
Apple: “Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it.”
Google: “Apple representatives informed Google that the Google Voice application was rejected because Apple believed the application duplicated the core dialer functionality of the iPhone”
Our position is that Apple is the one full of it, which we stated way before this new information from Google. And it isn’t just he said/she said – Apple’s story doesn’t add up.
But Apple is standing firm, and even today told press that they haven’t rejected the Google Voice application, despite what Google says.
This doesn’t end here. As we’ve speculated, Apple will capitulate and accept the application with a few minor tweaks to save face. Because if they don’t we’ve heard Google has yet another nuke waiting on the sidelines – a screen shot of the actual rejection notice via the iPhone developers admin with the formal rejection. At that point, Apple will no longer be able to rely on nuances and misdirection. The FCC and everyone else will know that they lied in a government investigation.
We’re offering a free TechCrunch tshirt to any Google employee that forwards that screenshot to us. No questions asked.
Liar liar
It’s Apple that is full of it and that would be consistent with the general sentiment of developers on the Apple app approval methods.
They’re acting like children fighting over a toy.
…but the ramifications of this decision are far bigger than what Apple may be willing to accept. Google seems to have them in a corner right now and no amount of mystique/PR has so far gotten them out of it.
Jon @ WoodMarvels.com
So in a worst case scenario how much money does apple stand to loose if they accept Google’s apps? Seriously. Can anyone put a dollar amount on it?
“So in a worst case scenario how much money does apple stand to loose if they accept Google’s apps?”
Either absolutely nothing, or an unbelievably immense amount of money. They’re sparring over control, in a very real sense, of whatever cell phones turn into. If Google doesn’t manage to push Apple out of that market, Jobs could become the evil overlord of all cell phones.
I currently have Google Voice App on my iPhone. Apple is losing about $10 per month in text messages from me.
Really, this is a big deal. If I were ATT or Apple I would be concerned. If Google ever finds good hardware to put it’s Android on, and they combine it with google voice…well, they could be in control. Suddenly people are buying a phone and then thinking about the carrier instead of deciding which carrier to have and then picking a phone.
@Phil How is Apple losing $10/month from you? AT&T maybe?
@Phil – “Suddenly people are buying a phone and then thinking about the carrier instead of deciding which carrier to have and then picking a phone.”
Welcome to Asia, where the consumer controls the phone market.
Or Australia, where all five 3G carriers offer the iPhone.
Not so much Google’s fault- they built the thing, after all.
or they’re acting like corporations fighting over the future or mobile.
Mike it would seem given the CMDA strangle hold on certain US telecom policies that its struggle to break down the CDMA walled Gardens that may even have ramifications for the other major CDMA market namely China..
Right.
… and apple is literally blocking its own future. Sad to say, this situation will not change as long as Steve Jobs is alive.
I wonder how much of a role AT&T and possibly other carrier negotiations are also involved with the stance that Apple took. Any ideas Michael? Maybe it isn’t Apple as much as the others that are making the situation rough for all involved.
Jon @ WoodMarvels.com
Speaking of children fighting, what happened to TC’s tablet computer?
Apple is in the middle..Google is going after ATT and apple has to defend their partner otherwise lose a very lucrative deal. So Apple is doing this for itself in the short run and ATT for the long haul.
Simple truth is that apple gets to set its own policy, and google can suck it. If google wants to compete with the iPhone, then they need to make a better phone, because android just isn’t going to win. FCC is irrelavent.
they are not fighting , they r playing the mind games…….
Wait, you guys aren’t waiting on that lil birdie to whisper to Gruber, Dilger, Pogue or Mossberg that Google is lying and that AT&T was behind WWII??
I’m sure I’m speaking too soon. MG is probably whipping up the spin as we speak.
IBM truly IS behind WW2
Hey fool.
is = happening now
was = happened previously
please keep the whole “I live in an airstream in the Nevada desert” stuff to a minimum.
Watch out here comes the grammar nazi!!!
Wally Bynum is my HERO
unless you are bill Clinton,
Is = have sex with a girl his daughters age, no accountability
I can has care not
What relevance does any of that have to do with this post?
Wow, a T-shirt…
LOL
A new t-shirt to wear in the unemployment line. Wow is right!
As soon as I read that the screen-shot leaker gets a t-shirt I immediately went to look for the first comment that said something to the effect in your comment!
Google employee get’s a t-shirt for leaking screenshot that causes total chaos!
ahaha i looked for a comment about the t-shirt as well. a t-shirt! t-shirrtttttttttssss!!!!
Yes, incentive to send in a fake screen shot ginned up in Photoshop.
I don’t know who if anyone is lying—but screen shots are so easy to fake they can’t possibly be acceptable evidence of anything.
And the beat goes on
I gave up internal documents that I wasn’t supposed to and got fired from my awesome job at Google and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.
Stay classy, TC
I’m sorry and I’mma let you finish, but the Twitter document leak was one of the best leaks of all time.
KANYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *shakes fist*
did THAT french guy ever got his TC T-shirt?
he would have if he would have asked for.
“We’re offering a free TechCrunch tshirt to any Google employee that forwards that screenshot to us. No questions asked.”
Yeah, any better prizes? Like a job at TC for getting fired at Google?
Yeah, that’d be nice. I’d rather have the t-shirt, thank you.
Besides, if a Google developer forwards the picture, then why would they want to work as a journalist?
Hm… two t-shirts maybe?
We’re offering a free TechCrunch tshirt to any Google employee that forwards that screenshot to us. No questions asked. ??????
You expect some one risk their google job for a techcrunch T-shirt.
no. i expect our readers to understand basic humor.
hehehe
hehhehe @hehehe above
WHATEVER…!!!
That reminds me of RTMark’s efforts to capitalize on their success w/Sim Copter. Before they finally gave up, they were literally offering people the cash equivalent of t-shirts to do stuff like publicly export banned encryption and sneak porn into Dell startup screens.
I demand a TC t-shirt AND a pair of sweats with “TechCrunch” on the seat.
No Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.
@ Mike:
Don’t ask for too much. Just expect your readers.
do you mean “respect my readers”? sigh.
wada u expecta?
No, expect your readers to come to the site and read what you wrote. I think Nope was wanting to make sure you had your hosting straightened out.
Very considerate of him, I think.
I’m sure he meant what he wrote.
Did you mean “the future of mobile”? sigh.
http://www.tech...comment-2993424
HAHA i guess you cant expect all of your readers to be smart.
I agree that it sounds like Apple is full of it HOWEVER something isnt right…Why would apple just straight out lie when you know they would have records of everything (and they know that Google would keep records of everything)
My guess is Apple just kept google in app review limbo like they did to me for 3 months…
That was my thought too, pv. I can’t imagine Apple (or Google) outright publicly lying in a government investigation when they know that there is evidence that could prove they are lying.
(Not saying they wouldn’t lie, just that they wouldn’t publicly lie when they know they’ll get caught – both companies are smarter than that.)
I suspect both organizations have something up their sleeve.
sooo….. no t-shirt?
I know I would.
i mean, sure, we’d take the docs and deliver the tshirt. but we do have one or two other ways of getting information.
Water-boarding. FTW.
No, google’s FTP password is ‘password’
Just don’t wear that shirt to work on monday…
I wonder how many Google employees (1) already have a TC shirt, (2) haven’t read this post and (3) are wearing it to work on Monday.
4) Are known to have access to the alleged screen shot of the rejection notice.
I guarantee some bored engineer at Google has just run that exact query against their immense database o’ everything. (working title: Google Spy Beta)
Can’t wait to see what Apple have to say when/if the screen shot is released! Lying in a government investigation, what does that get you?
A perjury charge, maybe.
Depends on whether or not the lie was in a signed affidavit or not.
They would probably say that they can show numerous examples of other apps that received rejection notices in their initial forms, but were subsequently approved once Apple’s objections were addressed. Surely there are apps that were rejected and then later approved after making changes Apple required, no?
BINGO … If you read the Google FCC letters, you see that there were VP level meetings between Phil Shiller and Alan Eustace … and the description of the app shows how close to the core phone app this is. Can I get a fee t-shirt if I show an iPhone running Android ? Chrome ? (I already have Apple and Google ts
)
Finally — a comment that nailed it.
Apple: “sure, we’ll approve the app, just take these three things out of it.”
Google: “So you are saying that the way WE want it is not acceptable?”
Apple: “No, we are saying the way WE want it IS acceptable.”
Google: “So you are rejecting our app?”
Apple: “No, we are saying we will accept your app with these changes.”
Google: “But we don’t want to do that.”
Apple: “OK, your decision. But we will accept it without those features.”
Google employee goes back to the google-complex calls the FTC and cries that Apple rejected their app.
Next day, the same google employee gets visited by a newspaper executive:
Newspaper: “Hey, we don’t want you to steal our content.”
Google: “We aren’t stealing it. We are excerpting it and driving traffic.”
Newspaper: “But that is not how we want it. We want you to pay us for excerpting our content!”
Google: “No, we won’t pay you.”
Newspaper: “Are you saying you won’t pay us for our content?”
Google: “No, we are saying do it our way or the highway. ”
Newspaper: “We don’t see it that way. If you use our content, you should pay us.”
Google: “If you don’t like those terms, you can leave and block your site from getting indexed.”
Newspaper: “Are you saying you are rejecting payment for our content?”
Google: “No. We are saying do it under our terms or not.”
Newspaper to congress: “Google WON’T pay for our content!”
Of course you believe apple can do no wrong in this situation.
No. I think the point is that no party in this dispute is clean as the driven snow and all play the same games. This is business after all.
Google stated how easy it was to prevent them from indexing websites with 2 lines in a robot.txt file.
The conversation was amazing .. and it made it clear .. and they want it to appear it that way …
Best,
Daina
An iPhone to all the FCC folks involved in the investigation
Who would want a iPhone anyway they suck… so many restrictions. Get a Google phone(Android, Blackberry, Nokia, or Windows mobile phone. The only thing the iPhone has going for it, is that it is a entertainment device. That is all… it sucks for everything else.
An app approval.
Come on, a tee-shirt? How about of some (perhaps) value, like a CrunchPad?
But as it is right now, the t-shirt has more value since the other is just vaporware….
Ka-chow!!
(couldn’t resist)
vaporware.
It’s been a day, gonna be a week, and then a year and a few of smiling and not saying “Told you so.” A lot.
The In-Stat predictions sound familiar.
So, the next employee fired at google is going to be wearing a TechCrunch tshirt
Wow, @arrington got hammered fast on that!!
I’m pretty sure the t-shirt thing was a joke…. At least I thought it was funny. Lighten up people.
It was obviously meant in jest. =]
Having trouble translating “rejection” into “studying”? There’s an app for that!
+1
I’m sure Apple is “studying” all apps it has rejected. Not.
I might be able to help you out if you have said t-shirt in a medium.
Bump for visibility.
Apple screwed this one up. Apple should have installed a root kit on the iphone that keeps you from recording any phone calls made to or received from Apple customer service, and also sends a discrete high frequency tone over the line so Apple can make sure they’re talking to someone using an iphone. Then Apple could insist on only interacting over the phone in all anti-trust matters.
See now *that’s* how Big Brother would do it. How long before Tech Crunch throws a screen shot of the 1984 commercial in Apple’s face…
Loved the idea. Well big brothers are not above physics and engineering it will allow me to find out what big brother is doing. And, as we have been doing — we have DOS at our safe disposal. right?
very nice. Never would’a thought of that…
I know, how about offering the turncoat a tee-shirt and a—job?
new business model: selling marked up customink tech crunch shirts to google employees
Can I turn in the screenshot, even if I don’t work at Google?
I’ll trade a Photoshopped screencap of “LULZ, UR AP IS REJECKTED. LUV, APPLE.” for a TC shirt any day.
that might work.
“no. i expect our readers to understand basic humor.”
———-
it’s only “humor” because you were called out. you would have outted anything a fmr google employee sent you just like twittergate.
…is it not painstakingly obvious that the calacanis and arrington are hating on all things apple everywhere they go because they have a competing product that’s going to get demolished and outright embarrassed?
why would anyone in their right mind want a techcrunch tablet?
no, it was humor from the start. that’s sort of obvious to anyone with basic social skills.
No no no! It’s quite obvious you initially hoped that google employees would get themselves fired for a t-shirt and now you’re covering it up!
I’m calling the police.
Free Apple t-shirt for anyone who sends me a screenshot of Arrington’s screen. He’s obviously lying.
[It's sad when you have to point out that you're being ironic]
And I’m calling the FCC
I thought it was witty.
You may be one of 10 people in the world that would of taken that as written. I’m pretty sure everyone clearly seen it as humor.
5 out of 10 maybe.
I didn’t get it. You can’t convey sarcasm in written words. Any journalist with basic skills should know that.
Or he could be a major troll…. just trying to attract attention
Your an idiot. It was a joke. TechCrunch is a news source, do you think CNN would pass it up? A big company like apple caught with their pants down, hell no.
And I want a damn TechCrunch Tablet. Well, I would have to see it first, but I cannot wait for the first really good tablet, TechCrunch or Apple I don’t really care. But apple is proving to be a bunch of douche bags… So we will see…
Jim
free tshirt to anyone who sends me a techcrunch tablet…
I admit, my reaction was along the lines of sforce’s. I think we missed the deadpan humor there because humor’s all about context: it was the one non-serious sentence in a post with very serious tone and import.
that’s what makes it funny.
And rarely to you get what you never ask for in the first place.
+1
Arrington: 1
Guys with no sense of humor: 0
T-shirt rejected too…!!
-Luv google.
too late to poach interested parties for votes, but we have a member of the FCC on one of our proposed panels for SXSW (Litigation Vs Innovation)
(alongside someone from the FAA)
why? we discovered flight patterns are actually intellectual property, and through a lot of research we concluded the the aviation industry has been through a lot of this kind of litigation before.
in addition it’s bizarre that anyone thought the t shirt offer was literal. yikes.
this will be an interesting lawsuit to follow.
Come on, every student can make such screenshot. And btw, is that information not under Apple’s NDA?
sigh. i’m done here.
a startup that finds a way to filter comments… that is the next killer ap…..
so, erm, irony/sarcasm still very much in the growth phase over their!?
I believe such thing is copyrighted and thus cannot be released, amidoingitrite?
Will the NDA apply when it comes to FCC and the legal system?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 24-48 hours, those images are very much real.
It’s gunna be funny as hell when tomorrow you get a T-Shirt request from Schmidt.
+1
Or Schmidt has already given Arrington the screen shot and this post is a cover to give him plausible deniabilty…
“Steve, we have no idea who leaked that to TC… honest!”
+2
Or YOU are Schmidt and you are indicating such a thing is possible by humor, therefore trying to get “plausible deniability”.
(Dang, forgot to change username!)
Once lawyers get involved, it all really comes down to your definition of lie, how far a fact can be taken, and the almighty dollar.
if this ends up with Apple having to close down (worst case scenario), it will be one of the worst days in history. No macs, no ipods, no iphone.
Are you serious? Would you like a second glass of Kool-Aid?
Yes please. As soon as I’m finished with this one.
as likely as arrington getting laid.
mean.
Yes, but funny
I’m just jealous of your devilishly good looks
no. i expect our readers to understand basic humor.
Door #1: Scoop of the year.
Door #2: Playmate of the year.
Which door will Arrington pick?
+1
Actually, that sounds like paradise… I am so sick of those stupid white headphones everywhere.
Those things are really uncomfortable
You have the freedom to ‘isolate’ yourself from the rest of the world
No matter what each party says, the issue here is the future of communications and how vested interests (the telcos, inc AT&T) are doing all they can to stall the inevitable future, VoIP and all the benefits such a technology will bring. Google with their fairly open ultra-intelligent semi-idealistic yet credible vision of the future are attempting to use whatever medium they can to shoe horn their honorable vision into the lives of people everywhere. And if joining the iParty doesn’t work, Google will do what any frustrated ’startup’ does and leapfrog those who may hinder their progress – by doing it their way! And their way will be Android + open spectrum (Obama? Help!) + advertising funded communications (no more calling plan – yay!) + lower priced hardware + a killer app to make everyone go out and buy the hottest Android phones, just as email made RIM, the App store made the iPhone (so far), versatility made Nokia (in Europe) and hardware innovation made Samsung & LG. For all their brilliance, Apple’s arrogance and failure (to date) to grasp the potential of the Internet and cloud computing as a way to liberate communications and content sharing in a manner that’s affordable and compelling is to the advantage of their competitors.
Phew!
All said, something tells me Apple have something cooking – and the iPod Touch and it’s WiFi capabilities may have something to do with it…
That’s some mighty powerful kool-aid there. Your rant was almost believable (if more than a touch optimistic). Google’s Android hasn’t really been a smashing success, probably because it isn’t terribly open. Then the comment regarding Apple/Cloud computing shot any sort of credibility of the statement in the foot. I have to wonder if you truly know what cloud computing actually is.
From what I gather Apple either approve an App or sned a rejection with a list of issues to be addressed.
The words on the notice say “rejected”, but Apple’s arse is covered by the ineptness of their process. There must be many thousands of precedents: Apps that were initially rejected and then approved once the developer agreed to kowtow.
Apple wont come out of this smelling like roses, they’re spreading too much fertilizer. But they arent going to get much more than a slap on the wrist.
And the irony is that WiMo suddenly looks like an open platform in comparison.
There is another option. “Additional time is required to review your application.” Three months later they get back to you. I kid you not.
They did this to us with the Bloodshot Records app when we embedded music. The application was accepted after we revised the framework to support streaming of music. They allow embedded video however, so long as it’s not in the iTMS.
The language is absolutely consistent with what I have seen. Dear FCC, thank you for injecting some sanity into the process!
TechCrunch has classic commenters…
Mike…there was a good point made by the crazy guy above.
You have been getting deep in Apple’s a$$ ever since the Apple Tablet (crunchpad competitor) rumors started to surface.
It seems that you have gone from total apple fanboy to total hater.
http://twitter....atus/3975767323
@arrington says “safari is about 10 trillion times better than firefox.”
Safari (1956) – Starring: Victor Mature, Janet Leigh, John Justin (II), Roland Culver, Orlando Martins
FireFox (1982) – Starring: Clint Eastwood, Mitchell Gant, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke, et al
I never saw the first one. I can’t compare them.
* giggles *
I used to remember hating PCs at my job, I had Mac at home, I ran on the gym with iPod and called from iPhone. Now, after all this mess from apple, I stop wearing a rotten apple logo. I sold the Mac and got myself a faster PC, now I gym with Zune (its awesome!!) and call from Blackberry…. LIFE IS BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE!!
HAHA… I love it when Steve Ballmer comments on TC posts as “Daniel”… Buddy, I can almost feel the sweat dripping off of your big bald head.
Google needs to redirect all searches for “Apple, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, Macbook, iMac, and OS X” to http://www.kittenwar.com
I mean, it’s their website right? They can put whatever content they want on their website.
It could lead to a legal case of ‘misleading’ consumers?
Sure, they could. Are you implying the government should step in and force them not to do that?
I’m not aware of the legal system in USA. But if someone complains, the Government can take action, right?
Complains about what? Google is a company in the private sector. If they want to fuck up their search engine by having it return screwed up results, they are welcome to shoot themselves in the foot.
Those were the principles our country was founded on, which a real Libertarian would still fight for, but some of us would rather take the easy route. I’m sure you could pitch your idea to Congress if you have enough money…
Thanks for the info. Regarding your last sentence, I’m pretty sure Apple has the money
Or Google could just drop Apple.com in the rankings. People can still navigate to their site, it’ll just be on Page 2.
Google did that to a car manufacturer a few years ago because they were gaming the system with hidden black on black “keyword” text on their entry page.
There’s always B!NG!
By the way, how can I subscribe to these comments (in my email)? I looked everywhere on this page, no option to do that. Help!
That’d be an awesome way to shed that pesky credibility.
You should play Rachel Maddow’s version of “Liar” for the Apple folks. Yet then look at Googles Terms and Conditions on access to trending search terms. So why open access to Iphone but not open access to Google’s data. I think G has more to lose than A in this fight.
get your popcorn ready its about to turn ugly
I do not like Michael Arrington’s habit of creating unnecessarily flashy headlines. I still remember his loud message to the whole world regarding his iPhone hatred
And now this one!
Google releases a ‘NUKE’? Humour or no humour, this doesn’t make sense!
Apple WON’T win this fight? Again, humour or no humour, this is a baseless statement.
Come on MA! Get over the ‘publicity stunt’ attitude.
i know all about publicity stunts, and this isn’t a publicity stunt. there was no puppet video, for starters.
But you do have a naggy talent to increase traffic on your blog (by hook or by crook).
He’s the Steve Jobs of tech blogs…
And even I don’t know whether that’s an ironic comment, a sardonic comment, a true observation, or what…
HAHAHA… when are you going to address that BTW? Not the puppet, but the information he, I mean IT, was somehow able to so easily squeeze out of Calcanis. Regarding TC50. Only reason I’m asking is because me and my team were devoting the next year to perfecting our demo pit pitch, and would like to know in advance if it’s worth the time… thanks.
THAT was funny.
ouch-
so when is TC going to give us the Calcanis-Arrington divorce blow-by-blow?
and how about a crunchpad update while you are at it?
but TC never fully rejected the puppet video either…they will continue to study it.
@Nite: What is going on with Apple and Google currently is what often happens when two former partners begin to go their separate ways. It happened when Google and Yahoo split (Remember when Yahoo used to be the daddy, while Google were just a Stanford startup who actually worked with Yahoo?) It happened in 1968 when Fairchild Semiconductor lead to Intel. It happened with Netscape. Google and Apple will depart with love but keep working together in that special way that living entities do when they need each other more than they may like to admit.
Nite…is that you? Tony Montana? Scareface?
Bold claims from someone that doesn’t have the inside info.
Here’s my guess as to how this will unfold, assuming what you state in this article is even accurate:
“An Apple employee did send out a rejection letter for the version of the app submitted by Google. Google is welcome to re-submit the application with some changes. The official status of this application is not rejected, but ‘pending changes from developer.’”
Ooh, that was hard.
Your quite right on this one
Is that even a status option though? Usually it’s either in or rejected, there is no limbo status…
Apple is Lying. No question about it.
In court, there is no such as thing as a lie (or truth for that matter), just whatever is different from a previous case. Given that Bill Clinton redefined sex, Apple can easily redefine ‘rejection’. All they have to do is to keep their story that they haven’t rejected anything and Google cannot do anything to prove the opposite.
It’s like the bully that when caught tells the teacher that the poor sap that he beats is his friend. Right?
I could see Apple not wanting a competing voice product on their phone devices that goes around their service providers and the deal they have with AT&T.
You have no clue how the Google Voice service works do you? It is NOT a VOIP service.
P.S. Go Bucks! (I’m an Alum)
Voice Mail Over IP, or Voice Over IP, it doesn’t really matter. They both have the potential to eat into the revenues of AT&T.
With Google Voice for instance, you can’t be double-charged by AT&T for receiving and checking voice mail. Since Google Voice intercepts the voice mail before it gets to AT&T, AT&T can’t charge you for the voice mails you receive. At most, you’ll be charged once for checking your voice mail if you check it with your AT&T voice minutes (but even that one-time charge can be avoided by checking your voice mail over the web, or having the voice mail transcribed over to a text message or an email).
It’s probably not going to be that much of a revenue loss for AT&T, but it could prove to be one in the long-run (since AT&T will keep on charging different rates for data and voice, there will always be an opportunity there). And of course, changing from Voice Mail Over IP to Voice Over IP isn’t that much of a leap, it’s the next logical step for Google Voice (if not now, at least within the next five years I’d say).
free Hanes Beefy-T to the first person who releases footage of the Arrington/Calcanis fight at TC50
Free Chamillionaire bandana to the first person who provides footage of what that sock puppet did to Calcanis off camera to get him to go on record with the demise of TC50. Did you notice how close he was letting it get?
I’m sorry – I just don’t get the indignation…both are private companies with an obligation to remain profitable – not embrace fairness. Ironically, this is in your best interest. It’s the capitalists who brought us the iPhone and Google – market forces will force their hands – not an appeal to fairness.
In Apple’s defense, I notice that Google doesn’t display Bing or Yahoo results…nor should they.
You noticed wrong, Bing is even a sponsored link.
Apple controls so much of the smartphone market that it would be anticompetitive to let it block entry into the applications market. Apple would use that power to harm businesses that compete with it in other markets, like Google and Microsoft.
Apple would also reject applications that serve the same purposes as existent Apple products. Apple fears that if iPhone users become too fond of Google alternatives, Google will get tons of advertising revenues, while Apple loses customer loyalty and the opportunity to popularize Apple products.
Imagine if Microsoft could reject Windows applications because they threatened to upset sales or use of Windows, Office, Internet Explorer or even the Xbox. No more Open Office or Wordperfect. No more Firefox. Less games. Just because you created the platform, does not mean you have the right to control the applications.
The truth is, neither Apple nor Microsoft created a market. There have always been alternatives to both the iPhone and Windows. If one platform had not won, another would have. The applications market would exist either way. In fairness, the platform creator should get profits from selling the platform. But manipulating the applications market to bolster the platform is double dipping. It forces competitors to enter two markets at once: the platform and the applications markets. This tends to kill off small competitors that lack the resources to develop, market and support a whole platform. It crushes innovation.
Apple’s behavior is anticompetitive, and for that reason illegal under antitrust laws.
i want to hear the advanced remix of that humor, not the basic. Go!
Apple is a heap of trouble if they perjured themselves to the FCC.
But they get major kudo’s for telling Google to jamit, that’s all that matters.
P.S. I still hate Apples products.
It doesn’t matter of you see a screenshot of a rejection notice. It cab be forged quite easily. Would you like me to send you one?
Whether or not it has been rejected or not doesn’t matter. That’s like investigating whitwater only to find out that Clinton got a Blowjob. Who cares. The real issue is WHY.
Was it because Apple just wants people to use their UI over Google’s or is it because they don’t want the iPhone too look to much like an Android phone. Personally, I think having Google voice on the iPhone is a compelling reason NOT to get an Android phone as that is one of the few advantages that Google’s OS has.
I should have read the other comments BEFORE I posted my own. Damn my impusle behavior!
hahah Talk about being journalistic Tech Crunch. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending comment “We’re offering a free TechCrunch tshirt to any Google employee that forwards that screenshot to us. No questions asked.” lol
Usually I’d say don’t F with Apple, but in this case, Apple better not F with Google!
Wow! Looks like Google is so pissed off. Glad to see that they are trying to bell that rogue cat.
After reading the dialog between the viewers and Arrington, I believe the main issue here is that he bothers replying at all. You should have thicker skin by now, Michael.
A second post about this?
Mike – I got the picture for you.
http://img170.i...nshotreject.png
Now. Where is my Tee Shirt.
haha great pic!
May be techcrunch can offer this
http://kgmodi.b...t-rejected.html
lol
I think it will come down to:
“It really depends on what your definition of rejection is”
what a joke. the only thing that can prevent me from switching is this app and for att to stop dropping my calls. the htc hero is looking pretty darn good.
Why can’t a company that makes a product control what’s on it, with whatever whim they so feel inclined? Pull an Arrington and switch to Android – you’re all free to. Apple’s hurdle is to make products so compelling that you buy them even if they don’t have Google Voice.
“Why can’t I install GarageBand on my computer! It’s unfair!”
“You have a PC. If you want GarageBand bad enough, buy a Mac.”
Somehow this doesn’t apply to the iPhone?
A Tee Shirt? That’s all you have to offer? Come on! I’d rather take undying graditude than some stupid “My Mom went to San Francisco and all I got was this Stupid TechCrunch T-Shirt.”
Surely you can come up with something more compelling for someone to risk their employement at Google. Ya think?
Way to read the all the previous posts saying the exact same thing. you suck.
that’s not the same, @richm — it’s not like someone is actually preventing garageband (or a program that does the same thing) from being created and installed on a PC.
because telecom is regulated by FCC – you moron
+1
EXACTLY my thoughts. Apple doesn’t want certain Google products on their phone. That’s totally within their rights, and I have no clue why the FCC would take any issue with this.
Google (and TechCrunch) sound like whiny little children over this issue.
No, This is not the same at all.
Let’s pretend I’m an Apple fanboi and I purchased an iphone. That phone now belongs to me. Apple did not give me the phone, I purchased it, I own it. Apple is telling me what I can and can not install on MY phone.
In your second scenario it is the software manufacturer who does not wish to produce a windows version of their program.
Google DOES/HAS produced a version of their program to run on the hardware that I have already bought (No, I haven’t, and NEVER, EVER would,but we’re pretending I’m a fanboi here.)
What Apple is saying for their reason for rejecting the application is that their average user is to f-in stupid to tell the difference between the Google dialer and the Apple dialer. Same with Google maps.
How about Google include the following dialog each time you select one of their applications: “WARNING: This application with extra features is made by Google, NOT Apple. Did you intend to use the Apple supplied application instead of this superior Google application? YES/NO”
I would think this would avoid any possible confusion on the part even the dumbest iphone user, and should clear the way for Google to get their software in the app store, wouldn’t it?
I am agree with the must simple explanation provided by bkfist. If You read the iPhone Design Guide Lines the “partial” rejection is consistent with this statement : “…their average user is to f-in stupid to tell the difference between the Google dialer and the Apple dialer. Same with Google maps.”. Skype, TruePhone does not allowed to make calls trough G3 [in my opinion this problem came from AT&T], just for “preservation of the network” But we pay for it, uh?]
Then, in the iPhone Design Guide lines, as J. Maeda said, the familiarization count and is a must.
In the other hand, this matter with the FCC inspecting if one App is allowed to stay in one piece of hardware is really complex to balance. Why? The CEO of Google was former member of the Apple’s Board. The iPhone has YouTube, and Google Maps inside their core today. But there is fuzzy limit when you are colliding with, may be the “One More Thing” from Apple in the future with similar features? We do not know.
For me is not a fight against Google, Apple, AT& and the FCC. It is the finding between the final f-stupid user, some agreement [in the very deep Sea of the AT&T and Apple NDA] and how the iPhone realize his evolution after 2011.