Just to reiterate...

iphone jail …my distrust of the openness of the iPhone and more precisely of the freedom to develop software for Apple's new toy, the news these days is that Apple has withdrawn every application linked to Google Voice, Google's VoIP service, from the AppStore, which is the only source technically authorized to install programs on the phone, in other words the only legal way that users have to add applications to the iPhone.

Google Voice is (was) a disruptive service in many ways: it offers users (currently only in the US) a universal number, through which they can make and receive all their calls for free. Google recently launched the service on Android and Blackberry phones as well. It also attempted to land on the iPhone, adding Google Voice to the App Store. All hell broke loose: Apple removed the app, even giving an official reason: it overlaps with the iPhone's basic calling and texting functions. In other words, it's a nuisance because it steps on the toes of Apple's allied carriers.

For similar reasons, internet telephony applications on the App Store (like Skype) only allow calls over Wi-Fi and not over the carrier's network. Apple has previously banned similar applications like VoiceCentral and GVDialer, but now the move is causing controversy because it opens a direct conflict with Google. A spokesperson has said they don't approve of Apple's decision. And they're not giving up. They'll try to offer Google applications to iPhone users using the browser as a platform. The browser, then, acts as a Trojan horse to circumvent the App Store's limitations. The idea is that, in the future, users will be able to access a website via their mobile phone that will directly offer the Google Voice service, without having to download and install it (similar to what happens with Google Docs on a PC). Google has already done this to offer the Latitude service to iPhone users.

Apple's move has sparked some discontent not only in the offices of Mountain View but also in those of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), which has officially opened an investigation. The purpose of the investigation is to understand the reasons why Google Voice Mobile for iPhone was rejected from the App Store, and why many other Voice Over IP applications have been removed or are not approved for inclusion in the virtual store.

The FCC must monitor the mobile phone market to promote free competition, and given that some of the rejected or discontinued applications allow free calls or text messages and are therefore certainly more competitive than AT&T's rates, the federal commission also wants to shed light on any existing agreements between Apple and the American telephone giant that may be behind these rejections.

Apple now has three weeks to provide the FCC with responses, during which it will have to explain whether the rejected applications actually violate the iPhone application development agreement or whether they violate the "financial agreements" that Apple has with AT&T.

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