Conspiracy Theory: Apple & Google Planned Voice App Block to Encourage Web App Movement

This CNET item probably needs a small bit of clarification…

Google Voice to be retooled as Web app for iPhone

If you point your iPhone Safari web browser at…

voice.google.com

…you’ll see what looks like a functional mobile web friendly Google Voice page. You can even listen to voice mail left on the service on your iPhone. So, what is the CNET article talking about? The missing feature that CNET’s article refers to and has caused quite a commotion in the techno-sphere is ability to originate a call from your phone in a way that displays your Google Voice number as the caller ID displayed on the called party’s phone. This feature is available to BlackBerry and Android smartphone users through a free Google Voice app for those platforms. Google has a similar app ready for the iPhone. However, Apple is not allowing it to be published through the iTunes App Store.

The conspiracy theory fan in me conjured up this theory: Apple is working together with Google to create a demand for web-based apps (something Apple promoted during the iPhone’s first app-less year) to encourage other developers to do the same. Why? AT&T can’t bully Apple regarding iPhone web apps in the same way they can regarding native iPhone apps. Sure, AT&T can block a website from being reached on their 3G network. But, can you imagine the furor that would arise if Google.com was blocked?

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