My, how quickly things change. It wasn’t much more than a year ago that Apple and Google were happy partners — at least from the public’s perspective — working in tandem to push technology forward at a clip pace. Google’s search and various apps complimented the iPhone perfectly, and the existing Android phones merely affirmed how much better the iPhone was than everything else on the market. And then everything went to hell. Late last July, we broke the news that Apple blocked Google’s official Voice application and removed any third-party applications that supported the service, sparking an FCC inquiry into why Google Voice was banned from the iPhone. Today marks the one year anniversary of Apple’s response to the FCC, in which it gave a remarkably disingenuous explanation as to why Google Voice wasn’t on the iPhone: Apple was still “ pondering ” the matter. A year later, it apparently still is. Google Voice is nowhere to be found on the App Store, and while Google has developed an impressive web version for the iPhone, it can’t provide the same performance or ‘native feel’ of a native app and it can’t access the phone’s local contacts directory (at least, not yet). In light of today’s milestone I reached out to both Apple and Google to see if there’s been any progress. Both declined to comment. Of course, Google Voice itself was never the key issue at play — the service was only available in a private beta when it was blocked from the iPhone. Indeed, most of the outcry stemmed from the fact that Apple was blatantly using its control over the App Store’s walled garden for anti-competitive reasons. Before the Voice fiasco Apple had drawn plenty of heat over its inconsistent App Store approval policies, but most of these removals could be ascribed to the notion that Apple was censoring apps to help maintain the quality and safety of the App Store. That clearly wasn’t the case here: Apple saw Google’s increasing presence on the iPhone as a threat, so it killed it. Soon after the Google Voice fiasco, I abandoned my iPhone for Android (TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington quit his iPhone too). My rationale had little to do with wanting to use Google Voice more frequently. Rather, it had a lot to do with the knot I got in the pit of my stomach as I imagined just how important Apple’s stranglehold over the iOS platform will become in the next five years and beyond. The runaway success of the iPhone and the iPad have made it clear that the App Store and iOS are only going to become more ubiquitous. The new Apple TV will soon feature them . In all likelihood Apple will find ways to integrate iOS into form factors that are more competitive with desktop and laptops. Simply put, iOS will be synonymous with computing for a lot of people. Tim O’Reilly believes that Apple is trying to build a fundamental challenge to the web . A web controlled by a single company. Apple may have intended to use the App Store’s approval system to protect customers and the user experience, but it has the convenient side effect of enabling it to stifle anything that could compete with its own products on the iOS platform. Remember, we are still very early in this game, and the App Store had existed for just one year before Apple gave Google the boot. Is there any doubt it will do the same the next time someone tries to encroach on its turf? Most of Apple’s ardent defenders will simply tell people like me to go use another, more open platform if they have a problem with the App Store and Apple’s policies. Fair enough. But the time and uncertainty involved in having to switch to a new computer platform are far from trivial, and eventually we may have kids who are raised on iOS — getting them to switch platforms so they can use an innovative new browser or FaceTime competitor or whatever else Apple is quietly blocking from the App Store will be no easy task.  It is this inertia, which is only going to become more difficult to overcome as iOS becomes more successful, that troubles me most. Apple will be able to get away with even more egregious behavior, because its users will want to stick with what they know. Disclosure: Months after the Google Voice/Apple story broke I had my number ported over to the service (just as Michael did). All users will be getting access to this feature soon. Image by Brian Hillegas CrunchBase Information Apple Google Voice Information provided by CrunchBase

Looks like TWC is the latest victim of tablet fever. Not wanting to get left behind as Comcast flaunts its iPad app for remote scheduling, Time Warner Cable is showing off its own, slated to hit the iPad and the iPhone at some point in the future. (It’s called “prototyping work” at this point.) The app would allow a subscriber to view current TV listings and change their DVR’s recording schedule from afar, plus use intuitive searches to find new content. That’s promising, because whenever we search through TWC’s current Scientific Atlanta DVR interface we wind up spiking our remote control in frustration, and that’s getting expensive. Even more promising is the plan to pump TV Everywhere to iOS and, down the road, to provide an API for other devs to write their own apps against. Care to watch a bunch of TWC executives lounging in a corner office while discussing the app? Check the video after the break. It’s part one of a series and, if you stay awake through all four, you win a prize! Continue reading Time Warner Cable developing iOS app, laptime viewing may never be the same (video) Time Warner Cable developing iOS app, laptime viewing may never be the same (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink   NewTeeVee  |  YouTube  |  Email this  |  Comments

Unsurprisingly, given the small company and big ambitions behind the project, the Square mobile payments system got off to a shaky start earlier this year. Hardware shortages were resolved relatively quickly, but setting up the proper fraud prevention infrastructure without transactional limits — which, shockingly, were disfavored by merchants — threatened to shelve the little credit card reader for a long while. Not to worry, though, as today the Wall Street Journal has word that Square is looking to be back in business, kicking ass and taking card numbers, before the summer is through. We’re now at an advanced stage of said season, so it shouldn’t be too long before those dongle-assisted microtransactions start flowing again. Square payment system is coming back in full force by ‘late summer’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink    |  Wall Street Journal  |  Email this  |  Comments

During their press conference on Friday, Apple made the case that the so-called “death grip” isn’t unique to the iPhone 4. In fact, they showed the same symptoms on three other phones: the HTC Droid Eris, the Samsung Omnia 2, and the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Apple also created a website to show how the death grip affects each phone (and their own iPhone 3GS as well). Not surprisingly, none of those other companies liked that too much. Of them, RIM, maker of the BlackBerry, was the most vocal. “ Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable,” a statement released by the company reads . “ RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage,” the statement continued. And yet some videos posted yesterday of the not-yet-released BlackBerry 9800 appear to show the same attenuation problem. Or at least, they did until they were removed following an electronista post pointing that out. Officially, the videos were removed due to a “terms of use violation.” But what’s odd is that RIM didn’t seem to care too much about them when they were originally posted on this site simply giving an overview of the new device and OS. Also odd is that many other videos of the 9800 still are alive and well on YouTube. Again, it’s just the videos that show attenuation which were removed after a blog post pointed that out. Videos of the Droid Incredible , the Nexus One , the Palm Pre , and various other smartphones all showing attenuation remain up on YouTube. Of course, all those products are also released already. I just find it amusing that “attenuation” has now entered regular geek lexicon. CrunchBase Information Research In Motion Apple Information provided by CrunchBase

We’ve been assuming that the next iPod touch will get in on Apple’s FaceTime video-calling action, but the open question has been how calls will actually be initiated without phone numbers, and BGR’s saying it has the scoop: it’s going to be based on email addresses. Registering an email address with the touch and FaceTime will let people videocall you using that address, but apparently calling an iPhone user will still involve knowing their phone number, which is a little odd — but BGR believes the email-based system will extended to the phone eventually as well. It all sounds plausible enough, but we’ll wait and see — we’ve been burned waiting for Apple to add a camera to the touch before, after all. iPod touch FaceTime calling to be based on email addresses? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink    |  BGR  |  Email this  |  Comments