Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris has sent TiPb a response to the now fully public Google FCC disclosure, which Dieter posted earlier today.
“We do not agree with all of the statements made by Google in their FCC letter. Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application and we continue to discuss it with Google.”
So it’s either Apple-said/Google-said, some broken-telephone (the irony!) between the two companies, or a mix of both?
Regardless of the “was it rejected or is it still being studied” tempest, Google Voice and Google Latitude remain absent from Apple’s App Store, and all companies seem to agree on the reason: they duplicate what Apple considers to be core functionality of the iPhone, and that’s something Apple currently doesn’t want to see duplicated.
Since it’s Apple’s product, that’s their prerogative (especially if they consider Google competitive in this space), though if Google Voice and Google Latitude are features a user needs, they’re not going to consider an iPhone. When/if that becomes a huge portion of the user base, Apple may have to reconsider. Either way, Google is still going ahead with WebApp versions for now and everyone else is just going to have to wait and see..
The letter, which had been previously redacted, claims that not only did Apple fully reject both Google Voice and Latitude, but the rejection came after conversations between top executives, including Phil Shiller. This contradicts Apple’s claim that they had not rejected the apps, but merely reviewing them in a more extensive way.
The reason for the rejections (as Google calls them) is what you probably expected: “duplicate functionality.” Google writes:
Apple’s representatives informed Google that the Google Voice application was rejected because Apple believed the application duplicated the core dialer functionality of the iPhone. The Apple representatives indicated that the company did not want applications that could potentially replace such functionality
The story is much the same for Google Latitude, but has a bit more shadenfreude to it since the functionality that’s being duplicated is “a version of Google Maps.” Google also details the dates of calls, emails, and in-person conversations between Alan Eustace of Google (VP of Engineering and Research) and Phil Schiller of Apple (VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, but you knew that).
So… the worm and turned and Google’s letting the world know they feel rejected. How do you feel after this latest development?
Google Latitude — the service that either allows you to keep track of your friends or be stalked by stalking stalker types, depending on your point of view — is finally available for the iPhone and iPod touch. No, it’s not built into Google Maps as part of iPhone 3.1 with push update capability. No, it’s not built into Google Mobile app. No, it’s not even set up as an iPhone app in and of itself.
Google Latitude is a WebApp and it runs in Mobile Safari using the iPhone 3.0geoLocation feature.
Apparently Apple, in their infinitely-looped wisdom, hasn’t yet deigned (or Google wouldn’t yet offer them the chance?) to build it into Maps, and Apple decided it would be too confusing to users to have another app on the iPhone thats shows the same Google maps. (And it’s not when simply framed by mobile browser chrome? Sigh.)
While Google inarguably makes among the best iPhone WebApps in the business, this doesn’t strike us an ideal solution. Still it is a solution for iPhone users desperate to get their Latitude on. Until Apple gets their act together on this, here’s official word from the blog:
Our Latitude web app provides all the core functionality you might expect: you can see the location of your friends on a map and modify your privacy settings so that you control how your location is shared and with whom. In fact, if my friends and colleagues back in London haven’t yet noticed my absence, they’ll see in Latitude that I’m currently vacationing on the beach in Australia. Hi guys, remember me!?
[...] To try Google Latitude, type google.com/latitude into your iPhone’s browser. And if you miss the experience of launching the app directly from your home screen, you can add a bookmark to the home screen by opening Latitude in Safari and tapping the + icon > Add to Home Screen > Add.
Google recently announced their Latitude service, which lets you and your friends share your location, and while they’ve made it available to some platforms, the iPhone version hasn’t surfaced yet… Or has it?
A tipster has sent us a photo of what looks to be Latitude integrated into the iPhone Map App. Now, we know that Apple, not Google created the Map app. Based on Google’s back-end data, to be sure, but Apple made the interface. So, if Latitude is coming by way of Maps, Apple is going to have to be the one who releases it — and that means it won’t be until another firmware update (2.3 at the earliest, 3.0 at the outside).
However, last we heard Google was going to release it themselves, as part of their awesome (yet controversial) Google Mobile App. If that’s the case, unless they’re planning a massive redesign that happens to look just like the Maps app, then we’re not sure what we’re really looking at up there.
What do you think? Real? Real fake?
And either way, would Latitude be better combined with Maps than with Google Mobile?
The official Google Blog has announced that its location-based Latitude service is on it’s way:
with Latitude, not only can you see your friends’ locations on a map, but you can also be in touch directly via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail, or by updating your status message; you can even upload a new profile photo on the fly. It’s a fun way to feel close to the people you care about. [...] Ready to share your location? If you have a mobile smartphone, visit google.com/latitude on your phone’s web browser to download the latest version of Google Maps for mobile with Latitude. Latitude is available on Blackberry, S60, and Windows Mobile, and will be available on Android in the next few days. We expect it will be coming to the iPhone, through Google Mobile App, very soon.
Interesting that it’s coming to the App Store available Google Mobile App (which added the Voice Search feature recently) and not the built in Google Maps app (which Apple develops and would require a firmware release to update).
See the video above for important privacy information. And we have to ask, is this a fun and convenient toy, or the next step towards “Big Brother” all hidden up in “Little Brother” clothes? Is Google parsing all your friends’ and family’s location useful, or terrifying?
