Google has run around Apple's block of Google Voice, bringing the application to the iPhone through the Web browser.
The app can be accessed at m.google.com/voice. It works with all phones supporting HTML 5, meaning Palm's WebOS phones can take advantage as well.
Google Voice lets users screen and route calls, set custom voicemails, send and receive free text messages, transcribe voicemails and make cheap international calls. When signing up for the Google Voice, which is currently invite-only, you choose a new telephone number. Then, when you place a call, that number appears for the person you're dialing, even though Google Voice uses your existing telephone service to place the call. Incoming calls can be routed to any of your existing phone lines.
Apple had notoriously rejected Google Voice on the grounds that it duplicates a core service of the iPhone, though it's not clear whether Apple or AT&T was the main influence on that decision. For AT&T, the possible reasons for disliking Google Voice is clear: You can send and receive free text messages, and international calls are dirt-cheap. Theoretically, you could even purchase a Skype number and route Google Voice calls to it, saving money in case you ever exceeded your monthly allotment of AT&T minutes.
Apple may simply want to prevent Google from taking over its device, which already uses Google Maps, Search and YouTube. It's rumored that Apple may even make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone, and the company may be planning an alternative to Google Maps as well. Google, meanwhile, has worked around Apple before, offering a Web version of Google Lattitude -- albeit one that can't automatically update your location -- after the App Store version was rejected.
Web apps provide a way around Apple's App Store restrictions, and Google is proving that sophisticated Web apps are possible on mobile phones. This is a serious blow to the mighty App Store.
