Chicago (IL) – Last week, we got word of a much hyped Google iPhone application that enables voice search queries and shows search results as text on the handset. The application was due for publication in the AppStore on Monday, but has not appeared so far. In fact, Google took down the application video and a dedicated mini-site. Since Google promised the app for last Friday, Apple's delay has made the search giant look somewhat silly. As powerful as Google may be, it may just be one of many iPhone software developers.
When news of Google's new voice search application for the iPhone hit the New York Times last Friday, nobody really questioned the Friday release date. But Friday and a few more days have passed and the app is still nowhere to be found on the App Store. Google even took down both the application video and a dedicated mini-site (watch the original video here). What went wrong?
One possible explanation is that Apple chose to delay application approval a bit, perhaps because Google leaked the information before the official release ore because the application failed to meet required criteria and needs to be tweaked a bit. At least, that is what TechCrunch suggested today, claiming the application will go live later today, citing "a source with knowledge of the situation."
But most other sources blame the delay on an unknown criteria Apple applies in the screening process. This enables the company to maintain control over what content is available in the App Store. This strategy may not be working as well as Apple initially said. The company has been slammed when it banned Podcaster because it replicated a functionality found in iTunes. The upcoming iPhone 2.2 firmware now shows that Apple in fact plans to enable direct podcast downloading. Apple also removed a modem tethering program to clear the path for AT&T's own paid tethering service and rejected the Internet radio application CastCatcher because it is "transferring excessive volumes of data over the cellular network."
We would hope that a competitive issue is not the case here. If you ask us, Apple would be shooting itself in a foot to reject this application. Voice search is the third big iPhone product from Google, following the original Google Mobile App and the recently unveiled Google Earth. It would also be interesting to see what impact these events will have on the relationship between Apple and Google.
Google apparently hired a top scientist to make speech recognition work. Users will not have to train the system or have it adapt to your voice, the company said. Speech recognition has been around for a while, but this application would showcase Google's advances in this field. However, it makes you wonder why Google decided to debut the application on the iPhone when it could have tied it to its own Android G1 cellphone. With that in mind, it's even more stunning that Apple would make the release unnecessarily difficult. But then, we have to admit, there is no information on what happened behind closed doors.
That aside, we here at TG Daily believe that Apple needs to re-think how it treats its key allies. Many websites report that Apple's delay of the application approval not only made Google look incompetent in the eyes of media, but apparently angered its employees as well.
When news of Google's new voice search application for the iPhone hit the New York Times last Friday, nobody really questioned the Friday release date. But Friday and a few more days have passed and the app is still nowhere to be found on the App Store. Google even took down both the application video and a dedicated mini-site (watch the original video here). What went wrong?
One possible explanation is that Apple chose to delay application approval a bit, perhaps because Google leaked the information before the official release ore because the application failed to meet required criteria and needs to be tweaked a bit. At least, that is what TechCrunch suggested today, claiming the application will go live later today, citing "a source with knowledge of the situation."
But most other sources blame the delay on an unknown criteria Apple applies in the screening process. This enables the company to maintain control over what content is available in the App Store. This strategy may not be working as well as Apple initially said. The company has been slammed when it banned Podcaster because it replicated a functionality found in iTunes. The upcoming iPhone 2.2 firmware now shows that Apple in fact plans to enable direct podcast downloading. Apple also removed a modem tethering program to clear the path for AT&T's own paid tethering service and rejected the Internet radio application CastCatcher because it is "transferring excessive volumes of data over the cellular network."
We would hope that a competitive issue is not the case here. If you ask us, Apple would be shooting itself in a foot to reject this application. Voice search is the third big iPhone product from Google, following the original Google Mobile App and the recently unveiled Google Earth. It would also be interesting to see what impact these events will have on the relationship between Apple and Google.
Google apparently hired a top scientist to make speech recognition work. Users will not have to train the system or have it adapt to your voice, the company said. Speech recognition has been around for a while, but this application would showcase Google's advances in this field. However, it makes you wonder why Google decided to debut the application on the iPhone when it could have tied it to its own Android G1 cellphone. With that in mind, it's even more stunning that Apple would make the release unnecessarily difficult. But then, we have to admit, there is no information on what happened behind closed doors.
That aside, we here at TG Daily believe that Apple needs to re-think how it treats its key allies. Many websites report that Apple's delay of the application approval not only made Google look incompetent in the eyes of media, but apparently angered its employees as well.