UPDATE: DaringFireball claims a source has confirmed that Apple pulled Google Voice apps at the request of AT&T. GigaOm, by contrast, wonders why AT&T would ban Google Voice (and Skype, and SlingBox) on the iPhone and allow them on BlackBerry, for example. We don’t know of course, but we guess nothing else scares AT&T like the iPhone — it’s the first multi-million selling consumer smartphone success, people actually use its features, and it hits their balsa-wood network like a freight-train. -Rene

ORIGINAL: Apple has systematically removed and/or rejected all Google Voice apps for the iPhone (and iPod touch) from the iTunes App Store, whether by Google themselves or by third party developers.

Rejection is something we’ve all become very familiar with since the inception Apple’s App Store. However, Apple picking off the two Google Voice applications that were already available in the App Store (GV Mobile and Voicecentral) along with flat out rejecting Google’s official application, is something else.

It all started with Sean Kovacs’ GV Mobile client, which originally became available last week (according to Kovacs after being approved by Apple VP Phil Schiller himself), being yanked from the App Store for allegedly duplicating the iPhone’s calling and text messaging features. When Apple contacted Kovacs, no specifics were given on what needs to be changed to get his app back into the store and Kovacs claims Apple refused to send an e-mail to confirm that GV Mobile was yanked. The following is from Kovacs blog:

Richard Chipman from Apple just called - he told me they're removing GV Mobile from the App Store due to it duplicating features that the iPhone comes with (Dialer, SMS, etc). He didn't actually specify which features, although I assume the whole app in general. He wouldn't send a confirmation email either - too scared I would post it. I'll see what I can do to get it back up there gang…

Voicecentral has since also disappeared from existence within the App Store. They have been less vocal as there is not a single mention of the disappearance on their website.

Is this Apple’s doing or more of a carrier-forced rejection? TiPb thinks the carriers are pulling Apple’s rejection strings on this one as Google Voice has the potential to hit the carriers where it hurts - free SMS messages, cheaper phone calls, etc…

What do you readers think about these rejections?

[Via AppleInsider]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

UPDATED: Apple Rejects Removes all Google Voice Apps for iPhone from iTunes App Store

CNN Money’s Fortune blog is rounding up news about a potential Apple deal with China Unicom to finally bring the iPhone to China.

The story is this: Shanghai Security News reported a 3-year deal for China Unicom’s 600+ million subscriber base. China Unicom’s spokesperson told Reuters:

“Discussions are still ongoing, we have not reached any formal agreement,”

The great unknowns, however, remain whether China will allow Wi-Fi, the full App Store, and other features rumored to be on China’s “no go” list.

Apple, of course, still sells officially unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong and similar markets for those who can afford a premium for standard iPhone.

[Thanks to Andrew for the tip]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple and China Unicom Finally Maybe Potentially Have an iPhone Deal. Possibly.

Apple Insider reports that Samsung has a 45 nanometer, 1GHz ARM processor, code-named “Hummingbird” on the horizon.

It uses the same Cortex A8 architecture as the current iPhone 3GS (which runs at a clocked-down 600MHz) but due to the smaller size, is said to not consumer any more power or generate any more heat than the current 833MHz generation.

Apple has made huge investments and agreed to large scale licenses of the ARM chip, even as they’re moving ahead with their own, in-Apple chipset initiatives.

So, even if Samsung ships this baby in time there’s still no telling if Apple will use it for a forth generation iPhone, likely to cycle around June 2010.

Still… Zoom. Zoom.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

1GHz ARM Mobile CPU on the Horizon — but is it iPhone Bound?

If you’re a developer who just woke up to find the dreaded pink screen of death (PSoD) with that horrifying icon set telling you to plug into iTunes on an otherwise no-longer-functional iPhone, take a deep breath.

As we reported yesterday, for some reason Apple timed iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 to expire today, July 28 at 12am local time. However, they released iPhone 3.1 Beta 3 the day before. So, hit developer.apple.com, download, tether up, and install the fresh new firmware… for as long as that lasts.

Since Apple intends beta software to run only on development devices for testing purposes, not actual user iPhones for daily use, they probably don’t think anyone will be legitimately inconvenienced if caught traveling away from iTunes and Xcode. Even legit devs, however, may balk at having to purchase a second iPhone or iPod touch just for firmware testing, and could well get caught in the lurch.

Here’s hoping Apple doesn’t time things quite so tightly next beta.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Reminder: Pink Screen of Death Signals End of iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 — Go Install Beta 3