Inexplicable Google Search-by-Voice iPhone App Delay

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 17 Nov 2008

The most recent Google developed iPhone application, the Search-by-Voice app that was due to hit the App Store on Friday has been put on hold by the Apple team. This may not be a bad thing for Apple, but it is a rather annoying and embarrassing problem for Google, considering the great lengths it went to advertise the app’s release.

If it weren’t for the media, then the whole thing would have gone pretty much unnoticed. Why, you ask? Simply because Apple has yet to issue any comment on the situation, and because all references about the Search-by-Voice app have been removed from Google’s sites and blogs. It is as if they are so embarrassed about the whole situation that they want to erase all data regarding it, just as a traumatized child would block out painful memories.

This is not the first time that the Apple review team is the cause of application release delays. As a matter of fact, some app developers had to wait months on end for the Apple team to give them the go ahead. The weird thing is that Google already had such an approval, not to mention that Google-Apple relations are rather good. Since neither of the two companies (which by the way share Eric Schmidt – CEO of Google and Apple board member) has come out to provide an adequate explanation regarding the situation at hand, we can only speculate that something went wrong, very wrong. Rumors have it that Apple threw a fit and refused to release the app, but I would go as far as to say that there were some serious problems with Google’s app. Remember the Gmail SMS feature and its rollback? Two weeks have passed and it still hasn’t been released.

If Apple has indeed refused to launch the app for whatever reason, then shame on them. The simple truth of the matter is that Google could have launched it on its own Android, but instead opted for the iPhone, simply because there are more iPhone users than G1 users. Not to mention that the app will definitely have a positive impact on iPhone sails.

During the weekend, several sites and forums were saying that the Search-by-Voice app will undoubtedly be released on Monday. Well, it is Monday already and no such app has hit the App store. We can only hope that it will be featured later in the day, since the possibility of it being delayed any longer than that would be really disappointing.

UPDATE: The Search-by-Voice app has today, November 18, made it to the App Store. Reports say the app is working exceptionally well.


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