I hope that the company involved in this case, like all the others that think to dominate customers to steal them money for nothing, will be soon "One Click Away !"

Google Voice Thoroughly Banned From the iPhone; So Much for an Open Platform

July 28th, 2009 | by Stan Schroeder12 Comments

We’ve seen Apple ban applications from the App Store for all sorts of ridiculous reasons. This time, it’s different; all Google Voice related apps were banned from the app store, and this time Apple – or, more likely, AT&T – has a very good reason to ban them: it’s scared of them.

Google Voice () lets you do a lot of stuff for free that the AT&T charges for; you can place free calls in the US, you can send and receive free SMS messages. The application is still in beta, invite only stage, but several cool applications that use the service already exist for the iPhone. Sean Kovacs, the developer of GV Mobile, has said on his site that Apple has rejected the application. From his site:

“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.”

Other similar applications, such as VoiceCentral and GVDialer, have also been banned. And Google only has an official Google Voice app for the Android and BlackBerry; now, they’ve admitted that they don’t have an iPhone app because Apple said “no”.

The reason? The application(s) is too similar to iPhone’s own functionality. Like so many other Apple’s app rejection reasons, this one rings phony as well. If nothing that’s similar to functions and features iPhone already has can get approval, then no VoIP apps should be allowed. Also no camera-related apps, like Pro Camera. Fring ()? It lets you place calls, and send free messages, which is similar to SMS, right? Why is that OK, then?

Let’s call a spade a spade here. There can only be one reason for thoroughly banning Google Voice from the iPhone: AT&T, like every mobile operator, is scared of apps that replicate their own services. But by banning an app such as Google Voice from the iPhone, Apple and its partner are setting a dangerous precedent. If the developers cannot be certain that Apple will provide them a fair, free marketplace, they will move elsewhere: to Android () and Pre. After all, why create for a locked-down platform where the owners take the cake and all you’re allowed to get is leftovers?

Apple and AT&T need to make a decision: is the iPhone their playground, or everyone’s playground? If it’s the former, that’s OK, but they shouldn’t get upset if no one wants to play with them.

I hope that the company involved in this case, like all the others that think to dominate customers to steal them money for nothing, will be soon "One Click Away !"
Smart customers will be free very soon choosing supplier and services that will make them free. Happened many time in the past.

When first TELCO will decide to make their customer free to choose products and services they will loose very soon,
remember TELCOs, you are one click away !

Mac Netbook/Tablet Could Be on the Way in October

Written on 13th July 2009                                                                                                              1 COMMENT
Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.

Taiwanese news site InfoTimes claims that Apple will be launching a touchscreen netbook this coming October. The site claims Taiwanese companies Foxconn, Wintek and Dynapack have received orders from Apple specific to the manufacturing of such a device.

The article claims that Apple will produce screens of approximately 9.7 inches in diagonal length and that a touch screen will definitely be installed courtesy of manufacturers Wintek. The story also claims that pricing is rumored to be approximately $800 each, with Apple trying to target the higher end netbook user.

We’ve received confirmed reports in the past that Apple would definitely be launching a Mac Tablet in 2010. At the time, Business Week reported that the product would sit neatly between the iPod Touch and the Macbook pro, with pricing between $500-$700. These product specifications seem to match the predictions, but as with most Apple releases – you’re often never certain until an official announcement is made.

With Google’s recent OS announcement and the overall increase in interest in portable netbooks, it would be daft to believe that Apple weren’t working hard behind the scenes to ensure that demand was met. One thing is certain, a Mac tablet/netbook won’t come as cheap as Mike Arrington’s CrunchPad which is rumored to be in the less than $200 price bracket.

http://gmail.com/tasks name: tasks location: applicaitons icon: download it press ‘create’ followed by ‘launch now’ you’ll get a page telling you to visit the mobile site or use gmail labs open a new tab in Fluid by hitting ⌘T (cmd + T) click the menu bar where it says tasks, navigate to User Agent, and choose Mobile Safari 1.1.3 — iPhone hit ⌘ + L to go to the address bar and enter in http://gmail.com/tasks (this will load the site using Mobile Safari as the user agent). close the other tab with the original tasks page; hide the Toolbar by hitting ⌥⌘T (alt + cmd + T) now every-time you open Tasks it will use the iPhone site click the menu bar where it says tasks and choose Convert to MenuExtra SSB… the app will relaunch all set. p.s. when you first launch the app you’ll have to dismiss the prompt asking you to upgrade your iPhone software. this could be hidden using a User Script, but so far I haven’t had much luck making this work because of the way CSS is loaded in the app. if you can get a User Script running on the Gmail Tasks iPhone site drop me a line - it’d be nice to hide the footer info, too." width="500" />

 

Gmail Tasks: Fluid App

Yesterday Brit posted on twitter about Gmail Tasks for the iPhone. I checked it out and liked it more than the normal browser based interface.

I thought it would be great to use as a Fluid app. I did a quick search to see if it already existed and found this, but not much else… so I set it up myself.

It’s pretty straightforward and shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. Here’s how to do it:

• download and launch Fluid; enter the following info:
• url: http://gmail.com/tasks
• name: tasks
• location: applicaitons
• icon: download it
• press ‘create’ followed by ‘launch now’
• you’ll get a page telling you to visit the mobile site or use gmail labs

• open a new tab in Fluid by hitting ⌘T (cmd + T)
• click the menu bar where it says tasks, navigate to User Agent, and choose Mobile Safari 1.1.3 — iPhone
• hit ⌘ + L to go to the address bar and enter in http://gmail.com/tasks (this will load the site using Mobile Safari as the user agent).
• close the other tab with the original tasks page; hide the Toolbar by hitting ⌥⌘T (alt + cmd + T)
• now every-time you open Tasks it will use the iPhone site

• click the menu bar where it says tasks and choose Convert to MenuExtra SSB…
• the app will relaunch
• all set.

p.s. when you first launch the app you’ll have to dismiss the prompt asking you to upgrade your iPhone software. this could be hidden using a User Script, but so far I haven’t had much luck making this work because of the way CSS is loaded in the app. if you can get a User Script running on the Gmail Tasks iPhone site drop me a line - it’d be nice to hide the footer info, too.

 

19 hours ago

Do you love the way how Fluid can help you in transforming Web Apps in Desktop Apps ?
Try and enable Google Task with Fluid, and you'll cannot stop to create new Desktop Apps like you do with your iPhone and iPodTouch !!!

Have fun !!!