Apple has told US regulators it is studying a Google Voice application for iPhones and is not conspiring with telecom partner AT&T to bar the software from the coveted mobile devices.
Apple, Google and AT&T each explained their sides of the story in letters released on Friday by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials investigating why Voice for iPhones hasn’t made it to the App Store, a distribution network for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
“Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it,” Apple vice president of worldwide global affairs Catherine Novelli said in letter to the FCC on Friday. “Apple is acting alone and has not consulted with AT&T about whether or not to approve the Google Voice application.”
Late last month, FCC investigators intent on finding out whether Apple is unfairly flexing its muscle in the smartphone market sent “inquiry letters” to Apple, Google and AT&T, iPhone’s exclusive carrier in the US.
“AT&T does not participate in Apple’s day-to-day consideration of specific applications,” AT&T senior vice president of external and legal affairs James Cicconi said in written responses to FCC questions. “Nor does Apple typically notify AT&T prior to including applications in the App Store.”
At Google’s request, the Internet firm’s answers to FCC questions about what it was told by Apple on rejecting the Voice iPhone application were removed from a copy of the letter released publicly.
In his written response, Google’s Washington telecom and media counsel Richard Whitt referred to the subject of the correspondence as “Apple’s rejection of Google Voice for iPhone application.”
FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said inquiry letters were sent because the agency wanted to get “the facts and data necessary to make the best policy decisions on behalf of the American people.”
The FCC move came after Google said a Voice application for the iPhone was rejected by the App Store and related applications were removed.
Apple said it has not approved the Voice application because it appears to replace the iPhone’s mobile telephone features with a Google interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail.
Voice also transfers data from iPhone users’ address books to Google servers and Apple doesn’t know how that personal information will be safeguarded, Novelli said.
“These factors present several new issues and questions to us that we are still pondering,” Novelli said in her letter. “Apple spent a lot of time and effort developing this distinct and innovative way to seamlessly deliver core functionality of the iPhone.”
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure