Apple

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Vonage announced Tuesday that its mobile voice over Internet Protocol app has been approved for use by Apple on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The Internet telephone service provider said it's conducting a beta test of the app and that general availability will be announced at a later date.

Last week Apple confirmed that Vonage's request for app approval was being held up by technical issues with the Vonage software. An Apple spokesperson told CNET News at the time that Apple was working with the developer to resolve the issue but would not elaborate on the nature of the issue.

That delay came to light on the heels of federal regulators opening a probe on Apple's decision to keep the Google Voice application from the App Store. AT&T--Apple's iPhone partner--has denied playing a role in that decision.

Google Voice, which allows users to receive calls placed to a single telephone number in multiple places and make cheap international calls, was deemed unfit for App Store inclusion in July, after it was released for BlackBerry and Android smartphones.

Apple, however, has said the Google Voice app was never actually rejected.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Apple App Store approval of a Vonage mobile voice over IP app is being held up by technical issues with the Vonage software, Apple said Wednesday, confirming a report by Tech Trader Daily.

Vonage submitted an application for review and Apple is working with the developer to resolve the issues with the app, Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris confirmed with CNET News. Kerris did not elaborate on what those issues were.

The revelation comes as federal regulators probe Apple's decision to keep the Google Voice application from the App Store. AT&T--Apple's iPhone partner--has denied playing a role in that decision.

"Let me state unequivocally: AT&T had no role in any decision by Apple to not accept the Google Voice application for inclusion in the Apple App Store," Jim Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs, told the FCC on Friday.

Google Voice, which allows users to receive calls placed to a single telephone number in multiple places and make cheap international calls, was deemed unfit for App Store inclusion in July, after it was released for BlackBerry and Android smartphones.

Apple, however, has said the Google Voice app was never actually rejected. "Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application and continues to study it. The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone's distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone's core mobile-telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging, and voice mail," Apple said in a statement.

Even though Google Voice isn't a voice over Internet Protocol application that actually makes calls over the Net, AT&T also did say its agreement with Apple means Apple may not actively lend developers a hand building VoIP applications. "Both parties (AT&T and Apple) required assurances that the revenues from the AT&T voice plans available to iPhone customers would not be reduced by enabling VoIP calling functionality on the iPhone," Cicconi said.

CNET Blog Network member Jim Dalrymple contributed to this story.

SAN FRANCISCO--At the MacWorld ShowStoppers event Monday night, I got a quick look at Newber, an iPhone app from Freedom Voice Systems that lets you redirect calls made to a new number you give out ("newber," get it?) to alternate numbers depending on your location. If you're in the office at your desk, the app can send calls to your work phone. At home? It rings the house phone. Neither? The call will ring on your iPhone. (See also: Grand Central.) The app uses GPS to suggest call routing, but ultimately you make the routing decision. Sounds like a cool idea, but if you want to try it, you can't.

Although Freedom Voice submitted Newber to Apple for approval to sell it in the iTunes store in October, Apple has not approved the app for distribution. It hasn't denied it, either. In fact, Apple will not tell Freedom Voice anything about the disposition of its review except that it's "taking longer than expected" to review the app. Freedom Voice marketing strategist Nick Goudy told me he gets e-mails to that effect about every two weeks. He talks to Apple once a day. He says he uses different phone numbers to prevent them from screening his calls.

When Steve Jobs announced the App Store in October, he said all apps would be approved (or denied) within three weeks.

What's most infuriating, Goudy told me, is that activity logs for the Newber platform indicate that Apple has not yet started or tested the app at all.

iCall, which makes a VoIP app similar in many ways to the approved TruPhone product, is in a similar spot. This app allows users to make VoIP calls from Wi-Fi-equipped iPhones and iPod Touches. CEO Arlo Gilbert told me that his company communicated carefully with Apple regarding not just approved use of the iPhone SDK and communications channels, but also got marketing advice from Apple on how to sell the app. Yet, once the app was submitted for approval (in early October), Apple clammed up, and won't tell the company whether the app is going to be approved or not. E-mail queries are not responded to and phone calls get "ticket numbers" but no resolution.

Gilbert can understand why iPhone network provider AT&T might not like the app, and that's why, he says, he was sure to talk to Apple during development of the product. iCall allows incoming calls to iCall numbers to route around the AT&T cellular network and run over WiFi and VoIP. As Gilbert knows from his experience running a telco, incoming mobile calls are very lucrative for carriers.

Unlike Newber, iCall has been tested by Apple, Gilbert says his logs show. He just wishes he could get an answer--either yea or nay--from Apple.

Newber and iCall want your support.

(Credit: Rafe Needleman / CBS Interactive)

Both Freedom Voice and iCall say they've invested about $500,000 each in developing their apps, and are wondering what to do next. The companies together have started a petition, titled "Support developers with faster app store response and approval," and the companies are working on alternative versions of their products. Newber is beta testing a Blackberry version and has an Android app in development. iCall has various PC- and Web-based VoIP apps.

Certainly, it would be more fair for Apple to simply say no to Newber and iCall than to leave these products in limbo. I expect the reality is that Apple/AT&&T politics are behind the confusion. Either that, or Apple is developing its own suite of enhanced telephony services, and--as was the case with the over-the-air podcast downloader Podcaster, which offered a service that Apple later released in iTunes--it doesn't want competitive products in its store in advance of the release of its own updates.

Update: 2:35 p.m. PST: I'm waiting to hear back from Apple after a request for a comment.

Click here for more Macworld Expo coverage from CNET News.

Previously:
Apple to Podcaster: No App Store for you
Google admits breaking App Store rules
Apple kills iPhone app, claiming API violation

Truphone, which has an App Store application that enables iPhone and iPod Touch users to make cheap international phone calls via a Wi-Fi connection, now can be used by iPhone users to make cheap calls from anywhere.

Previously, Truphone, which launched as a free application in Apple's App Store in July, worked only when users were within Wi-Fi range. But the latest iteration of the application will allow iPhone users to make cheaper-than-usual international calls additionally via their carrier's cellular voice networks.

This means that users won't be tied to the confines of a Wi-Fi hot spot. But users should be wary of how they use the application, so as not to incur unexpected costs from their carrier. U.S. customers, especially, should be cautious, because AT&T charges roaming fees when calls are made from AT&T phones outside the country.

(Credit: Truphone)

Truphone works like several other VoIP services, such as Jajah and Jaxtr, that allow calling to and from regular phones. In short, it uses the local carrier network to establish a phone call, but it routes the call internationally, using its own network of voice over Internet Protocol points of presence. And when the call is connected on the other end, it uses the local phone network to establish the connection.

By using local phone networks in combination with VoIP technology, Truphone is able to offer phone rates for as little as 6 cents per minute when dialing a landline in the United Kingdom, for example, and 30 cents per minute when calling a cell phone.

By contrast, U.S. iPhone users making regular calls via AT&T's network could be charged $1.49 per minute when calling a landline in the United Kingdom or $1.69 when calling a U.K. cell phone, according to AT&T's current rates. But subscribers also have the option of signing up for a special international calling plan that costs an additional $3.99 per month. It drops the per-minute costs down to 8 cents a minute for calls from the U.S. to landlines in the U.K. and to 28 cents a minute to cell phones in the U.K.

The Truphone application could also help frequent travelers save on making calls when they're abroad. But for AT&T subscribers, unless they are in a Wi-Fi hot spot, the Truphone application won't likely save them any money while they're traveling abroad.

The reason is that AT&T still charges a roaming rate for phones that connect to another operator's network. For example, AT&T customers traveling in the United Kingdom pay a standard roaming rate of $1.29 per minute to make calls while in the United Kingdom. With a $5.99-per-month World Traveler plan, that rate is knocked down to 99 cents per minute.

The new version of Truphone's software also allows users in Wi-Fi hot spots to make and receive free calls when connecting to other Truphone users in Wi-Fi hot spots. A presence feature will let users know which Truphone contacts are connected to Wi-Fi networks, so that they can be called for free.

In summary, Truphone is certainly a better option for AT&T iPhone users, if they make international phone calls from the U.S., and they don't want to pay the extra $3.99 a month for AT&T's special international rates. But the rates offered with the $3.99 plan are similar to those offered by Truphone.

And for AT&T subscribers traveling abroad, I'd suggest taking an old, unlocked GSM phone, and popping in a local SIM card for making phone calls while in another country. Most of the time, it will be a whole lot cheaper to use a local service than paying AT&T's standard roaming rates, or even signing up for a $5.99 monthly international roaming plan and still paying the per-minute charges.

While the SIM card on the iPhone can be removed, AT&T does not provide a code to unlock the phone. So unless users are able to hack the phone to unlock it, they won't be able to use a local SIM card to get service while abroad. But any other AT&T phone can be unlocked, simply by calling AT&T customer service and requesting the unlock code.