Google Voice is a service that allows you to keep one number and forward it to any phone you own. Google gives you one number for life, for free. Tons of features come with it, it’s essentially your own personal call center. You can block callers, screen calls, and set times for which phones ring. There’s tons more that I’m not mentioning. It’s absolutely amazing and it’s something that the Telcos should have come up with years ago. But they didn’t. Now Google’s got it and there isn’t even a competitor for this type of service, let alone one for free.

Google recently opened the flood gates for Google Voice to the public and has been sending invites like crazy. This must have what triggered the events that recently passed. Two apps were already available in the App Store – GV Mobile and VoiceCentral. They’ve been around since May. They were paid apps developed by third party developers. The main reason people want these apps is to be able to show their Google Voice number on outgoing calls, and to review all history on their Google Voice account. These apps also integrated with your iPhone address book. But these apps were pulled this week, and then Google admitted that Apple denied their official app that was submitted six weeks ago. Again, the apps were pulled for “duplicating functionality already on the iPhone.” You may want to re-read that. And come on, how many notes apps are in the App Store?

There are several reasons why this is and should be upsetting to iPhone users.

First, Apple is now aggressively blocking an incredibly useful app. Something that is new, that no one else has. Their acceptance to date has been pretty inconsistent. They’ve hindered functionality of apps like Google Latitude, and Skype. But this was a flat out block, and a retroactive one at that. The apps that were already in the store were APPROVED for months, then retroactively denied. People paid money for them, and now if they need to clear their iPhone, they won’t be available.

Second, Google has already released this app to all Blackberry phones, including those on the AT&T network. So AT&T already has this app functioning on another device on their network. Some have suggested that AT&T is not ready for the growth of the iPhone userbase, even though they’ve dropped the price of the phone down to a mere $99 to gain… more iPhone users.

Third, most people are placing the blame entirely on AT&T. AT&T is scared of Google Voice, even though to use the service… you have to have a wireless phone number to use it wirelessly. It’s not a VOIP app. I will be using my AT&T minutes to make calls on my iPhone. You can also text from Google Voice, which is maybe what they are afraid of. But most people are going to keep their texting plans too (because $30 a month is a reasonable price). So if AT&T thinks they are going to lose money on it, they are wrong. They will lose money by for blocking it, as a lot of people will move to the Android platform which has a much more open acceptance for applications developed for it.

Fourth, and last. Apple has been so inconsistent with its approval of apps that developers may not want to take a chance on any kind of application that “duplicates functionality already on the iPhone” or improves upon it. Why spend money and time developing an application if you have no certainty on whether that app will show up a month or two later? Apple and AT&T are blocking true innovation on an already innovative phone. Why not improve it and foster even greater unimaginable uses for the phone?

I am greatly upset with this new trend Apple is setting, and as a consumer I should be allowed to put whatever I want on my phone as long as it doesn’t interrupt with AT&T’s network. Android and the Blackberry will have time to catch up to the iPhone if this continues. Even if you aren’t a Google Voice user, you should still remain concerned. Hopefully these are just growing pains that we can laugh at in a year.

The latest hype revolves around a Twitter TV show. Seriously people? Are we so obsessed with Twitter that we need a TV show , about Twitter? Granted, Twitter provides an excellent way to communicate with listeners or viewers of programs (ex. CAVERadio*). Integrating Twitter can provide a new provocative way to combine our information overload, but this Hollywood focus, and celebrity oriented phenomenon needs to stop.

I think Twitter needs to start innovating with some new features, and stabilizing current ones, instead of relying so heavily on the API community to do cool things for them while they hold up the walls. If you haven’t yet, please check out FriendFeed. It’s everything Twitter is and more (stable, real time, feature rich), and you don’t have to completely abandon Twitter to use it. And seriously… a TV show?

^{* Unsolicited Shout-Out}

Drop.io is a not necessarily a new website, but it’s new to you. Drop.io is a DEAD SIMPLE (I love/hate that term) file

sharing site on it’s face. But if you dig deeper Drop.io is quite possibly the most useful site I’ve stumbled upon in recent history.

Drop.io allows users to create drops to place files, links, posts, images, or anything else digital. To create a drop you can create your own moniker or it will assign a random one to you. You do not need to register or enter an email address to create a drop, and there is no limit on the number of drops you can create (as far as I’ve seen). I can’t stress the no registering part enough. You can start sharing files within seconds with no registration. Even better you can set the drop expiration date, so if you only need it for a day, it will be gone tomorrow.  You do not need to set permissions or settings (unless you want to, then you may set an administrator password for the drop for more advanced features).

In addition to all that awesomeness Drop.io has several other features to make it even more awesome. With any drop you are assigned a free conference line, voicemail box,  or fax drop. You can upload files via email (i.e. attachments). You can embed an upload form to any blog or website, to keep your drop hidden. You can upload audio to the drop and Drop.io will make it an automatic podcast for you with enclosure tags and an iTunes link. The voicemail feature assigns you a telephone number and an extension, you can call it and leave a message, which you can then download as an mp3, email, or embed in a website.

I am going on and on here, but there is tremendous wealth to all the features Drop.io has to offer. Best of all of this is… it’s free.  100 MBs per drop, but you can upgrade that if you are willing to dish out some dough.

Check out this video for more.

I love the internet.

It allows you to record sketches in real time and then show them off. You can embed them as well. It’s easier to draw with a graphics pad rather than a mouse.

From Techcrunch:

“Which is why a group of them have created SaveTheDevelopers.org, an organization dedicated to making the Web a better place for developers (and thus for users as well). Web developers can grab a piece of code to put on their Websites which will detect if a visitor is using an outmoded browser (IE6, cough). When the offending browser is detected, a pop-down window will appear (assuming those aren’t blocked) which will direct the user to a page where they can upgrade to IE7, or the latest version of Firefox or Safari.”

Spread the message. I’ve just installed this website with the script. By the way this website looks like crap when viewed in IE6 anyway.

You can even embed full episodes on the web. Like this:

You may now discuss.

The site boasts several features with a very nice design. The site also asks that users follow a code of honor for submitting news stories.

Newsvine Code Of Honor:

1. Above all else, respect others. If you see disrespectful behavior, report it, rather than further inflaming the situation.
2. Before you write, seed, or comment, ask yourself if your contribution increases the strength and virtue of the community.
3. Newsvine is for collaborative discovery and discussion of the news, not self-promotion. Posting full articles which also appear on your blog is acceptable but seeding your own stuff is not.
4. Keep your headlines accurate and free of sensationalistic language. For instance, if you’re writing a satirical piece, please follow the form: “Satire: [Headline]“; if you’re seeding a story about a rumor, “Rumor: Yahoo to Buy ___” is appropriate whereas “Yahoo Buys ___” or “WTF! Oh my God!” are not.
5. Although full internationalization is important to Newsvine, please keep all articles and seeds in English until the system can properly sort multiple languages.
6. Keep Newsvine tidy by tagging for accuracy rather than for readership, editing headlines and lead-ins to be compact and descriptive, and seeding as close to the original source as possible.

Among everything else, you can customize the homepage to suit your news interests. If you like keeping up on the news, I definitely suggest you check this site out.

Gmail is nearly perfect now. You can pull email via pop3 and send using the same address (i.e. jim@crazygonutsuniversity.edu) You don’t have to use your Gmail address. You can also export via pop3 with use of programs such as Outlook or Thunderbird.

Plus TONS of other awesome features. If you don’t have one already now you can!

If you have any questions about the service check out their support page or post them here.