The statement came at TechCrunch's Crunchies on Friday. While receiving an award, Google’s VP of engineering Vic Gundotra said the following, when asked about Google Voice on the iPhone: "Google Voice will come to the iPhone soon, one way or the other."
Precisely what that means is unknown, but it's been theorized long ago that Google would simply launch Google Voice as a web app, which would avoid the vagaries of App Store approval. That would make sense, and it's precisely the method that VoiceCentral, which had one of the earlier Google Voice-enabled apps, is using.
Google Voice is a service that gives you a separate number that people can call, rather than your actual landline or cell phone number (or, if you desire, you can link your current cell phone number to it, as a form of "voicemail portability"). It obviously has a number of uses, and not just to keep blind dates from being able to reach you if you don't like them at first glance.
It will take voicemails, and ring more than one phone, depending on who's calling. It can also send callers directly to your voicemail, based on your settings. It will also transcribe voicemails and send you an email or SMS (those using "voicemail portability" lose most of these features) with the transcription.
In addition the statement above, and to the VoiceCentral web app, the developer of GV Mobile, Sean Kovacs, is working on version 2.0 of that app. While originally one of the apps that was kicked out of the App Store, GV Mobile now exists as a jailbroken app, and version 2.0 of GV Mobile will do so as well, in a paid version. However, Kovacs says he is still working on getting Apple to accept GV Mobile into the App Store (good luck with that; perhaps if Google can get it done).
In reality, Web apps are better than nothing, but a full fledged standalone app that can access your iPhone contacts would be the ideal solution. Not that Apple really cares. For me, it has become apparent: the best app phone is a jailbroken iPhone.
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