Google has released a new version of its Google Voice mobile site that has just about all of the features you would want in an app. Using the power of HTML5, load times are minimized and the site provides the user with a great interface for checking his inbox, making calls, sending SMS and changing Voice settings.
Despite Apple’s effort to effectively ban Google Voice from the iPhone by removing all Voice apps from the App Store in July 2009, Google has maintained that it will get Voice on the iPhone. This was initially accomplished by the release of Voice’s first mobile website which was an improvement over the call-in menu, but was not as polished as the apps that were removed. Since then, iPhone users who did not grab a Voice app before the ban are only able to use the mobile site, the basic call-in menu or an app from an alternative app store, such as Cydia, which required a jailbroken phone. This latest iteration of the Voice mobile page includes all of the functionality of the banned apps while being available for all iPhones users.
The website cannot, however, access the iPhone or webOS phone’s phonebook and instead uses the contacts from the Google account. Contacts can easily be imported though, from either CSV or vCard format.
iPhone and webOS users can visit http://m.google.com/voice to use the mobile site. Google Voice is still invite-only, so those without accounts will need to request an invite.
Google has released a video demonstrating the site:
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