I just knew this day would come. No, I’m not talking about the TodaysiPhone.com launch. Or the 10am PST live Apple event tomorrow — which, by the way, PhoneDog and Today's iPhone will both be covering.

All that is good (and crazy exciting), but I’m actually talking about a little something called Google Voice. I have been waiting for what seems like forever for this service — which thousands of people use for free calling, texting, and smart call routing. Apple has repeatedly “rejected” the iPhone app and even yanked all related entries from the App Store last year. (Honestly, this is one thing that really had me envying Android. Since Google developed the platform, of course GV works seamlessly on it.) 

Now, though, Google seems to be saying, “Rebuff me once, shame on you. Rebuff me multiple, multiple times, incur a federal inquiry and tick off a lot of users — then, well, still shame on you. I’m kicking you to the curb!” 

The company has created a web version of GV that works via the iPhone’s Safari browser. It’s not as elegant as a real app, with contacts and SMS integration, but at least this version can’t be yanked. (What could Cupertino do? Boot it off the web?) And the web version doesn’t just work on iPhones. Palm Pre users can tap that too. 

I love GV, since it offers threaded views of calls and texts, voice mail transcription and call routing to any landlines or cells I want, so there’s only ever one number to give out. There’s a lot to like about the service, but this implementation does have a downside — it still uses up regular mobile minutes. (Other third-party iPhone apps used to place calls over Wifi.) 

Even so, it’s nice to have the functionality back on my iPhone. And who knows? Maybe Apple’s acceptance of the GV official app will be one of the many announcements tomorrow. (Yeah, right. Highly doubt that one.) 

For more on Google Voice, hit this link to get there via desktop, or try this one on your handset. As for the Apple event tomorrow, check back to PhoneDog for coverage or hit up the Today’s iPhone real-time event page, to bookmark it for tomorrow. 

Via: NYT, Silicon Alley Insider