On Monday, word began making the rounds that Apple had denied Google Voice's app for the iPhone and that many developers' apps that used the service would be pulled as well. The official reason given from Apple is that Google Voice and related apps “duplicate features that come with the iPhone.”

This is transparently and patently absurd as Apple has made no effort to strong arm voice recorder apps out of the store with the Voice Memos update included in the 3.0 OS, while various alternate browsers to Safari are also readily available. An inherently bogus excuse naturally leads to suspicion.

Much like the App Store's crippling of the Sling application, immediate blame fell upon the iPhone's domestic carrier, AT&T. TechCrunch put it this way:

"Google Voice scares the carriers. It allows users to send free SMS messages and get cheap long-distance over Google Voice’s lines. It also makes it trivial to switch to a new phone service."

While no one has gone on record with a statement to the effect that AT&T was behind the move, the financial incentive is impossible to ignore. According to John Gruber, a trusted source has confirmed the AT&T pressure, though he's more forgiving than the folks over at TechCrunch:

"I’m not sure the decision is entirely unreasonable. Don’t think about it in terms of Apple’s relationship with its carrier partners, but instead think about it in terms of Apple’s competition with Google. Google Voice is a mobile phone service provided by the maker of one of the biggest competitors to the iPhone OS."

Others, too, were less quick to point fingers at the carrier.

Be that as it may, there are surely a number of behind-the-scenes moves being played out in this particular drama that we have yet to hear. One can only hope that leaks will continue and more information will be forthcoming. As it is, between the App Store and AT&T, the two companies continue to find ways to encourage their users to avail themselves of jailbreaking their iPhones.