While Apple retains the right to deny apps that they claim duplicate core features (the supposed excuse for the Google Voice blanket rejection), there are any number of apps that do just that. Try searching browsers in the app store for proof.

So with an announcement from Mozilla's CEO John Lilly that the open source giant plans to "release an app to the iPhone App Store in the next few weeks," that he claims will "surprise people," speculation began. Theories centered around two strong contenders.

Tech blogger Om Malik has one theory. He interviewed Lilly when the comment was made, then later discussed Weave with Lilly and Jay Sullivan, VP of Mozilla Mobile. Weave, a Firefox extension that syncs bookmarks, cookies, passwords, and other elements of your Firefox experience to multiple machines, allows you access to the same data from different locations. Malik believes Mozilla's new app will allow iPhone users to access this information while on the go. Would this app play nice with Safari? Other apps do offer an "Open in Safari" option, so that seems the least controversial route.

Others, such as Kevin Tofel at jkOnTheRun, suspect that Mozilla plans to present an iPhone version of Fennec, their mobile browser already supported on Windows Mobile. It's no secret that Mozilla wants to get in on the mobile game in a big way and getting on the iPhone would be a feather in the browser's cap. Tofel goes on to indulge his speculation with fantasies involving a mobile version of Flash built in to Fennec that would bring the entirety of the Web to the iPhone at last.

While the first theory would hardly qualify as a surprising move, Tofel's at least has the level of improbability to it that might qualify. Whether or not Apple approves such an app is a completely different matter. Mozilla has stated previously that Firefox won't be on the iPhone and Apple has all but declared Flash on the iPhone a non-starter. Time will tell in this matter. In this case, a few weeks. Feel free to indulge your own speculation or debunking in the comments.