Awful article that doesn't even mention the webapp it's writing about isn't (as far as I know) actually available yet.<p>Also I highly doubt that Apple is busy "scheming to try and stop them [google]" from moving GV online.
Of course, a native app has advantages of its own: it is usually faster, and it can cache information and function without a network connection. Plus (iPhone developers, correct me if I'm wrong) you probably wouldn't get access to all the hardware, like the GPS and accelerometer. So I wouldn't say that an iPhone webapp is a complete workaround.
It's a web app and thus no push to notification available to properly be a substitute for texting.<p>Myself, free over rides this nuance, though I don't think so for the majority?!?
Is it talking about this <a href="http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=154724" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&...</a> ? If so, this has been available for quite some time.
IIRC Apple even suggested in the rejection letter to Google that it would better be implemented as a web app, so the sensationalistic tone of the article seems a wee bit hyperbolic to me.