Google has released the long-awaited Google Voice WebApp for iPhone (and Palm webOS), something they said they’d be doing in the wake of their exclusion from the iTunes App Store.

Similar to Google’s other, marvelous WebApps like Gmail, it leverages the advanced web technologies built into iPhone Safari to provide an optimized UI through which make calls from your Google Voice number and send SMS. Or so we hear… TiPb HQ has been trying to try it, but it’s been “fail city” according to Dieter, with lots of network request errors. (At least on the iPhone, his Palm Pre is doing better).

“It’s a very pretty “Network Request Failed” pop up dialog box. Quite impressive,” he says. (See it after the jump.)

According to TechCrunch, however:

It is built on HTML5 with most of the functionality of the original iPhone app, except that it cannot access the local contact list in your iPhone’s address book. It lets you manage a separate Google Voice contact list which is kept in the cloud instead. Google Voice voice routes your calls through its servers and acts as a new hub through which you can manage calls and forward them to various phones. You can also manage your settings and various phone numbers. The HTML5 makes it very fast, allows for local caching of data, and supports the voice tags necessary to play the audio voicemails through the browser.

You can access it via http://m.google.com/voice. If you’re a Google Voice user, let us know how it works for you, and how it compares to a native app like GV Mobile for Jailbreak.

Video after the break!

And Dieter’s error screen:

Google Unleashes Google Voice WebApp for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Our sibling site PreCentral.net pointed out that the Google Reader Blog has announced some updates for their mobile optimized site. While they show it off on the iPhone’s Safari, it’ll work fine on any WebKit browser:

The interface is improved overall, and the laundry list of new features includes:

• Support for “liking”, tagging, and sorting feeds by oldest and newest
• A More/Less feature to reduce clutter
• Updates to the header bringing it into line with the likes of Gmail and Calendar
• The addition of a new drop-down menu
• A new “Recommended Sources” section

Wow, Google is showing no signs of slowing down the pace of WebApp innovation. If you’re a Google Reader user, give it a try and let us know what you think!

Google Reader Mobile-Optimized WebApp Updated for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Twitter is previewing a new iPhone-friendlier version of their website, mobile.twitter.com, this time “eating their own dogfood” by using the same APIs they provide to developers. While Twitter has long had their m.twitter.com mobile site it’s fair to say it was eclipsed by native iPhone apps making use of those APIs.

Will the new WebApp get users to go back to the online source? Personally, the power and performance of the latest App Store apps is going to be tough to beat, but if I’m ever stuck using someone else’s iPhone (or non-iPhone mobile device, like I will be this weekend), a better web-based alternative will certainly be much appreciated. Says @twittermobile lead @leland on the Twitter blog:

This is just the start, we’re excited about the new APIs launching at Twitter, and have been busy tinkering with some neat ways to use them. We look forward to sharing more cool things with you soon.

It’s optimized for mobile WebKit based browsers like the iPhone right now, but they’ll be tweaking it for the good of all platforms eventually. If you give mobile.twitter.com a try, let us know how you like it.

Twitter Eats Own “Dogfood”, Previews New Mobile WebApp for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Google continues to optimize their websites for the iPhone (and Android, and webOS), this time giving Google News the bump. Says the Google Mobile blog:

This new version provides the same richness and personalization on your phone as Google News provides on desktop. Our new homepage displays more stories, sources, and images while keeping a familiar look and feel. Also, you can now reach your favorite sections, discover new ones, find articles and play videos in fewer clicks. If you are an existing Google News reader on desktop, you will find that all of your personalizations are honored in this mobile version too.

If you read Google News on your iPhone, let us know if you like it, and if you like it better than the regular version you got yesterday.

Google Optimizes Google News for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Looks like Google Wave, the big G’s cloud-based take on next-generation communication and collaboration, already works on the iPhone. No big surprise, though, it’s browser powered and the iPhone still has the slickest browser in mobile. Google even showed it off on an iPhone during its debut at IO 2009. TechCrunch, however, found this interesting little bit of behavior:

Just like with any Web page on the iPhone, you can save a bookmark on your Home screen, and it creates a little icon which launches mobile Safari to that page. When you save the Wave bookmark to your Home screen, however, something different happens. You go to Wave, but without the Safari wrapper which allows you to navigate to another page or search the Web. Instead, it looks more like a regular app and there is no way to navigate away from it. Everything else works the same as in the mobile browser version.

This feature, as TechCrunch states, has been available to iPhone developers for a while, and helps blur the line between highly localized WebApps, and highly cloud-dependant widgets. If you’re using Google Wave on your iPhone, let us know how it works for you. (And if you work for Google, send us an invite so we can try it.)

Quick WebApp Update: Google Wave Goes Full Screen for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Google’s own Google Voice app for the iPhone was infamously rejected from the iTunes App Store, so what’s the world’s leading Web 2.0 giant going to do about it? Release Google Voice as a WebApp targeted at the iPhone’s advanced Mobile Safari web browser, of course!

According to David Pogue of the NY Times, much as they did with Google Latitude when that application was similarly denied entry into the App Store, Google’s river is finding a way around Apple’s rock:

Already, Google says it is readying a replacement for the Google Voice app that will offer exactly the same features as the rejected app—except that it will take the form of a specialized, iPhone-shaped Web page. For all intents and purposes, it will behave exactly the same as the app would have; you can even install it as an icon on your Home screen.

So, will a WebApp be enough for you Google Voice users, even one as good as Google can likely make?

Google to Launch Google Voice on iPhone as WebApp is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Google Latitude — the service that either allows you to keep track of your friends or be stalked by stalking stalker types, depending on your point of view — is finally available for the iPhone and iPod touch. No, it’s not built into Google Maps as part of iPhone 3.1 with push update capability. No, it’s not built into Google Mobile app. No, it’s not even set up as an iPhone app in and of itself.

Google Latitude is a WebApp and it runs in Mobile Safari using the iPhone 3.0 geoLocation feature.

Apparently Apple, in their infinitely-looped wisdom, hasn’t yet deigned (or Google wouldn’t yet offer them the chance?) to build it into Maps, and Apple decided it would be too confusing to users to have another app on the iPhone thats shows the same Google maps. (And it’s not when simply framed by mobile browser chrome? Sigh.)

While Google inarguably makes among the best iPhone WebApps in the business, this doesn’t strike us an ideal solution. Still it is a solution for iPhone users desperate to get their Latitude on. Until Apple gets their act together on this, here’s official word from the blog:

Our Latitude web app provides all the core functionality you might expect: you can see the location of your friends on a map and modify your privacy settings so that you control how your location is shared and with whom. In fact, if my friends and colleagues back in London haven’t yet noticed my absence, they’ll see in Latitude that I’m currently vacationing on the beach in Australia. Hi guys, remember me!?

[...] To try Google Latitude, type google.com/latitude into your iPhone’s browser. And if you miss the experience of launching the app directly from your home screen, you can add a bookmark to the home screen by opening Latitude in Safari and tapping the + icon > Add to Home Screen > Add.

Wonder if Steve Jobs is already using it to follow Eric Schmidt….?

Google Finally Provides Latitude to iPhone Users — Yeah, it’s a WebApp is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

We’ve covered the Gym Technik WebApp before, but now they’re back and fitter than ever. Our sibling site, CrackBerry.com has the long list of upgrades, or you can check out gymtechnik.com to sign up.

Now excuse us while we go do 100 sets of 3 min. burpee rounds. Yeah, that’s how we roll… In our dreams…

Quick WebApp: Gym Technik Gets Updated is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog