While there are undoubtedly one or two technical reasons why Apple chose to ban Google's Voice application from the App Store, it also smacks heavily of corporate toy throwing - the kind of anti-trust sulk that's caused the Federal Communications Commission to launch an investigation into why the app was rejected.

And Google's alleged response is equally churlish. It seems the search engine giant is determined to allow access to its Google Voice application, which offers US users one telephone number and one voice mail box for all your phone numbers.

It's reportedly working on an iPhone-optimised web app that will bypass not only Apple's restrictions, but the entire App Store.

While the rumour is yet to be confirmed, Google had this to say on the matter:

"Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple App Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users, for example by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers."

Whether or not this actually happens is perhaps less important than the possibility of a fully functional application accessed through the iPhone's browser.

It's likely that Apple's dallying with a working Flash system is due to its reluctance to allow development of unapproved games and applications accessed via the web, but if Google cracks an alternative method we can expect other developers to follow suit.