Happy Holidays and just wanted to start by saying thanks for all the support from everyone. We are very humbled that we received so many responses for the beta and we will be working through the list. If you haven’t had a chance to sign up yet, feel free to go to the register page and put in your details.

I also wanted to mention a few things that have come up in questions from folks along the way.

• If I purchased VoiceCentral from the App Store do I automatically get on the beta for Black Swan?
  Apple does not share your information (email address, etc) with us so we would not have your Google Voice information to set you up for Black Swan. You will have to register separately for the Beta because of this. You can also send us a note via the Support Link inside the application so we know you also purchased the app. We really appreciate all the folks that purchased the app through the App Store and just wish Apple hadn’t removed it from the store. We would love to produce updates to that version of the product, but we think Black Swan will be a lot more powerful.
• How long until I will have access to the Beta?
  We will be opening up the beta to more and more users over the next few weeks and will work through them in the order they were received. It will take some time though and just want to provide the best experience for all the users. You will get setup soon and we will be in touch with you so stay tuned.
• How do I merge my Contacts into Google Voice?
  The Mobile Safari browser doesn’t have native access to all the functions of the phone so we don’t have access to the Contacts data. There are many ways to get that data into Google Voice and you can check out: our contacts FAQ for a few of them. This is actually a really good thing because you get a lot more of out of Google Voice once you have your contacts merged in. That data also can easily be synced like the rest of your data on your phone so you can set it and forget it. You can also take advantage of other features like arranging contacts by Groups, specialized Call Presentation, etc so you will be unlocking a lot more from Google Voice. Plus, it will allow us to do a lot of other interesting things with the app in the future once you have your Contacts integrated with Google Voice.

Thanks again for all the questions and all the support. Have a Happy New Year!
pk

I don’t think this is anything to get excited about.  And we certainly don’t care since we feel we have an even better solution (Black Swan Edition) on the very near term horizon, but thought I would share with you an interesting email we received from Apple today after months of limbo:

Dear Riverturn, Inc.,We are currently reviewing an app that you submitted for inclusion on the App Store, and want to let you know that the review process will require additional time. We apologize for the delay and will provide you with an update on the status of your app as soon as possible.

Application Name: VoiceCentral

Application Version Number: 1.3.8

Application SKU: VOICECENTRAL_001

Application Apple ID:310081988

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this notice please contact us at appreview@apple.com .

Sincerely,

The iPhone Developer Program

Many of you were lucky enough to get VoiceCentral before Apple pulled the rug out from under us. Now users have reported that they are unable to dial using VoiceCentral (yes, we still try to support our users months after Apple made it difficult). We have narrowed the issue to a change on Google’s side.

The more important issue, of course, is “what can we do about it?” At this point, Apple is still “pondering” the latest version we sent them for review. We hope for the best, but we are not naïve and with no forthcoming news from the FCC we don’t expect that to change in the very near future. The unfortunate consequence is that the native iPhone version of VoiceCentral is effectively dead in the water.

This is not a new development and it is not a surprise.

So, Riverturn, what have you been doing about it?
We have been furiously developing a replacement.

A replacement?
Yup, all the VoiceCentral goodness with none of the App Store.

No Apple review team amateur hour? No jailbreaking required?
That’s right. All on the up and up.

VoiceCentral. On your iPhone. Google Voice access on your iPhone. For Real.

How?

Black Swan Edition.

Coming very soon…