Google Inc. wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission claiming that Apple Inc. had indeed rejected its Google Voice application for iPhone, contradicting Apple?s claim that it was still reviewing the application.

In July, the FCC dashed off three letters to Apple, AT&T and Google over Apple's reported rejection of the Google Voice iPhone application (see story). The letters sought detailed information as to why Apple rejected Google Voice and pulled previously approved third-party applications from its App Store (see story). Google then sent a response to the FCC seeking to keep certain details of the disagreement private.

?When we submitted our letter on Aug. 21, we asked the FCC to redact certain portions that involved sensitive commercial conversations between two companies?namely, a description of emails, telephone conversations and in-person meetings between executives at Google and Apple,? said Richard Whitt, Washington-based Telecom and media counsel for Google in a post to the search giant?s public policy blog.

Shortly afterward, several individuals and organizations submitted Freedom of Information Act requests with the FCC seeking access to this information, according to Google.

?While we could have asked the FCC to oppose those requests, in light of Apple's decision to make its own letter fully public and in the interest of transparency, we decided to drop our request for confidentiality,? Mr. Whitt said.

The FCC recently posted the full content of Google?s letter to its Web site.

Apple has refuted published reports that the Google Voice application had been rejection, saying that it was continuing to study it.

However, Apple defended its right to not approve Google Voice because the Google application changes the iPhone user interface, the Federal Communications Commission was told (see story).

AT&T Mobility has absolved itself of any responsibility over Apple's alleged rejection of the Google Voice iPhone application (see story).

While Google did not dispute the fact that it did not discuss the application with AT&T, it claimed to have had discussions with Apple throughout the month of July and that Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple, told a Google executive that Apple was rejecting the Google Voice application.

Apple also refused to approve Google?s Latitude application, which is currently available via Web-enabled handsets or PCs at http://google.com/latitude.

So, with all of this back-and-forth, he-said/she-said, who is a mobile marketer to believe?

While that answer may depend on one?s own personal bias, what is clear is that the two giants will continue to butt heads for the foreseeable future.

It may be inevitable, though, that Apple and Google will have to work together on some level to avoid alienating consumers.

?We continue to work with Apple and others to bring users the best mobile Google experience possible,? Google?s Mr. Whitt said.

Here is the letter: