Google denies rejecting Skype app for Android

Google is refuting a report in USA Today that it rejected Skype's voice-over-IP application for the Android mobile operating system. "Consumers who use Android, the Google-developed operating system for wireless devices, can't use Skype," USA Today reported on Friday, adding "Skype allows you to talk as long as you want without draining cellphone minutes." Not true, Google vice president of mobile platforms Andy Rubin writes on Google's Public Policy Blog. "While the first generation of our Android software did not support full-featured VoIP applications due to technology limitations, we have worked through those limitations in subsequent versions of Android, and developers are now able to build and upload VoIP services," Rubin notes.

According to Rubin, while individual operators can request that certain Android apps be filtered if they violate their terms of service, that is not the case as it relates to Skype. "Google did not reject an application from Skype or from any other company that provides VoIP services. To suggest otherwise is false," Rubin maintains. "At this point no software developer--including Skype--has implemented a complete VoIP application for Android."

For more on the Google/Skype controversy:
- read this Google's Public Policy Blog entry

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