Obama administration likely to make life difficult for Apple

Some are upset that Apple is honoring its agreement with AT&T: "Apple Should Accept Google Voice"

It's time for Apple and AT&T to fully consider what is at stake and do the right thing. Give the FCC a win if that's what it takes, but let your customers have Google Voice if they want it--as they obviously do.

The era of total control that Apple and AT&T have enjoyed with the iPhone is over. AT&T has admitted it won't have exclusivity on the iPhone forever and Apple is under increasing federal scrutiny. It's only a matter of time before the Apple anti-trust inquiry begins.

The two companies would vastly improve their standing with their most influential customers by getting Google Voice apps into the App Store as quickly as possible and admitting the error of their ways. It's going to happen regardless at some point, so why not admit defeat while it can still be done gracefully?

For AT&T, this offers some hope that the moment the iPhone is available from another U.S. carrier that customers won't jump ship in large numbers, even if they have to buy new hardware to do it. (I'd imagine Apple would be just fine with that). . . .

Meanwhile Palm is upset with Apple for Apple not letting Palm use its software.

Palm has filed a complaint with the USB Implementers Forum claiming Apple is restricting trade by not allowing the Pre smartphone to use iTunes to sync and manage content. . . .

Also the FTC is still investigating Apple and Google for Google's CEO having served on Apple's board. Under the "Too little too late?" heading:

The Federal Trade Commission commends Apple and Eric Schmidt's decision on their parting of the ways this morning, but it appears that the federal investigation into the so-called "interlocking directorates" will continue, and that cannot be good news for either company.

In a statement released this afternoon, FTC Bureau of Competition Director Richard Feinstein says "We will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies.” . . . .