** As published in RCR Wireless News **

SAN FRANCISCO – The spark that led Motorola Inc. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha to reinvigorate his company’s relationship with Google Inc. was similar to two drunks finding each other in a bar, or at least that is what Jha half-jokingly explained at this week’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco.

As was widely expected, Jha took the stage to announce Motorola’s plan for a new lineup of devices that run on Google’s Android operating system. Read the full story

Generally, it isn’t kind to kick someone when they’re down, but AT&T and Apple deserve it in this case. Word came out today via TechCrunch that Apple has pulled a pair of third-party Google Voice-enabled applications from the App Store. Apple also blocked Google’s official Google Voice app from ever seeing the light that is App Store glory.

After waiting probably two years for my GrandCentral invite request to come through, I was finally green-lighted for a new and improved Google Voice account earlier this month. I’ve been toying around with the service for a few weeks now and it is remarkable.

For starters, it begs the question: Why pay AT&T $5 a month for 200 text messages when I can receive unlimited SMS for free on Google Voice via the monthly $30 data plan I also pay for on my iPhone 3G S. I’m all about getting more for less these days. And I sure as hell don’t like paying for duplicate services. SMS is data no matter how you slice it and I want it included in my data plan. That’s why I was so thrilled to see Google Voice applications launched for BlackBerry and Android earlier this month. That paired with talk of an iPhone app in the works was all I needed to hear. Read the full story