Would Apple Ban a Google Audio iPhone App?

Tech Crunch reports that Google will soon launch a music service, which may be called Google Audio.

Google Audio for iPhone

The question for us iPhone users is: Will Google attempt to launch a Google Audio iPhone app, and if so, will Google Audio for iPhone go the way of Google Voice?

Remember when Google submitted its Google Voice iPhone app to the App Store last July? Apple banned the app, citing “duplicate features that come with the iPhone,” because Google Voice would create competition for AT&T’s calling & SMS services. Would a Google Audio iPhone app be banned for competing with iPod and the iTunes Store?

What Will a Google Voice iPhone App Look Like?

We don’t yet know what Google Voice will look like, or what it will do. But if Google’s history of innovation is any indication, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is somehow a game-changer. And that could be bad news for Apple.

After all, iTunes is by far the leader in music downloads. Any competition from Google in the market for online music would certainly be unwanted.

Of course, there’s already a Pandora iPhone app that lets you stream music and bypass the iPod, but Pandora doesn’t give you on-demand access to specific songs. Google Audio will presumably offer music downloads. What if a Google Audio iPhone app let you download songs to the app itself?

Could a Google Audio iPhone app make iTunes irrelevant? If so, can we expect Apple to ban Google Audio from iPhone? What do you think?

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