After rejecting Google Voice over the summer, Apple has approved an app for the competition. Ribbit's new iPhone app is now available for download in the App Store on iTunes. The app is free, but you'll need a Ribbit account to use the app.

Unlike Google Voice, Ribbit's service is not free. It will cost you $30 a month. Otherwise, the service offered is the same: call management and voice mail which can be transcribed and searched.

Ribbit's iPhone app directs users to the device's native phone and SMS applications. This is perhaps why it was approved while Google's was not. Apple contends that their reasoning for rejecting the Google Voice app was that it tried to replace functionality provided by native apps.

The Google Retail blog has been good at passing along juicy little nuggets of data regarding the holidays. The latest does not disappoint. And it explains why you can't find a parking space at the mall.

As of this past Sunday, the average shopper had 38% of their shopping left to complete. Perhaps, the East Coast snowstorm didn't help. Then again, you could have at least researched gift ideas while curled up on your couch and roasting chestnuts on an open fire.

But noOOooo. 14% of you haven't even started researching. 17% haven't even bought a single gift.

I have a feeling some last minute e-gift certificates will be purchased Thursday night, say, around midnight.

Visiting MapQuest.com will now mean automatic location detection for Android users with GPS-enabled devices. As long as GPS hasn't been disabled for m.mapquest.com, users will be prompted to use "Current Location" instead of needing to manually type in an address.

The update is for devices using Android 1.1 or higher. There is support for Google Gears, but it will still work on Android 2.0 or higher, which does not use Google Gears.

Lately, data has been showing that Android has been growing at a nice pace. It's smart for entities such as MapQuest to innovate for the increasingly popular mobile OS.

The Google Nexus One trickle continues. Today's two menu items include a 5-minute demonstration of the Android 2.1 interface -- shaky, sure, but it's a pretty thorough rundown of all the menus. We're also serving up some low-resolution picture comparisons of the Nexus One laying side-by-side with the iPhone and HTC Hero. It still eludes us how all these leaking parties don't seem to have in their possession a decent DSLR or camcorder (feel free to give us a buzz, we'll gladly help out). Video after the break.

Gallery: Google Nexus One stands with iPhone and Hero, interface gets a 5-minute walkthrough

Continue reading Google Nexus One stands with iPhone and Hero, interface gets a 5-minute walkthrough

Google Nexus One stands with iPhone and Hero, interface gets a 5-minute walkthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.