I received an e-mail from Newber's media relations team that carried with it sad tidings. Newber submitted an application to Apple for approval over five months ago. With no word from Apple at all -- no approval, no denial -- Newber can't wait around any longer and is calling it a day. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/03/apple_takes_the.html">Is this what iPhone developers have to look forward to?</a>

Eric Ogren, Contributor

March 18, 2009

2 Min Read

I received an e-mail from Newber's media relations team that carried with it sad tidings. Newber submitted an application to Apple for approval over five months ago. With no word from Apple at all -- no approval, no denial -- Newber can't wait around any longer and is calling it a day. Is this what iPhone developers have to look forward to?Here's the e-mail, it speaks for itself:

Dear Newber Beta Tester,

As you may be aware, Newber first applied for acceptance into the App Store on October 2nd, 2008. After more than five months awaiting approval, and despite both overwhelming response from the professional community and varied attempts to get any kind of response from Apple, Newber has not received a review. Not rejected, not accepted -- limbo.

We are sad to say that for this reason FreedomVOICE has stopped development on Newber. For this reason we will be ending the extended Newber Beta Test on March 31st, 2009. We would like to give you the next few weeks as an opportunity to begin transfer of your Newber phone number to the carrier of your choice. If you are interested in doing so, simply contact your new carrier and follow their procedure for having a number transferred. Your new carrier may contact FreedomVOICE Technical Support at 1-800-477-1477 ext. 2 if they need to verify any information.

After March 31st, all remaining Newber Beta Test phone numbers will be cancelled.

An official response from FreedomVOICE CEO Eric Thomas can be found on www.mynewber.com.

I read the letter from Thomas. He mentions a number of the things that the e-mail above lays out, as well as a few other points. Apple has approved other apps that Thomas submitted, but for some reason not Newber. Without any sort of communication from Apple, Thomas is left only to wonder why.

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