Apple, Google and the soul of the mobile Web

With Google (GOOG) CEO Erick Schmidt stepping down from the Apple (AAPL) Board of Directors, the battle has now clearly begun. Google is all about open standards, open technology, and an open mobile Web. Apple has clearly staked itself as a defender of the Walled Garden, a more controlled Internet that ideally Apple itself will dominate, curate and moderate.

This struggle has been simmering for a while but now appears to ready to become an open pitched battle. The FCC is investigating why Apple refused to allow Google's voice application onto the iPhone, despite the fact that Apple SVP of Marketing Phil Schiller himself tried to usher the program through.