The browser is completely inadequate to the task. I don't even think Webkit has the audio input features implemented yet, and if they exist they're completely useless for any real-world applications, especially on a phone.
Telling people to use APIs that don't exist yet is nonsense.
Okay, but have you explained that to Google?
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/0126/Googl...
Now, I'll concede that the HTML5 app which Google released as "Google Voice for the iPhone" might not be the app of your dreams. Maybe you should aim your ire at Google, then, for releasing a thing called Google Voice that isn't the ideal Google Voice. But you can hardly blame a pundit for believing that an app which already exists and which Google has officially announced is physically possible.
I won't say this article is inappropriate for HN but I think it's unworthy of HN.
This line jumped out at me. What definition of "browser app" are we using that requires them to be free? Obviously a browser app can't be a website, as it's trivial to put a website behind a paywall. What else are we talking about?