For the record, the delay has absolutely nothing to do with Apple withholding the Google Music iOS app. Google didn't decide to start developing it until early October [1].
"nothing to do with Apple withholding the Google Music iOS app"
Correct. It had everything to do with the music labels demanding Flash DRM, and Apple deciding not to support Flash at all. From your article:
"The company had previously closed the door on iOS users because Flash was needed to enforce DRM restrictions set by music labels. Now, Google appears to have overcome that issue and is nearly ready to launch."
Talk about bad journalism. That is not true. Google's All Access music streaming has _never_ been blocked by flash DRM restrictions. The raw MP3 streams have been available ever since its inception, as it has been included in Simon Weber's python google music API implementation [1] for about 5 months (which is a few weeks after All Access was announced). From that API it has been implemented in those 3rd-party apps like GMusic and Cloud Play.
So, the only "bad guy" here is Google for not making an iOS app sooner.
[1] http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/03/google-music-ios-app-laun...