“Call it the iPhone economy. Apple’s soon-to-open online App Store has triggered a scramble among software developers to write business plans aimed at making money off Apple’s iPhone, a mini-computer that doubles as a phone,” John Boudreau reports for The San Jose Mercury News.
“Apple recently provided the tools engineers need to create applications for its popular mobile device[s]. The Cupertino company said some 250,000 iPhone software development kits have been downloaded. The App Store Web site, where applications will be sold or given away, is expected to launch soon, perhaps July 11 when the faster next-generation iPhone goes on sale,” Boudreau reports.
“What excites many developers are the iPhone’s capabilities and its “stable” software platform, which makes writing programs for it relatively easy and quick,” Boudreau reports.
“‘As more vendors gather around the iPhone, the more lucrative it becomes,’ said Richard Stern, senior vice president at SpinVox, which provides a program that allows people to read transcriptions of voice mail on mobile devices. ‘When 6 million people get the iPhone, it’s worth ‘X.’ When 50 million people get them, it’s a whole different situation,'” Boudreau reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Wherever you see the name “iPhone” in these type of articles, don’t forget to mentally add “iPod touch.” Even if it’s not there in print, it’s certainly a major part of Apple’s mobile computing platform as many of these new applications will work on iPod touch, too.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]