Apple today gave the first peek at what it hopes will transform its new iPhone from a communications device into a sophisticated mobile computing platform.
The first screenshots were released of Apple's new online App Store, which will allow iPhone owners to download all manner of programs from the internet and install them on their phone.
More than 500 programs - or apps - designed specifically by developers for the iPhone will be available when the App Store goes live tomorrow, with thousands more expected to be added in the months to come.
Applications will range from customised versions of familiar web brands such as Google, MySpace and Facebook, through to computer games, e-books, payment services like PayPal, navigation tools, and social networking software.
Other handset manufacturers such as Nokia and BlackBerry have long enabled developers to write applications for their devices, but the iPhone's engaging touchscreen interface and superior graphics will give its online store greater traction with users, analysts said.
Some applications, such as Facebook's, take advantage of the phone's GPS capability, using satellites to let Facebook members search for friends who may be nearby. Others, such as Super Monkey Ball, a game, synchronise with the device's accelerometer and let users play by tilting the phone in different directions.
The vast majority of the applications are free, some cost $1-5, while the more advanced, such as large-scale computer games, cost $10. Apple has said it will keep 30 per cent of the revenues from applications, which will be sold through the company's online store, iTunes.
"They're basically doing the same thing they did with the iPod - which is to give the online store a nice front end, make sure customers have a wide range of apps to choose them, and then make it incredibly easy to use," Paul Jackson, an analyst with Forrester, said.
Mr Jackson added that he didn't expect the sales of applications would raise significant revenues for Apple, but the store would rather serve to entice more people to buy iPhones, much as the iTunes store has done for the iPod.
Among the first batch of apps that will be released tomorrow are customised versions of the Yellow Pages, eBay and Photobucket, the photo-sharing site - all of which are free. Others include a Sudoku application, which costs $2.99, and complete versionsAnna Karenina, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol - all at $0.99.
Anyone who buys the new 3G iPhone - released tomorrow - will have immediate access to the App Store from the device, and a free software upgrade is available to owners of the existing iPhone. Owners of the iPod Touch can get the upgrade for $10.
Many in the technology industry see significant potential in the iPhone as a standalone computing platform - not just for publicly available applications but for programs that businesses write and run themselves.
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the investment firm, has set up a $100 million fund purely for investment in iPhone-related software companies. One of the software companies, iControl Networks, is making an application that will allow homeowners to turn lights off at home while they're out, and monitor CCTV footage.
Other types of applications that will be popular are games, location-based services - which will make use of the iPhone's GPS function, and educational and healthcare-related programs, one of Kleiner's partners said in an interview today.
Today MySpace, the social networking site, announced details of its iPhone App, which will give members broad use of the site's services - including the ability to receive live updates about friends when they're on the move.
John Faith, vice president of mobile at MySpace, said that the initial version of the MySpace app for iPhone would not make use of GPS, but a future version which the company aimed to develop would.
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