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With the advent of the iTunes App Store Apple has created a whole new platform for application developers as well as a new platform for application delivery. The store makes hundreds, soon to be thousands, of iPhone and iPod Touch applications available to buy and download.

The App Store will be instantly familiar to anyone who has used the iTunes Music Store. Like the Music Store, the App Store works from within iTunes through which users can browse hundreds applications, many free and still more available to buy. Purchasing apps is as easy as buying songs, just register an account and plug in your password.

Applications can utilize a large multi-touch touch-screen, an inbuilt accelerometer which can tell which way the device is tilted, full wi-fi networking, an internet connection and various degrees of location pinpointing (depending on which model device a user owns). As well as offering applications the model also allows developers to issue free automatic updates and easily change their pricing.

Apple approves all applications before they go on offer using quality and content standards (they can't be too violent or pornographic). Applications can either be free or priced anywhere between 99c and $999 and must be no larger than 2 Gigabytes. Apple takes a 30% cut out of all apps sold but doesn't charge developers anything to offer apps for free.

There are some concerns that Apple may delay applications with lengthy approval waiting times, or restrict competition by blocking similar apps; although it's just too early to tell. One application has already been temporarily suspended because it did suspect things with user's contact information. Other applications, particularly sudoku ones, have been steadily reducing their price in response to rampant competition in the store.

Applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch have not yet had much time to evolve, but amongst the multitude hastily slapped together test apps are some impressive titles. Myspace and Facebook already offer simple free applications, but other developers are utilizing GPS and wi-fi to show you if any friends are nearby. Apple's first application is a freebie called Remote which allows users to control iTunes through their iPhone or iPod Touch over a wireless network.

But users are most interested in games - and with processors similar to those in an Xbox or Playstation 2, and a screen rivaling that on a PSP or Nintendo DS - Gamers are in for a treat. Cro-Mag Rally and Crash Bandicoot Nitro-Cart offer impressive 3D racing visuals and an intuitive control system whereby the user tilts the device as if it were a steering wheel. Sega's Super Monkey Ball is another popular title which uses tilt and balance to control a rolling monkey in a ball (hence the name). Also popular is Apple's Texas Hold 'em Poker which features impressive visuals and sound effects.

Developers have been impressed with the power and flexibility of the iPhone and iPod touch as a platform. New companies have already been created focusing solely on developing for these devices and many more applications are planned. The line of applications waiting to be approved by apple numbers over a thousand. The iPhone and iPod Touch offer a platform which powers ahead of other phones and mobile computers, possibly rivaling mobile gaming platforms such as Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP.

The standout apps we've seen so far just scrape the tip of Apple's new iceberg.

Learn more about this author, Ben Winsor.
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