Apple's new App Store turned on its virtual lights Thursday, featuring third-party applications for the iPhone and the iPod. The store is intended to support developers who are creating applications for the iPhone. The store is also reportedly helping developers get their products into final shape.
Prices End in 99 Cents
Developers can reportedly select any price they want for their products, as long as it ends in 99 cents -- $1.99, $49.99, and so on. Developers can also offer their products for free. To track sales, developers will be able to use iTunes Connect, just as bands and artists do. Payment will be made by Apple when the amount reaches $250 or more.
Already, the store has hundreds of apps, a number of which are free. The free ones include AOL's AIM instant-messaging client, Google Mobile, Typepad, an iPhone version of Twitter, and Apple's Remote for controlling iTunes remotely.
Other applications include a MySpace updater, which allows you to see changes in your MySpace friends' activities or to post photos from the iPhone directly to the social-networking site. Pandora has an app that allows the creation of customized Internet radio stations.
eBay has an auction app that allows users to browse auction photos and place bids from the iPhone, using its multitouch capabilities. The Super Monkey Ball game enables a player to roll and tilt the action with the iPhone's built-in accelerometer, and Loopt lets you find where your friends are on a map, using location feeds.
According to USA Today, the store's offerings number more than 500. The paper quotes Apple CEO Steve Jobs as saying that with those many products, the store's launch "is the biggest launch of my career."
Some observers have noted that the proliferation of third-party apps, together with a centralized channel for sales and distribution, could strengthen...

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