iPhone App Store details revealed

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 10th July 2008
Comments (6) Stumble
"Biggest launch of my career" says Steve. Aside from all the other launches, that is.

"Biggest launch of my career" says Steve. Aside from all the other launches, that is.

If you're an iPhone user – or if you're planning to pick up the second-generation 3G-enabled model this Friday – then you're probably eager to see the new App Store rumoured to be launching this Thursday.

Apple's App Store, which is designed to offer downloadable software that can be installed onto an un-modified iPhone without the need for 'jailbreak' hackery, has been described by Steve Jobs – a man not known for tact and restraint – as “the biggest launch” of his career. As with most future Apple launches, details are sketchy – even this close to the official release.

Apple fan site MacRumours has compiled an interesting list of facts that are known prior to the launch date, however. Perhaps the most important snippet is the news that the Store will feature around five hundred applications on launch day, of which a quarter will be available completely free of charge. The majority of the remaining packages, from companies as diverse as social networking sites MySpace and Facebook to Sega and AOL, will retail for $9.99 or lower; just ten percent of the total will break this pocket-friendly figure.

MacRumours also quotes a New York Times article claiming that a third of the applications will be games – with around 166 to choose from at launch, that's a definite win for the casual gamer.

Perhaps the most interesting application currently scheduled is Pandora – an iPhone-based version of the popular web radio service, rumoured to be launching as one of the free packages. Sadly, that's not something we're going to get to play with on this side of the pond; owing to onerous licensing restrictions placed on the service by the Performing Rights Society, the company was forced to stop streaming to IP addresses located in the UK back in January.

Is anyone counting down the hours to the official App Store launch, or do bit-tech iPhone owners just use Installer.App? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote p3n 10th July 2008, 10:55
Looking forward to the app store, shame I won't be getting one of the first 3g's (missed out online, not stupid enough to waste my time at a shop) ... we shall see!
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 10th July 2008, 12:36
I don't even know why they ever wasted anyone's time by releasing a non-3G phone...

That was a really stupid thing to do, and it's taken them a year to sort it out..
Quote Firehed 10th July 2008, 14:10
Downloaded, installed, woot. Of course I'm doing this over VNC to my home machine so I can't really test anything, but the 2.0 software isn't out yet so it doesn't matter. Seven pages of freebies, including a few that I recognize from the jailbreak apps. The oft-rumored iPhone iTunes Remote exists (and is free), as well as AIM, Facebook, and a slew of Twitter clients. Plus I also grabbed the Salesforce app as I use it at work (mostly for testing it out really; work gets a presence on my phone when they start paying the bill). And Pandora Radio on the iPhone = win. Also free. Not sure how the logistics of that will work out, as most of Pandora's mobile services are paid.
Quote <A88> 10th July 2008, 18:10
I wish WinMo had such a dedicated developer-base and a central app store. :( So much of this iPhone stuff looks so good, but there's a lot of software I've got right now that I know I'd never be able to get for the iPhone. That said, maybe sometime in the near future I'll find myself developing for it as it seems like a decent enough platform to code for, and certainly popular enough.
Quote Solidus 10th July 2008, 18:12
Il be buying one tomorow! :D

Will be popping into town first thing to nab me one!
Quote Gareth Halfacree 11th July 2008, 17:06
With regards the Pandora application, Victoria Briggs from the MCPS-PRS alliance contacted me via e-mail to say:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Victoria Briggs, MCPS-PRS
To clarify, it is likely that this application will be unavailable in all territories outside the US since Pandora has not yet concluded licensing deals with any music organisations. In the UK this would be with MCPS, PRS and PPL. Licences are available at rates set by the UK Copyright Tribunal and other services have taken them out and are operating. Pandora has chosen not to make its service available rather than take out a licence for the music which is integral to its business model. It is therefore inaccurate to write that 'onerous restrictions by the Performing Right Society' are the cause of the applications likely unavailability.
I offer her comments verbatim by way of right-to-reply. I would, however, note that they jar somewhat with the comments offered by Tim Westergren back in January who stated that his company had "been told to sign these totally unworkable license rates or switch off, non-negotiable" by the MCPS-PRS, which certainly sounds like he thought the restrictions imposed were onerous.
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