Apple's Rivals Are Aping the iPhone App Store
Date : 15 Jul 2008 Category : Technology
NewsFactor NetworkBut one of its biggest selling points became available a day earlier, when Apple flung open the doors of the Apple App Store, an online grab bag of games, books, friend-finder tools, and hundreds of other software applications designed to make the iPhone more fun and useful.
Developers Target Many Devices
The appeal of amassing a community of software developers who will create scores of unique applications around a single mobile phone hasn't been lost on competing handset makers and cell-phone service providers. They're eager to keep customers from switching to the iPhone and the carriers such as AT&T on whose networks the device runs. Owners of advanced cell phones are more likely to download applications than watch videos or access social networking sites, according to consulting firm M:Metrics. And the App Store may emerge as the No. 1 reason why people switch to the iPhone 3G this year, says Richard Doherty, director at consultancy Envisioneering Group.
In hopes of staving off a stampede, Sprint Nextel this year will spend more than $100 million on marketing a single device, the Samsung Instinct. Sprint on July 8 announced an Instinct developer contest, its first competition focused on a specific device, offering the winner $25,000 in prizes. In May, Sprint relaunched its developer program, which enables programmers to certify applications for use with Sprint's devices and network for only $5,000, much less than it used to cost. Developers are also now free to bring applications to market without paying Sprint any fees. "It shaves off months of application development and...