iPhone rings up web 2.0 developers

Apple's iPhone will run third-party web 2.0 applications when it hits the shops in the US on 29 June 2007.

Apple has asked developers to create web 2.0 applications that link with iPhone's services, such as making a phone call, sending an email and using a Google Maps mash-up to find the nearest restaurant.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said developers and users alike will be "very surprised and pleased" at how good these applications look and work. He added that by using web 2.0 standards the iPhone will be kept secure and reliable.

Mark Blowers, senior research analyst at Butler Group, told silicon.com by letting developers loose with the iPhone, Apple will "widen the pool of innovation" and increase the number of future iPhone apps.

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But as the iPhone hype builds to a frenzy and consumers raid their piggybanks to get an up to $599-a-pop device, Blowers said the iPhone will not be "the next cool thing for executives" and will struggle to break into the business market because it does not have the functionality to integrate with back-end business systems such as email.

Blowers added apart from niches such as the media industry, the Mac OS has not cracked the business market and the iPhone will not either because of the "stranglehold" Microsoft has on the enterprise market.

In separate Mac-related news, Apple has also unveiled a near-final version of its Mac OS X Leopard operating system, which has been delayed to an October 2007 release date due to the push to get the iPhone out on time.