My obsession with Apple started when I bought my first laptop in 2003, a 12-inch Power Book G4. Considering I had always been a pc user by default, I was in shock to find out how user-friendly and intuitive the Mac OS was. Since then I have become an advocate of all things Apple, spreading the Gospel According to Jobs to my family and friends. Five years later, I am now a proud parent of two Mac laptops, an iPod, and the love of my life, the Apple iPhone.

If you find yourself agreeing with any of the above sentiments then the March 3rd press conference, discussing the new iPhone software development kit (SDK) was an epic event that gave a glimpse into the future of the mobile phone experience. Without getting too technical, I would like to share with you some of the amazing things Stevsie has in store for the iPhone.

First a few facts about the iPhone’s dominance in the mobile space.
“In just eight months, the iPhone has garnered a 28 percent market share, second only to RIM (Blackberry), based on Q4 data.” As for mobile browser usage in the US specifically, the iPhone has a 71% market share. This is mostly attributed to the functionality of the mobile version of Apple’s browser Safari, which gives the user the same look and feel of surfing the Internet on their desktop computer. With the mobile advertising space growing day by day this browser in combination with the iPhone’s high-resolution display allows users to experience surfing the web as they would on their home computers.

At the press conference Steve and company debuted the iPhone’s application platform and showed us just how expansive the device’s capabilities could be.
To get the techy stuff out of the way, Apple created a software development kit (SDK if you’re a cool kid) based off the same tools Apple uses to create their own applications, which will allow any and all developers to create applications for the iPhone. By releasing their own tools every application created with the apple SDK will essentially be pre-approved by Apple and will have the same authenticity and streamline functionality as every Apple-released application. This means no viruses, no freezing, basically no problems integrating third party platforms. Now for the fun stuff! The video below shows two example applications that have been created using the SDK. The first is Touch FX, a photo editing application that is very similar to apple’s Photo Booth application. For those who are unfamiliar, Photo Booth lets you take pictures with distortion, color, and setting effects and is one of the most entertaining applications on a Mac. The second application is a Star Fighter game that makes great use of the iPhone’s accelerometer and touch capabilities. Check out the clip and just try to tell me they both don’t look amazing!

So how does all of this work? Who gets to develop these awesome applications? How much will they cost? The SDK will be made available to anyone who is interested and capable. Right now you can go to Apple’s homepage and register for a SDK certificate. This certificate is a great way to keep tabs on who is developing applications in order to screen for malicious content, so the end user can rest assured that every application available is fully authorized by Apple and will not cause your phone to spontaneously combust.The vehicle for distributing these applications will, of course, be the new iTunes App store, which makes sense considering iTunes is has been the best defense for the music industry against the diabolical pirates of the Internet.

Developers are given the freedom to set the price for their applications and will receive 70% of each purchase, leaving 30% for Apple to maintain the App Store. This is a pretty sweet deal and has the potential to reward developers for making new innovative and functional applications for the iPhone. Software developers can range from gigantic corporations to Joe Shmoe living in his parent’s basement, so the pricing model for developing these applications puts everyone on an even playing field.

Overall this is very exciting news for all iPhone users and especially for the Mac-obsessed, such as myself. The App store will be released in the free iPhone 2.0 software update in June, so join me in anticipation for the next level of mobile phone capabilities. Brought to you by the good people at Apple and their fearless leader Steve Jobs.