Apple, Cell Phone App | featured news

In 2008, Steve Jobs said, 'Let there be apps.' Now a cosmos full of companies and developers is bound by the laws of Apple—for better and worse.

New data from mobile application tracker Flurry reveals that 20% of the companies building iPhone applications started business specifically for the iPhone platform.

Opera just announced that it plans to bring its mobile browser, Opera Mini, to the iPhone. The Norwegian company will give the press and its partners a sneak peek of the application during next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Opera Mini on the iPhone will include all of Opera's default features like Speed Dial, tabs and a password manager.

In November 2009, Apple launched a feature dubbed iTunes Preview, which essentially enabled people to see what music is available on iTunes from their Web browser without the need to fire up – or install – the desktop software program.

Apple has sent a clear message to any developers who try to game its iTunes App Store.

These days, everyone wants to build their own iPhone applications, but not everyone knows how write the code necessary in order to create them. Fortunately, there are now a number of tools that allow non-developers the ability to create their own iPhone apps without knowing programming or scripting. Some are general-purpose app builders designed for small businesses while other target specific needs, like apps for musicians or for eBook authors.

Most iPhone apps lose money, but some freebies — like Shotgun — rake in the cash. As an app, Shotgun Free doesn't do much. Give it a shake and it makes the sound of a shell being chambered. Tilt it up sharply and the gun fires with a bang as loud as an Apple iPhone can make — which isn't terribly loud.

Apple announced Monday that over 2 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store since the e-commerce site's launch in July 2008. The company also said that there are now more than 85000 apps available.