I have written before that problem #1 with local application is the discovery and download (distribution) of the applications themselves; and that people will download applications, if the applications are of value.

And today Apple announced the iPhone SDK for the creation of native applications for the iPhone. But as important, they also released the App Store, and with it, their approach or solution to the application distribution issue, a live catalog of applications right on the iPhone, of applications that can be downloaded over-the-air. I won’t be surprised if an iTunes-based application distribution approach gets later introduced as well.

So there it is… a consolidated solution; “simple” but effective. And users will spend the time navigating, discovering, and downloading. No problem.

Coincidentally, today at my presentation Global Wireless Trends for 2008 and Beyond, I covered the mobile trends with respect to the Enterprise; and something that I covered was that even though the BlackBerry is the top handset in the Enterprise today, and will continue to be so for some time, that we should expect the iPhone to have a Big impact on the Enterprise. Now I learned about Apple’s Enterprise strategy for the iPhone – direct connectivity to Exchange and support for Push. Wow, that was sooner than I was expecting. Also in my presentation I covered the impact and importance of the Mobile Web and Texting on IT/the Enterprise, as compared to traditional Enterprise applications. The writing is on the wall.

See Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone Software Roadmap.

ceo