If you’ve been wanting to jump into the Apple iPhone App Store game but don’t have the time or expertise to code away, there may still be a way to get a program as the AppExchange creates a marketplace for the underlying technology in these apps.
Right now, there are two programs for sale including a barcode reader and a flight simulator game. There’s no word on the exact pricing of the code for these programs, but the AppExchange says many of these are highly-usable apps that could just need a little tweaking or a proper public relations push. I’m sure the pricing will also determine who gets the patents and intellectual property of the app.
I don’t know how much business and revenue the AppExchange will really generate but it is a clear sign that the mobile app ecosystem is growing. Five years ago, this type of idea wouldn’t even be a possibility, but thanks to the massive success of the App Store and the growing usage of mobile programs on platforms like Google Android and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, there’s a veritable cottage industry with mobile apps.
It’s not just happy coders in a basement somewhere, as these iPhone apps are becoming a big business. Apple said it has paid over $1 billion to developers from iPhone App Store revenues and the value of the market is evident in the rash of app developer acquisitions we’ve seen lately.
Tapulous, the maker of the highly-popular Tap Tap Revenege games was just purchased by Disney and the makers of the RedLaser iPhone barcode canning app were just acquired by eBay. Even Apple is getting into this game and purchased the personal assistant app Siri for about $200 million.
If you want to get in the mobile app game but don’t have the cheddar to buy one off AppExchange, Google is rolling out an App Inventor program for Android which should enable first-time users to create apps with simple drag and drop menus.