Friday, July 11, 2008

Local app developers hook onto iPhone 3G’s star

While not as heralded as the launch of the first iPhone last year, today’s release of Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3G has consumers lining up and the wireless industry watching closely.

Among the industry players hoping for a successful roll out are a number of local wireless applications developers that have produced product specifically for the next generation iPhone.

Yesterday, for example, Boston-based uLocate Communications Inc., which makes location-based applications for wireless devices, announced that it’s WHERE applications have been included in Apple’s App Store — an iPhone application marketplace connected to the company’s iTunes product. The company made the announcement yesterday, one day before the official iPhone launch.

Other local outfits, including Waltham managed IT service provider MindShift Technologies Inc., Needham-based Mobicious Inc. and Norfolk-based 1stWorks Corp. are also jumping on the iPhone bandwagon.

MindShift reported today that its 123Together.com product, a hosted messaging and collaboration platform,  will immediately support the new device through its Microsoft Hosted Exchange offering, which also supports other devices, such as the Research In Motion Ltd. Blackberry.

Mobicious launched iPhone and iTouch versions of its SnapMyLife photo sharing application in versions today as well. The application — think Flikr for mobile phones — was originally launched for other platforms in December.

In addition, 1stWorks, which makes two products that allow mobile phone users to control their desktop using their handsets — Files2Phones and PC2Me — launched 3G versions of their software yesterday.