Apple
iphone Keyboard
Apple said
Friday that it is allowing
businesses to sell content
or services through applications
given away for free at the
iPhone maker’s online
App Store.
Apple
iphone
The shift
of policy is seen as a boon
to magazines and newspapers
that can give away iPhone
or iPod Touch programs featuring
basic content and then sell
premium articles piecemeal
or by subscription.
In App Purchase
is being rapidly adopted
by developers in their paid
apps, Apple said in response
to an AFP inquiry. Now,
developers can use In App
Purchase in their free apps
to sell content, subscriptions,
and digital services.
Apple had
previously barred suppliers
of free iPhone applications
from using the programs
to sell content.
Suppliers
of free applications can
entice iPhone or iPod Touch
users with free material
in the hope they will eventually
pay for enhanced content.
Apple gets
a share of purchase prices
of programs sold at the
App Store and will reportedly
share in revenue from sales
in free applications.
The policy
change comes as rumors abound
that the California company
behind the Macintosh computer,
iPhone and iPod could release
a portable tablet computer
early next year that may
double as an e-reader.
And not just
a black-and-white e-reader
but one that would boast
full color and a 10-inch
(25-centimeter) screen making
it more of an oversized
iPod Touch or a netbook
computer, the increasingly
popular low-cost mini-laptops.
If an Apple tablet computer
does emerge, it would join
an e-reader market that
is becoming increasingly
crowded but is undergoing
tremendous growth.
An “iTablet”
could also serve as an eye-pleasing
platform for stories, video
or other content sold through
third-party applications.
