Apple's Tablet: App Makers Target Business Use

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Still, third-party application developers have helped drive use of the iPhone in the workplace, and many plan to get behind the tablet. "The bigger the screen, the easier it will be to type and manipulate data," says Michael Simon, CEO of LogMeIn (LOGM), a company that lets customers access their PCs remotely, through mobile applications. LogMeIn, which counts professionals like doctors, lawyers, and small business owners among its users, held an initial share sale last year. It has generated more than $1 million in sales of its most popular iPhone application, which costs $29.99. Simon says he will watch the Jan. 27 Apple announcement closely.

Engineers at Evernote, an online service for storing photos and personal notes on many devices, are creating mockups of a 10-inch digital screen to test the possibilities of the tablet. "If you're holding something roughly the size of a magazine in your hand, how would you want to use it?" asks Phil Libin, Evernote's CEO. The team at Mobiata, maker of the popular iPhone travel app FlightTrack, is testing the idea of running multiple functions within the same screen. Present.ly, an enterprise take on microblogging services like Twitter, might be turned into a tablet application that displays photos and video alongside 140-character messages. The makers of ProOnGo, a mobile app that lets users take pictures of receipts and organize expenses, are holding out hope that the tablet comes with a camera.

Higher-Priced Apps

A bigger Apple device could mean more powerful—and profitable—apps. "Price points can be higher in the tablet than they are in the iPhone," says Alan Masarek, chief executive of Quickoffice. For years, his company has sold mobile software compatible with Microsoft's Office for the PC. With the increased capabilities promised by the tablet, Quickoffice could charge more than the $7.99 it does for the iPhone version.

Tablet computing could eventually pose broader changes to the way people do business, says Raju Vegesna, an executive at Zoho. The Pleasanton (Calif.) maker of online productivity applications plans to release at least two apps for the iPhone in February, and may start planning versions for Apple's tablet as soon as this week. Businesses make up about 60% of Zoho's customers.

Vegesna says touchscreen technology could be used increasingly in business if devices like Apple's tablet catch on. "If the keyboard and the mouse are going away in computing, that's going to be a huge change," he says. "And that means there is a great opportunity for [software] vendors big and small."

Douglas MacMillan is a staff writer for Bloomberg BusinessWeek in New York.

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