The Search for the Killer iPhone App

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Apple

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Meantime, programmers are muddling through. Chris Sloop is chief technology officer at WeatherBug, which provides weather updates to cell-phone users. He wants to know whether the iPhone will eventually be able to run several applications simultaneously, something developers using the kit aren't allowed to do today. That would enable WeatherBug, for example, to send an inclement weather alert while also providing alternate travel routes.

When Sloop and others like him come up with their cool new features, they may find a ready reception at Kleiner Perkins, which views the iPhone as more than just another cell-phone software platform competing with Nokia-led Symbian, Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile, and various flavors of mobile Linux. "Amazon, eBay, Netscape, Google—we'd like to find the peer group of those companies on the mobile Internet," says Murphy, who says his fund could swell to more than $100 million. "A lot of the pillars, foundational applications for the mobile Internet, will grow up on the iPhone." Doherty believes that rivals Nokia (NOK) and Google might start similar funds, encouraging application innovation for their cell phones and software.

Plenty of Ideas

Indeed, several developers are pressing ahead, seemingly undeterred by disclosure restrictions. "We are really trying to think big thoughts about what's the right advertising solution for the iPhone," says John SanGiovanni, founder of Seattle-based Zumobi, a Microsoft spin-off that lets advertisers publish mobile widgets offering snippets of content as well as ads. Today's mobile ads tend to consist of boring text messages or unattractive banners; SanGiovanni wants to make mobile advertising more interactive. After all, the new kit lets programmers tie their software to iPhone hardware, such as its accelerometer, a feature that could, potentially, gift the iPhone with capabilities of Nintendo's Wii: Users might be able to "play" through ads by waving their phones around.

Another startup, Jajah, plans to take advantage of the access Apple provides to the iPhone's microphone, speakers, and a Wi-Fi wireless broadband connection to build a highly capable Web-calling application. The application would allow frequent travelers to place calls via airport and coffee shop Wi-Fi and avoid expensive international roaming, which has left many an iPhone owner with a hefty wireless bill. This software would also allow users to look up phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and schedules of contacts from a corporate Microsoft Exchange address book. "If things like this are available, companies will give employees a choice of an iPhone vs. the BlackBerry," says Frederik Hermann, director of global marketing at Jajah.

And even those awaiting guidance, Hockenberry says, are confident Apple will lend a hand eventually.

Kharif is a senior writer for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore.