Earlier on today, middleware company Ideaworks Labs announced a new licensing model for its cross-platform development technology Airplay.

The result is a free licence for small companies who just want to develop for iPhone or a $99 per seat annual charge for adding support for Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and BREW devices.

Larger companies pay $999 per seat per year.

We caught up with Ideaworks Labs' CTO Tim Closs to find out some more about why the company had taken route.

Pocket Gamer: So the free indie licence is the big story then?

Tim Closs: Absolutely. Anyone can go to AirplaySDK.com and sign up as a developer and download the whole SDK. This is the same SDK that EA uses and that's been used to make games such as Metal Gear Solid Mobile.

We've got a scalable licensing model based on company turnover but if you're a bedroom coder who just wants to develop for iPhone, we don't want to put any barriers in your way. In that case, the Airplay SDK is free. But if you want to go cross-platform at the touch of a button, the cost is only $99 per year so I think that's a pretty good deal.

And, of course, we're really excited because it's the first time anyone can go to the website and download the code. We can't wait to see what people come up with and see how the community develops around Airplay.

How do you think the cross-platform features of Airplay will play in the current market?

It's one of the key features. Of course, at present, the App Store is the main place where people are buying games and apps, but the opportunity to get visibility is so much greater on other platforms. We've spoken to developers who are making more money on the Android Market than the App Store, so it's definitely something people should think about.

Also, I think the ability to write native Android code, combined with the number of new devices coming to market, should really help that market develop in 2010.

With Airplay 4.0, you're targetting app developers as well as game developers right?

Yes. One of the major addition in the release is the user interface framework, which isn't something most game developers will use because they do their own UI. It's important for apps though as you need to handle things like lists and different user input types in a better, more coherent manner.

At Ideaworks, we've always had a great reputation for games, and we're certainly not stepping back from that, but now we want to bring the same quality tools to other developers too.

Thanks to Tim for his time.

You can find out more about Airplay 4.0 at its website.