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Apple unveils iPhone 3.0 software

What will it mean for games developers?

Apple unveils iPhone 3.0 software
Apple took the wrappers off the iPhone 3.0 software this afternoon, and it was a bountiful feast for iPhone games developers, with micro-payments, access to the device's music library and push notifications, among other features.

Apple revealed that besides the 17 million iPhones it sold by the end of 2008, it had also sold 13 million iPod touches - making 30 million App Store capable devices in all. Meanwhile, 800 million apps have now been downloaded from the store.

800,000 developers have downloaded the iPhone SDK, while 50,000 have joined Apple's developer program - of whom more than 60 per cent have never developed for an Apple platform before.

Apple revealed that Gameloft has now sold more than two million iPhone games, and also hit back against accusations of censorship and slow approvals, revealing that in the last month, 96 per cent of submitted apps were approved, and 98 per cent of those were approved in under a week.

But the iPhone 3.0 software was the real draw, which offers 1,000 new APIs for developers to use.

The key stuff from a games point of view was: In-app payments, allowing micro-transactions and subscription models - extra levels and content, for example. EA Mobile demoed The Sims 3 on-stage, with the ability to buy virtual items for $0.99 for your Sims.

The revenue share is 70:30 in favour of developers, and it's still handled through iTunes. However, the in-app payments are only for paid apps, rather than free titles.

Apple also demoed Peer to Peer connectivity to make local multiplayer gaming a bit easier, using the company's own Bonjour technology.

Games can now access the iPod music library on the iPhone - The Sims 3 also showed this feature off - while Apple is allowing accessory makers to make custom applications to control their hardware, which opens the way for games that use dedicated peripherals.

iPhone 3.0 also supports push notifications, although apps can't run in the background due to fears they'd sap the battery life. But social games will be able to ping players with notifications even when they're not actually playing the games.

Among other new APIs mentioned with a gaming relevance were in-game voice chat, streaming video and audio, and an API for rumble effects.

Besides The Sims 3, games showed off during the event included two ngmoco titles: Touch Pets and LiveFire. The former is a social pets sim that uses push notification, while the latter is a network multiplayer first-person shooter, with in-game voice chat and micro-payments for extra weapons.

The developer beta of the iPhone 3.0 software is available tonight to all registered members of Apple's iPhone developer program. It'll be made available to consumers in the summer.

For the full details as it went down, check out the liveblog on Pocket Gamer.
Contributing Editor

Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)