// Pocket Picks //

Now that the dust has (almost) settled from yesterday’s shock revelation that Apple is going to allow native third-party apps to be developed for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, what is the general consensus about the situation? Well generally from what we have read on MacRumours and Engadget Mobile among others, it is pretty positive but that is not to say that there aren’t unanswered questions.

Over at MacRumours several commenters were concerned about the prospect of third-party apps only being made available via iTunes, a legitimate and a very real concern given how careful Apple has been with the iPhone so far. Even so, given that the availability of third-party applications will push the iPhone ever closer to the functionality of a Mac (though diminished somewhat) consumer opinion is likely to demand and dictate the availability of freeware for the device (at least that’s what we are hoping).

Engadget on the other hand have been much more concerned about the hints Steve Jobs left about imitating Nokia’s digital signature system for third-party applications, pointing out that it is unlikely that the iPhone will end up being as open as any Nseries device. We tend to agree on that front, but something that nobody seems to be considering is where the iPod Touch fits into all of this.

Sure opening the iPhone in this way is going to make it a much better device but is it not a bit of a carte blanche for developers to exploit the iPod Touch’s suitability to aping the iPhone’s feature set? We have talked before about how the iPod Touch could potentially be the iPhone’s undoing and assuming that Apple isn’t too draconian about how it vets and licenses software for the device, there is every chance the iPod Touch could become a VoIP wunderkind (with the aid of an iPhone headset naturally).

If the iPod Touch could be turned into a makeshift wi-fi phone, there is little reason why tech savvy city dwellers with near blanket coverage would opt for an expensive contract iPhone when they could get almost exactly the same experience for a one off £200 shelf price. Then there is the popularity factor to consider. Seeing as the iPod Touch is likely to sell more units than the iPhone in the long run, will third-party software be more often tailor made to improve upon the holes in its feature set rather than the iPhone’s?

It’s all crystal ball stuff at the moment but we have to say, in the age of mobile VoIP and wi-fi mobile devices, exciting as third-party iPhone apps are, more and more so, it is the iPod Touch that is looking like the sleeping giant of the industry. We only have to wait until February for it to wake up. Exciting times people, excting times.