Heavyweight Devs Picking up on the iPhone SDK

Earlier this week, news broke out about the 100,000 SDK downloads, garnered in no more than four days since the kit's official release on March 6. It has recently been confirmed that big names such as THQ, PopCap, Namco NetSuite and more, are eager to bless iPhone users with their products.

Apple's March 6 event, also available on video, has taken the world by surprise with the announcement of firmware 2.0, due out this summer (June), which includes support for several requested business features and, of course, the much touted App Store - Apple's dedicated app download service for iPhone/iPod touch users eager to try out the latest apps and games.

Sensing the SDK's power to take iPhone gaming to new heights, heavyweight video game developers THQ, Namco and casual game developer PopCap have expressed their interest in the platform, already announcing several in-the-work titles.

"The iPhone is the mobile platform game developers have been dreaming of," said Scott Zerby, vice president, THQ Wireless, according to an internetnews.com piece. "We're looking at how we can use the iPhone's innovative user interface to create new game experiences for our big brand entertainment partners that consumers love."

Scott Rubin, Namco Networks' marketing VP, has revealed that reworked Pac-Man and Galaga versions are coming to the iPhone and iPod touch as well, using the platforms' specific features. As for PopCap, new versions of its Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle casual games are also heading the iPhone's way, according to PopCap co-founder Jason Kalpalka.

Gameloft, famous for crafting some of the best mobile remakes of popular console and PC games, have already announced as many as 15 games for Apple's iPhone, having picked up on the SDK themselves.

NetSuite, a company that offers Software as a Service (SaaS) for small to medium enterprises, also chimed in with similar excitement and optimism towards the iPhone SDK. As a company that deals with applications covering business functions such as CRM, ERP, ecommerce, customer support, accounting, sales force automation, partner relationship management, inventory management, and marketing automation, it was only natural to throw themselves in the SDK race:

"NetSuite is excited at the opportunity to give every iPhone customer access to their critical business data anytime, anywhere," said Luke Braud, vice president of software development at NetSuite.

Marketcircle, the company behind two popular business apps for Mac (Billings and Daylite), is also expected to work some code magic, as we found out in an interview with its CEO, Alykhan Jetha.