When Steve Jobs announced the upcoming availability of the App Store, he was hoping to launch the service with some 200 software offerings. Apple's CEO could confirm in an interview with USA Today that the company now has more than 500 App Store launch apps for iPhone and iPod touch users to download, as soon as the service is up and running. A New York Times report also states that as many as 1/3 of all launch applications will be games.

"The reaction has been so strong," Jobs told interviewers. "So many developers responded." With 500 programs launching internationally Thursday night, "this is the biggest launch of my career," Jobs said, according to USA Today. The same source notes that the most noteworthy developers launching their apps at the debut of the App Store include Facebook, MySpace, AOL, eBay, Major League Baseball, Sega and Bank of America.

Tim Bajarin, an independent analyst at Creative Strategies, is quoted as saying that consumers will initially buy the new iPhone 3G for its price and speed. Later on, he forecasts, folks will be sold on the applications: "When IBM introduced the PC, it was good, but it didn't take off until people started discovering the software," he said, according to the same source. "The breadth of the applications 'dramatically differentiates the iPhone' from competing smartphones such as the Treo and BlackBerry [...] The games are what you'd find on a computer, not on a phone," he says. "You'll end up with PC-class applications that fit in your pocket."

Steve Jobs also told press representatives that as much as 25% of the apps debuting at the launch of the App Store would be free. 90% of the purchasable apps will be priced at $9.99 or less. Apple, as many of you must know by now, is getting a 30% cut of the revenue, while the developers of the apps get the remaining 70%.

The App Store will be available as a free upgrade to iPhone owners, along with the release of firmware 2.0, while iPod touch users will have to pay a $9.99 fee.