The long wait to see who is writing applications for the Apple iPhone and Google’s forthcoming Android phones is over.

Here we have the beginnings of lists looking at who is developing apps for the two platforms. Here’s the Android list, and here’s the iPhone list. If we missed anyone, either leave a comment below or send us an e-mail.

Of course, making the iPhone list are the companies who were featured during Steve Jobs’ announcement of the iPhone SDK (SEGA, EA, Salesforce.com, Epocrates and AOL). And, not really a surprise, those companies do not have any plans yet to develop for Android.

Our list also has companies whose plans for native iPhone apps have not yet been announced. Take Simi Valley-based Amplified Games. President and CEO Tom Hubina has an interesting story, saying that the company had “pretty much given up on the mobile game industry and were basically out the door when the iPhone came out.” He said the iPhone is why the firm stayed in the mobile business. Amplified’s first iPhone games are web apps (like Gumball Bingo shown at right) — the only sorts of applications allowed until June — available at fatfreegames.com . Hubina said the company will “definitely” be making iPhone games and they plan to have 2-5 ready when the iPhone Apps store goes live in June. Despite the strong interest in mobile gaming, Hubina said it’s too early to look at developing for Google’s Android platform.

“We’re keeping a close eye on it but my initial impression is that it’s going to be a real mess with device fragmentation and unpredictable business models for developers that will make it be extremely hard to develop for,” Hubina said.

One of the companies on our list, Norbsoft Ltd. from Poland, is developing for both the iPhone and Android. President Tomasz Witt says they plan to develop native applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch (beyond their current web-only iReading app) and also one unidentified application for Android that is J2ME-based. He said the company’s focus will be productivity applications such as mobile books for mobile phones (iReading), finance calculators and some RSS readers.

But, not making our list is MacLight (shown at left), one of the most popular web apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch that turns the screen into a virtual flashlight. Developer Mike Gunderson said that app was just for fun and while he thinks native apps will “take off” he does not plan on making the flashlight into a native iPhone app.

“The iPhone takes phone apps to a new level. The possibilities are endless when you factor in touch screen, accelerometer, edge, and wifi — displayed on a screen you can actually see. I have been waiting anxiously to see what developers may come up with. From what I saw on the keynote alone I was blown away,” Gunderson said.

While Gunderson is not developing for the iPhone or Android, he did point out some things he misses from his Palm that he’d like to see on the iPhone: a check book, Texas Hold-em poker, a more robust email program, a more robust calculator and a doodling tool.

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• iPhone beats Nokia, other smart phones in Web usage
• Google Trends ranks Android lowest
• Maiffret calls iPhone app distribution ‘ridiculous,’ ‘monopolistic’
• iPhone news not enough for O.C. companies to switch

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 2:04 pm and is filed under apple, company watch, downloadable software, ea games, google, ibm, instant messaging, operating system. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.