iPhone apps get down to business

Report By Jano
The enduring popularity of the Zippo branded lighter app for the iPhone has not been lost on the business world. Its virtual flame has been spotted lighting up concerts around the world, keeping Zippo safely at the top of the iTunes charts.Australian businesses are now getting in on the act, adding their home grown applications to the iTunes app store in the hope that some of the iPhone's marketing magic rubs off on their brand.Starting out as a cottage industry, most iPhone applications in the app store today are the creation of small developer-entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on the faddish appetite for novelties and gaming applications.While a handful of them have reaped small fortunes from apps that went on to top the charts, it is brand visibility rather than profit that has lured companies like ANZ and Honda Australia onto the platform.Both companies chose to act quickly to gain a presence on the iPhone, to project their brand as innovative and forward thinking. ANZ beat competitors to the punch with its first transactional banking app delivered alongside the Australian iPhone launch - which has since been downloaded 50,000 times.Sam Plowman, head of online banking said: "It was very apparent to us that Apple had developed an interface that would bring forward the use of browser and internet apps on mobiles. We decided we had to be ready with app when the iPhone launched here.''