AS MORE than 5,000 Apple software developers gather in San Francisco this week for the iPhone maker’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Ireland’s first commercial iPhone application development course has been launched.
The five-day App School course is being delivered by SQT Training in association with Patrick Collison, the software developer who became a teenage millionaire last year following the $5 million sale of his start-up Auctomatic, and communications consultant Damien Mulley.
There has been a huge upsurge in developing for the iPhone following the launch of Apple’s App Store, from which more than one billion free and paid-for applications have been downloaded.
A survey carried out by Mr Mulley’s firm last year found that Irish iPhone owners had spent an average of €17 on additional software. This week’s announcement at WWDC of updated iPhone software, which will be free to existing users, and the imminent release of the faster iPhone 3GS, are set to increase the user base. “The iPhone platform is so exciting because it makes it really easy for a small amount of work to turn in to a continuous revenue stream,” says Mr Collison. “Once you publish the app, Apple will handle distribution, upgrades, installation, global payments . . . you can just wait for money to appear in your bank account.”
US firm Firemint Games recently revealed sales figures for its Flight Control game which suggest it is on course to generate revenues of over $1 million shortly.
The App School organisers say the course is suitable for programmers who have experience of C++, Java or other object oriented languages. The first App School takes place on July 20th-24th at the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin and costs €1,500.
http://appschool.ie/
