Web 2.0 applications provide greater interactivty and importantly for product owners and merchants, the ability to conduct secure data access and transactions, similar to those used for purchases from sites like Amazon.com, stock purchases and bank funds transfers.



This opens up an arena of possibilities for the iPhone to take center stage in a digital economy.

Imagine this, you use the iPhone's built-in 2 megapixel camera to take photos at a friend's birthday party, you upload it to a web-based photo sharing website like Flickr and you send a text or email broadcast to your friends.

They then visit your site and live interactive comments, similar to services found on Twitter.

As an additional option, you could include links to real-time print-on-demand photography services, and your friends can request for photos to be printed and sent to them overnight.

But the real breakthrough will come when you're able to pay for purchases with your iPhone.

Imagine travelling without your wallet or purse, making payment at a parking meter, buying cinema tickets, paying for a meal with just a single touch of a payment button on your iPhone.

The iPhone's technology architecture means that developers can create innovative applications for the device.

Can you picture youself controlling the functions of your home with your trusty iPhone?

Imagine being able to turn your sprinklers and your sprinklers on and off, setting the washing machine to start up, with just an instruction sent to your home automation network.

If you're away on vacation, your iPhone provides real-time video access to your home's security system, giving you the ability to ensure that your home is safe and sound, even while you might be a continent away.

The first of the supported Web 2.0 application can be found accessed using the smartphone.

Google Maps provides the ability not just to search maps, it also gives you the ability to find businesses and get directions to locations.

While the iPhone will initially be available only in the United States in the middle of 2007, it will also be available in Europe by the end of 2007 and in Asia the following year.

The iPhone marks Apple's first entry into the cellphone market and judging by the responses seen so far, it certainly looks set to make a big splash.