Most developers planning Apple tablet apps within the year

With Apple poised to confirm the release of its much-anticipated tablet device later today, developers across multiple platforms express overwhelming interest in creating applications for the new hardware, according to a new study conducted by software solutions provider Appcelerator. Ninety percent of Appcelerator's developer partners indicate they are "very interested" in building an Apple tablet app within the year, with balanced representation from iPhone and Android developers on the mobile side and PC, Mac and Linux developers on the desktop side. Developers say they are most likely to create business and productivity apps for the tablet, followed in descending order by entertainment, social networking, education and games--by contrast, games is the leading category in Apple's App Store, followed by entertainment, books, education and travel. "Some respondents wrote that with a rumored built-in camera, the Apple Tablet could spur new growth in video conferencing and video social networking," Appcelerator notes. "Many developers see the classroom as a huge opportunity, while the larger screen interested others in business scenarios, especially in the areas of finance and medical applications."

With specifics on the tablet still unknown, 77 percent of developers say they are very interested in the device's database/storage features--75 percent indicate strong interest in multi-touch gestures and another 75 percent point to its native user interface, followed by multitasking (72 percent) and wireless networking (70 percent). "With multitasking and wireless networking will come an explosion in messaging apps that break free of the iPhone's prior limitations of a single application only being able to run in the foreground," Appcelerator contends. "Multi-touch gestures and a new native Tablet interface will give rise to new ways to share and interact with media or learning applications. Expect immediate and massive experimentation with these new capabilities to create more engaging, tactile, and connected experiences that sit between the extended use case of desktop/laptop applications and the immediate gratification use case of mobile."

Check back with FierceWireless later today for breaking coverage of the expected Apple tablet announcement. [1]

For more on the Appcelerator survey:
- visit their website [2]

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It's not the Apple tablet [3] that's important, it's the content
Apple testing hundreds of iPhone apps for tablet [4]