To access the App Store, users must download the latest version of iTunes. Once that is installed, users can visit the App Store here through iTunes.
The App Store currently offers more than 500 applications, including games and widgets for AIM, AOL Radio, MySpace and Facebook. No adult-themed applications were available.
One unexpected development is the large selection of books available through the App Store. Last year, Amazon unveiled a portable book called the Kindle that includes free Internet access. Literary porn may not be the cash cow that video is, but according to Booble.com CEO "Booble" Bob Smith, the adult industry is always the first one on board with new technologies — when they're profitable.
"The industry has always been forward-thinking when it comes to technology," he said. "If a new technology comes out and people use it and it's easy to produce content for, then the adult industry will produce content for it."
Although some of the applications available through the App Store are free, most cost somewhere between 99 cents and $9.99. The most expensive are about $70.
Apple's terms of service do not prohibit adult content, instead warning users that they may encounter objectionable material.
Apple has proven to be slightly more adult-friendly than many other mainstream outlets. Its iTunes store applies an "explicit" tag to adults-only content, and adult writer Violet Blue maintains a podcast called "Open Source Sex" that's available though the iTunes podcast directory.
The iPhone also has attracted attention for its potential to deliver adult content. In a recent issue, Time magazine noted the iPhone as an adult platform, and Hugh Hefner has already exploited that potential with an iPhone-compatible version of Playboy.com.
XBIZ has also launched an iPhone-compatible version of this site.
