App Store to be renamed the Red Sea?

From the beginning, the App Store has been more or less undivided, a store that any iDevice (all 4 of them….excluding iPhone 3G S) could share. While a feature or two here or there wouldn’t work across all devices, you could at least share the app and get most if not all of the features. The iPhone 3G S looks as if it will bring an end to this global love. The issue has to do with the graphics processor differences between the iPhone 3G and 3G S. You see, the iPhone 3G uses the PowerVR MBX which supports Open GL 1.1. The iPhone 3G S utilizes a PowerVR SGX which ups the ante and supports both Open GL 1.1 and 2.0. Open GL 1.1 and 2.0 are not compatible in the slightest. Does this mean the long feared great divide is now coming to the App Store?


Instead, developers will have to either code for all pre-iPhone 3G S devices, or, they will have to develop, test, and upkeep two completely separate applications – major bummer. Though, we should have all known this point was going to come sooner or later. Hardware changes so fast one could expect the global love to last forever. The honeymoon sure was short, wasn’t it? While end users may feel malice or frustrated with the developers who do defect to solely developing for the iPhone 3G S, can you blame them? It is the newest device with the most hype. While the majority of users will still be using Open GL 1.1, pre-iPhone 3G S devices, the allure of a new gadget is hard to overcome. Some developers will gladly trade the larger buyer market for the newer gadget with more possibilities.

Do you think that iPhone/3G/ and iPod Touch 1G/2G apps will start declining as developers move onto bigger, better, and more graphically powerful things such as the iPhone 3G S? While one model probably won’t immediately steal the thunder from the larger pool of devices and users that currently use pre-3G S devices, as more iterations come out with Open GL 2.0 support, the tide will surely shift. Someday we will look back on the first year of the App Store and reminisce on all of the great times we had. Indeed, it is time to move on to bigger and better things folks.