CHICAGO, USA: Ifbyphone today announced an economic stimulus package for iPhone application developers. The most innovative iPhone application developers will each receive $1,000 from Ifbyphone for the development of an Ifbyphone-to–iPhone mashup that is selected and released by Ifbyphone on the iTunes App Store.
 
“We want to empower developers, so rather than hope that other stimulus packages would prop them up, we decided to use a direct stimulus approach of our own,” said Ifbyphone CEO Irv Shapiro. “With the release of our iPhone template, we’ve taken iPhone application development to a new level. Offering this opportunity is an enticement for developers to test their high-impact ideas on our already-proven iPhone platform.”
 
Ifbyphone has previously released two iPhone Apps on the iTunes App Store: a voice broadcasting application that enables iPhone users to schedule and deliver voice messages to multiple recipients and a conference-calling application that enables iPhone users to initiate impromptu or scheduled conference calls.
 
The company is soliciting applications from developers for consideration now through April 30, 2009. Apps need not be complete and fully tested, but they must be working prototypes that deliver innovative calling features to consumers and/or integrate telephony into other Web services and applications.

The Ifbyphone team will select the best, most innovative candidates from submitted designs, finish development and testing, and make the app or apps available in the iTunes App Store, ideally at no charge to consumers, just as other Ifbyphone iPhone apps are.
 
“We’re hopeful that a broad spectrum of developers will give our tools a look and put their creativity to work,” said Shapiro. “We are particularly excited to announce this program at 360iDev and eComm, as these conferences have attracted many of the best and brightest iPhone developers.”
 
Full details of the program and the tools to begin development are available from the company website.