Stellar App

When the commercials for Apple iPhone say "there's an app for that", they aren't kidding. Even NASA is getting into the game.

Just today NASA released an iPhone game with the strikingly creative title "NASA Lunar Electric Rover Simulator". In the game, which can be downloaded for free here, players command a lunar rover.

While NASA's app may not attract too much attention, it certainly draws more attention to burgeoning realm of online development. Some recent estimates say the App Store on iTunes currently holds more than 65,000 applications of various different kinds.

But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to enter the game. Independent software developers can download a special "iPhone Developer Program" for $99 that allows them to build and simulate their apps on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Such development programs are also available for the upcoming iPad, which is set to take this recent market to a whole new level.