$100 Million for the iPhone

APPLE stepped up its efforts to boost the iPhone - and has a surprise partner: venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.At a press event Thursday, KPCB partner John Doerr announced that the firm plans to invest $100 million to fund start-ups creating applications for the iPhone.

"We think the potential for the iPhone is huge," Doerr said. Doerr's announcement followed other, expected news from Apple that it is releasing software tools to allow developers to create new applications for the iPhone and that it is updating the iPhone software to allow it to receive so-called push mail from Microsoft Exchange servers, putting the popular gadget in direct competition with the BlackBerry and Palm Treo.

Apple plans to release the software update in June. It will be free for iPhone users, but the company plans to charge a "nominal" fee to iPod touch owners. Though unsurprising, the updates from Apple address some of the outstanding complaints about the iPhone, noted Van Baker, an analyst with Gartner, an industry research firm. Despite its popularity with consumers, the device has seen resistance from the corporate world because of its lack of integration with Exchange, the de facto standard for corporate e-mail. (***)

Source: mercurynews.com