Regardless of whether you are an Apple fanboy or not, you have to give the company credit for innovating (or at the very least taking an idea and making it marketable).

The App Store the company created to support its smartphones and later tablets may well have a more long lasting impact than the devices themselves.

The idea of allowing users access to a universe of small, easily downloadable programmes, whether created by the company itself or third party developers, makes it easy for the abilities of the devices themselves to be exploited in whichever way user can imagine.

The apps use features already built into the phones, like a camera, microphone, compass, accelerometer or gps to, not to put too fine a point on it, do cool stuff. This allows the user to customise the functionality of the device without having to bother with endless pre-installed programmes that will never get used.

Want the latest updates from your favourite celebrity gossip site? You’ve got it.

Want some help tuning your guitar? Sure thing.

Need a running partner to tell you how fast and far you’ve run? Easy.

In fact, the availability of a myriad of apps form the App Store is one of the elements that has made the iPhone such a popular device.

However, other companies were not to be left out in the cold on this one. Google was quick to launch the Android marketplace, an app store of its own for its Android operating system.

Due to the widespread adoption of the Android OS, the number of apps available in the store has grown dramatically, and even though it might not match the Apple app store in terms of numbers, it is certainly getting there.

Android is used on new smartphones from a number of manufacturers, including the HTC Incredible and Samsung Galaxy S, both 4G capable devices. Of course, how Google’s recent move to acquire Motorola Mobile will influence all this remains to be seen.

BlackBerry faces a similar situation to Apple in that their devices run a proprietary operating system, and while this means that the number of apps available from BlackBerry App World might not be quite as extensive as Apple or Android, the selection of apps is good and adds a lot of functionality to devices like the Blackberry Torch, which comes with a lot of features that have been absent from past BlackBerry models already ‘baked in’ for convenience.

Of course, BlackBerry’s recent announcement of more smartphone features to be rolled out throughout their line of devices will also see more scope for the development of apps to take full advantage of these features.

Why is the availability of apps suddenly all important? Well, with Cayman now boasting a 4G mobile network, courtesy of LIME, downloading apps directly to your phone becomes a lot quicker and more practical if you have a 3G or 4G capable phone, that is.

The same goes for downloading music directly to your phone, rather than having to wait until you can get to a computer.

Many apps can also make use of fast data transfer rates to share photos and video clips with other users or post it to social network sites – something that seemed to take an eternity on the old EDGE network.

Of course, when it comes to the myriad of possibilities created by apps and a 4G network, it is important to keep an eye on data usage as well. LIME has made a point of launching an initiative to educate customers on how much data various activities can consume, so those who use the newly accessibly features on their phones constantly can make informed choices about the amount of data they need in a data plan. The possibilities may be unlimited, but the data is not. WH

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