Sure, we’ve seen doctors, restaurant servers, clergy, commercial pilots and salesmen of all stripes incorporating Apple’s tablet into their daily workflow. But it turns out the iPad is a cool and useful way to store and use hundreds upon hundreds of conversions and formulas that mechanical engineers (or those studying to be one) need to use on a day-to-day basis too, when they’re designing brakes or fans or bridges or elevators.

The app’s overall design is very similar to something Apple might make, in that it uses literal interpretations of what you might use in the real world. Like Apple’s own Notes app or Calendar app, the app’s “scientific calculator” is actually made to look just like a yellow notepad you might use to jot down a quick formula or scribble a quick calculation.

You can pick from dozens of formula categories, from actuator and bearing on down to spring and vehicle drive. Clicking on each topic — which look like textured leather book spines — gives way to hundreds of pre-stored forumlas, with an explanation of what it does.

Once you’ve done a calculation, you can save it to your favorites, email it or print it out if you’re connected to a networked printer.

Mechanical Engineer ($5.99) was developed by Marc Schulman, co-founder of Multieducator, Inc., which builds education-oriented software. The company started out making software for history students that was distributed by CD-ROM back in the mid-90s. But since the iPhone arrived, they’ve (wisely) moved into making mobile apps for a wider variety of educational specialties, now counting 35 apps for both the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad in the App Store.

Mechanical Engineer has been available for a year and has tallied about 20,000 downloads to date, according to Schulman. But it just recently received an upgrade that included a new series of formulas for hydraulic engineering, an upgraded graphic interface and the ability to print from the app.

I admit I would never need to use this in any capacity and there is a relatively small group of you readers that will find a need for this app, but it illustrates well how the iPad as a platform is changing the way that we work — toward touchscreen, always-on mobile devices — and inversely, how Apple has managed to work its way into highly scientific niches, decades after the very first time the Mac was deemed ” a toy.”

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Nguyen goes into a lot of detail, and it’s a must-read for anyone thinking about commissioning an iOS (or really any mobile OS) application. Here’s one passage in particular that I know will resonate with a lot of freelance devs:

Converting an iPhone app to iPhone/iPad universal app: This is the worst ‘additional feature’ found in iPhone development contracts. Because an iPad app is not a frikin’ additional feature. The iPad app is always more complex than iPhone app, and most of the time requires entirely different interface and interaction mechanism. It’s like making an electric bicycle and then convert[ing] it to a fuel-powered motorcycle! They are very similar at what they do, but under the hood, the difference is immense. [Emphasis in the original]

A lot of companies may be interested in what an app can do for their business, but without a good sense of what kind of resources need to be invested in order to create the app in the first place, there is bound to be ample frustration on all sides. Nguyen’s no-nonsense primer is a good way to help avoid some of that frustration.

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Munster claims discussions with a “major TV component supplier” which had been contacted by Apple about its TV display parts lead him to believe Apple is still on track to introduce a dedicated television device in late 2012. However, there’s a caveat: Munster thinks if Apple can’t get a revolutionary new content model in place, then it won’t move on the market this year.

The analyst then goes on to suggest three possible scenarios that might constitute a unique Apple approach to the television market. Those potential solutions break down roughly as follows:

1. Changing the experience, not the service

In Munster’s first scenario, Apple would basically leave TV programming to existing operators and simply layer its own interface software on top, including menus, guides, DVRs and content discovery. Munster notes that Apple was expected by some to manage its own wireless network in the U.S. ahead of the iPhone launch, but instead partnered with AT&T and focused on UI and UX instead of content. Remember that apps came after the iPhone’s original introduction.

2. A hybrid content model

Apple could also partner with existing networks to offer live TV, and at the same time, deliver on-demand content from providers like Netflix, Hulu Plus or any other content partner willing to play via an App Store-style distribution channel, Munster suggests. It’s a “best of both worlds” type solution, and would probably still come complete with an overhauled UX, but might be trickier to negotiate than option number one, since it involves negotiating with two different types of content providers.

3. A la carte

Munster’s last option is a completely customizable, a la carte option that would see users subscribe to live TV packages from content providers. This would be the most revolutionary of the options in terms of the existing TV experience, but it would also involve a dazzling shift in the way providers make their content available, and the negotiations involved in doing so would be challenging, at best. In the end, there’s also no real guarantee that selective programming is what viewers are after, especially if existing, less flexible bundles from other sources cost less.

GigaOM’s Ryan Lawler wrote last year that Apple’s television effort was more about experience than about content, and described a likely outcome of Apple’s TV endeavors that pretty much mirrors Munster’s second scenario listed above.

Given the challenges involved in negotiating the third solution, I have to agree that a system that works with existing content sources, but also opens up the possibility of apps for different kinds of content makes the most sense as a solution that could still make big waves in the TV industry while also remaining realistically possible in the near-term. Which of Munster’s Apple TV predictions, if any, make the most sense to you?

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The two big new features in the 10.0.3 update, which is free through the Mac App Store, are multicam editing, allowing users to automatically sync a maximum of 64 angles of video and photos, and a beta version of a broadcast monitoring feature that works with both Thunderbolt and PCIe cards. The removal of multi-camera editing was a major complaint among FCP 7 video editors, since it made combining photo and video from multiple camera sources a much more complicated process.

In addition to those new features, the update also brings improved image and color controls, including the introduction of color sampling, edge adjustment and light wrap editing abilities, which means you’ll be able to depend more on FCP X directly, and less on external programs like Motion when working with complex keying challenges, Apple said in its press release.

Apple also took the opportunity of the release to point out that the third-party application ecosystem for FCPX has grown considerably in recent months, and now includes tools like 7toX, which allows FCP7 projects to be imported to the newer software. The inability to import old projects in FCPX was another of the major complaints users had with the latest version.

Apple promised updates to answer a lot of user concerns with the software back when version 10.0.1 delivered XML support, and judging by a recent Ars Technica report on the continued reticence of video pros to use the software, the sooner it can deliver more updates like this one that address major pain points cited by users, the better.

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SDKs and services

Audible Magic is showing its new TViD content recognition engine which can identify TV shows, including live events or first-time broadcasts. It creates a way for developers to build a second-screen experience tailored to what their users are watching.

Heatma.ps UI Testing SDK allows you to integrate touch tracking in your app to collect aggregate data from beta testers and/or real users of your app. Results are sent back heatma.ps’ server so you can view the data as a heat map of how users are interacting with your software, including where exactly their fingers are tapping.

MLState is demonstrating its Opa programming language targeted at web and social app development. Nuance is at the show talking about its consumer apps, but you could hit the company up for info on its mobile developer program if you’re looking to integrate voice in your iOS  software.

Payment solutions

For vendors that sell digital goods direct to consumers, eSellerate is at the show representing its e-commerce platform. You would use this instead of the Mac App Store, either to save money over the 30-percent fee Apple charges or because your app is prohibited from the App Store sandbox for whatever reason.

Fastspring is also present, talking about its all-in-one e-commerce, merchandising and fulfillment solution, which makes getting your sales tools in order an easy task, so you can focus on zapping bugs and getting a product shipped.

Prototyping and rapid development

TapDesigner is a new tool for prototyping mobile apps. It uses a drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG interface to allow you to rapidly build visual representations of what your app will look like, complete with custom navigation and menu bar elements.

WidgetPress FormEntry is in the Mac OS X Zone, talking about its tool for creating forms-based apps for Mac and iOS. This could have potential applications in any number of industries; for example, a realtor could quickly deploy surveys for customers to help them identify exactly what kind of property they’re looking for.

Consulting services

Carr/Ferrell Attorneys are there to guide you with IP, licensing, contracts, and other legal needs, which are still a big concern with ongoing problems like the Lodsys saga. This is one of the thorniest aspects of software development, and ongoing legal disputes between the biggest companies involved could always potentially result in fallout for smaller players, too.

That’s my bite-sized overview of what iOS and Mac developers might find most interest at this year’s Macworld | iWorld conference. Chime in down in the comments if you saw some other interesting displays or vendors aimed at developer’s at the show.

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If you wanted to play Minecraft and ran into this instead, you'd be very disappointed and out $1.

Browsing recent App Store releases, I came across “Minecraft – Pocket Edition,” with a version 1.0 update. Thinking it might be the update that finally brings combat and additional block types to Mojang’s free-form world creation game, I quickly clicked through — only to find a completely different app that’s obviously trying to lure customers who aren’t paying close attention.

The Minecraft – Pocket Edition released Jan. 26 is from developer Onliance, not Mojang, and despite having exactly the same name as the original, and using screenshots from the full release desktop version of the game, actually isn’t a game at all: it’s a guide or recipe list for use with the PC title (and doesn’t even really apply to the genuine Pocket Edition in its current form), but customers searching for the original would be hard-pressed to discover that at a glance.

Here’s the introductory paragraph for Onliance’s app description:

Minecraft is focused on creativity and building, allowing players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. Gameplay in its commercial release has two principal modes: Survival, which requires players to acquire resources themselves and maintain their health and hunger; and Creative, where the player has an unlimited supply of resources, the ability to fly, and no concept of health or hunger. A third gameplay mode, named Hardcore, ratchets up the difficulty of surviving and forces the player to delete his or her world upon death. An outdated Classic version is also available for free, although it is no longer being developed. Creative Minecraft resembles Classic, but with many more features.

Before clicking through to “…More” in the iTunes page for the app, you actually see only about the first sentence of that, but the real purpose of the app is buried much deeper still. Much later on, the description does say the following, but it’s the kind of information that should be right up top, and it still doesn’t convey clearly that this title contains only supporting material, and not the game itself:

This app will help you get to know the basic building commands used within the game and help you fight off those nasty creepers!!

Not sure how this one snuck past Apple’s review process (we dropped them a line to let them know and will update with comments if we receive any), but this is a pretty bald attempt to mislead customers and profit from the success of Mojang’s innovative title. Here’s hoping the game quickly gets taken down, or at least changes its name, description and screenshots to something more representative of its actual function.

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Courses will appear on a bookshelf, as in iBooks, but teachers can add much more to courses, including a syllabus, office hours, topics of classes, notes and posted assignments. Students can click through assignments to automatically view the requisite chapter in an e-book, if it’s available in the iTunes library.

Videos can be streamed or downloaded directly to the iPad for later viewing, and courses can also contain audio, video, documents like PDFs, and even apps. Students can rate courses in the iTunes U store, just like they would books or software. Combined with custom-authored e-books created in iBooks Author, this looks like the ultimate tool for the truly hands-on professor. And unlike the initial iBooks textbooks, it’s specifically aimed at higher education.

Grades K-12 aren’t left out, however. Cue also revealed iTunes U will now be available for primary and secondary educators and students, as well. The service is available in 123 countries. The iTunes U app is available today in the App Store, for free, and is designed to work on both the iPad and iPhone.

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iBooks Author comes with a template choose to help you get started quickly, and then you can click and drag your own media to add images, video, audio and other content to your book. You can even add things like 3-D models, which we saw demoed in the iBooks 2 unveiling earlier, as well as interactive elements like image galleries.

Keynote presentations can be embedded directly, so you can include slideshows right within the book. This should really appeal to profs and teachers who want to create their own courseware and customize content. You can also create and link your own glossary definitions for terms, which can include interactive elements, and even add JavaScript and HTML5 code if you have knowledge of that technology.

Author tools include the ability to preview your e-book creations live on your iPad over a Wi-Fi network, which is amazing in terms of being able to get instant feedback about whether or not something works the way you’d expect it to. Apple is really taking the sting out of e-book creation.

Amazingly, Apple’s iBooks Author is free, and is available today on the Mac App Store (for Macs with OS 10.7 or later installed). This will definitely help attract content creators to the iBooks platform, and could also seriously impact the ability of competitors to sell publishing suites aimed at doing similar things.

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Stock prices may have been buoyed by news that Apple continues to regain mobile market share based on the strength of its iPhone 4S sales. Nielsen reported Wednesday morning that since the introduction of the 4S, Apple’s share of the smartphone market has climbed steadily in the U.S. The Nielsen report’s findings are very similar to U.S. smartphone numbers released by NPD last week.

Apple also has an earnings call scheduled for Jan. 24, at which many analysts expect the company to announce record sales across its device lineups. We’ll likely see some numbers revealed early at tomorrow’s special education event in NYC on Thursday, since Apple typically spends some time at media presentations talking up recent successes and revealing information like up-to-date App Store download numbers, for example. We’ll have live coverage of that event beginning at 10 a.m. EST.

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Video calling service Tango’s new paid features have experienced two million subscribers on both Android and iOS since their introduction, Tango founder and CTO Eric Setton told the New York Times on Monday. But those using Apple’s platform convert from the app’s free basic service to paid add-ons four times as often as do Android users. Setton thinks there is a very simple reason why that is, one that doesn’t have to do with app quality or platform user demographics:

It comes from years of collecting credit card numbers on iTunes. People can use their stored credit card numbers and purchase things easily. Punching in a credit card number on Android is more work.

Of course, you can add and store credit cards on the Android Market, too, but that’s an additional step on Google’s OS that isn’t required on Apple’s for most, since credit cards will already be on file, thanks to previous iTunes music or movie purchases. Also, iTunes allows multiple payment methods; you can tie it to iTunes gift cards or preapproved spending limits automatically, making it more flexible overall.

People are also slow to adopt new online payment methods, which is why it is so crucial that the App Store doesn’t require one; users simply have to continue using the same system they have already embraced for purchasing digital music online for nearly a decade. The iTunes Store has been the No. 1 music retailer since 2008, so it has had plenty of time to win the trust of a large number of users. Google, on the other hand, traditionally hasn’t asked its users to pay a dime for pretty much anything.

The good news for Google is that the barrier to entry for users new to any and all online purchasing is roughly the same for both platforms, meaning eventually users should be just as comfortable with paying on one OS vs. the other. The good news for Apple, though, is that for the time being, it remains the trusted vendor of choice for online purchases, particularly among the generation that cut its teeth on iPods and the iTunes Store.

So far, that role has led to increased consumer activity on Apple’s digital stores and devices, but Apple’s recently introduced EasyPay system indicates its effects could bleed over into real-world transactions, too. Google may have gotten Wallet out into the wild early, but trust could trump speed when it comes to long-term mobile commerce adoption.

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Trenches II ($1.99 iPhone, $2.99 iPad) is the latest in a lineup of World War I-themed games from Thunder Game Works. Falling somewhere between Plants vs. Zombies  and Flight Control, Trenches II offers slightly more advanced, compelling gameplay, so much so that it approaches the realm of real-time strategy gaming.

The game’s training mode leaves a lot to be desired, with constant, annoying pop-ups, but you can get the hang of things without the tutorial. The basics are as follows: As time passes, you earn money to buy more troops. Troops advance from left to right with the swipe of a finger or two.  You do need to be careful though, as your troops will need to be directed to bunkers and other objects on the battlefield to take cover.

You can lead British, French or German troops into battle. Game strategy comes in the form of which type of troops you buy when. There are sharpshooters, engineers, medics, spies, and flamethrower units to name a few. Along the way, you earn Perk points, which can be used to unlock new troop types and upgrade existing ones. For the impatient, there are in-app purchases to accelerate the earning of Perks.

The more rewarding part of the game, and what makes it a great game for a weekend, is definitely the Skirmish play mode.  In it, you need to scope out a battlefield with airships, and then decide how to deploy your troops. The challenge comes from knowing when to invest in an engineer, and when to invest in a rifleman. The resemblance to Flight Control comes in directing different groups of troops to different points on the battlefield.  This adds a lot to the overall feeling you get of being a real-time field commander.

The iPhone can seem a little tight in terms of available screen real estate with Trenches II, so if you have an iPad, that’s the way to play.

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The price tag is the best part

Somehow, OnLive Desktop is free. It doesn’t cost a dime to download the app from the App Store, and there’s no subscription service to sign up for. The app also doesn’t require you to own a copy of Windows, as do Mac virtualization apps like Parallels and VMware. Windows 7 is already set up and running on OnLive’s remote servers. All you have to do is sign up for a free OnLive account (or use an existing one if you already signed up for OnLive’s gaming service) and connect.

Better than remote desktop apps, local virtualization software

Despite OnLive Desktop is working over an Internet connection talking to servers miles away (likely hundreds of miles in my case), it performs better than any remote desktop apps I’ve used on my own local Wi-Fi network. There’s very little lag; apps open and close speedily; and documents, spreadsheets and presentations are already setup by default to save to a synced folder, which auto-syncs at regular, frequent intervals.

In terms of setup time and ease of use, OnLive Desktop beats out both remote desktop apps and virtualization software running locally on Macs, in my opinion. This is especially true if your intended use is light editing of documents you need to access right away when away from home, since you can download from and upload to a web interface at files.onlive.com for your specific synced OnLive Documents folder.
 

Limited in scope, but should hit the right notes for most

OnLive Desktop has some limitations your own local installations of Windows won’t, however. Any changes you make to app or system settings won’t be there the next time you log in, for instance; OnLive does this to ensure speedy connections and easy jump-in, jump-out functionality for all users.

You also can’t install new programs or access anything beyond what OnLive provides, so this definitely isn’t a solution for Windows-based gaming. Still, those pre-installed apps include Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2010, as well as Windows Media Player and some basic utilities. You can’t access Internet Explorer, which would be a nice touch for people working remotely who have to access IE-only enterprise dashboards, for instance.

Finally, there’s the issue of not being able to use the iPad’s own software keyboard. Instead, you’ll get the Windows 7 on-screen keyboard. It pales in comparison to the Apple version, but it’s usable nonetheless. Also, know that if you exit the app mid-edit, you won’t be able to save your document when you jump back in, even if it resumes with the document open.

Despite those limitations, OnLive probably provides what the vast majority of its target audience requires: a quick and easy way to edit Office docs on the go. The extremely high-quality Windows Media Player streaming playback and other perks like the ability to use the touch-optimized Microsoft Surface Collage app, are just are icing on the cake.

Microsoft’s Office iPad apps are here

With Bluetooth keyboard support and the ability to connect over 3G (OnLive disconnects you after 10 minutes when connected this way, but that’s plenty of time to accomplish minor edits on the fly), I see little reason to go elsewhere for Office-compatible document editing. Plus, if this app eventually gets an upgrade to the tablet-optimized Windows 8, it should be even more touch-friendly.

Rumors occasionally crop up that Microsoft is working on dedicated Office apps for the iPad. With OnLive Desktop, I find myself happy to wait for Microsoft to take as long as it wants to get its act together.

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Of World of Goo’s one million downloads on iOS, 69 percent came from its Universal version, which is optimized for use on both the iPhone and the iPad. That 69 percent of downloads drove 79 percent of revenue, while the 29 percent of installs of the iPhone-specific version accounted for just 17 percent of revenue. Coming in third was the Mac version, which nabbed only 2 percent of total downloads, and generated 4 percent of the profit.

World of Goo has different price points for each version; the Mac app costs $9.99, the iPhone version is just $2.99, and the universal iPad + iPhone version is $4.99. They also have different release dates; the Mac app debuted on June 7, 2011, the iOS Universal app on Dec. 15, 2010, and the iPhone-specific version arrived Apr. 13, 2011.

The numbers seem to indicate that you’ll get the most bang for your investment buck starting with universal apps, but of course it isn’t that simple. Games are good candidates for Universal development, since often mechanics and controls remain relatively the same whether you have more or less screen real estate. But for other apps, it might be hard to come up with something that works as well on the iPad as it does on the iPhone, or vice versa. Universal apps also require more time on the coding side, and can lead to a more complicated update process, so it’s more of an investment in that regard. Not to mention that trying to make a product that works on both can sometimes involve sacrifices, as TUAW’s Erica Sadun rightly pointed out in the past.

Sadun wrote that post nearly two years ago, however, and one important thing has changed since then: the iPad has become a wildly successful device, selling 11 million units last quarter, compared to the iPhone’s 17 million. Its growing at a much faster rate than the iPhone, too, which means the number of users who appreciate a product that works on both devices is also on the rise.

The bottom line is that if a Universal app makes sense for the specific type of application you have in mind, it’ll only become more economically advantageous to get that out the door first as time goes on. Especially with an iPad 3 launch on the horizon, customers will be looking for the best value and portability they can find, and that’s exactly what Universal apps provide.

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My favorite example of this came to me by way of Phillip Alvelda. Tech folks know him as the founder and former CEO of MobiTV. But his latest passion is his foundation, the Westminster Institute for Science Education. Through it, one of the courses he teaches is basic programming for middle schoolers. And what is he using for his course ? The iPad.

After his time at MIT, CalTech, NASA and in the tech startup world, Alvelda is now tackling the decline of science in schools’ elementary, middle- and high-school curriculum. What kids are currently taught does not “have much to do with what science is actually like,” Alvelda tells me. “It’s more about history of science and other people’s ideas.”

His foundation’s philosophy is to teach young people the power of creative exploration using 21st century tools. The class he teaches uses the iPad (a 21st century digital tool that’s far cheaper than anything most schools can afford of similar capability, he says) and an app called Codea. The app enables the creation of games and projects right on the device using the Lua programming language. (See video below for example.) Alvelda (who has no affiliation with Codea) calls it “a completely powerful and self-contained programming environment” that he says is great for teaching simple programming, something he considers essential for them when they eventually become working adults.

Codea, which first hit Apple’s App Store in October for $7.99, was created by Simeon Nasilowski, a programmer living in Adelaide, Australia who says he started designing the app never imagining it would be used in an educational setting, much less anyone else even seeing it.

He’s a mobile app developer by trade, but built Codea for himself because, he says, he wanted to write a bit of code but didn’t have his laptop on him. Most of the time, if he was away from his desk and inspiration stuck, all he’d have on him was his iPad.

But it wasn’t just about convenience for Nasilowski either. He also believes in touch as a fantastic interaction mode for programming for its ability to simplify the sometimes needlessly complicated. An example, cited by Nasilowski:

When you write code you could try to define a color as three values, red, green and blue with values between 0 and 255. You might type “120″ and that’s some sort of gray. In Codea, if you have a function or part of your code that requires a color, it highlights that part of the code and it pops up a color picker you choose from there.

That simplicity and ease of interaction is what makes this app and a tool like the iPad so appealing to Alvelda and other forward-thinking educators. The iPad is a cheap, simple way to teach programming, the potential lingua franca of the future. Plus, you don’t need a developer license or a lot of money. But despite all the possibility and promise of that, Apple’s stance on certain kinds of coding apps is working against this goal.

Codea did make it through the App Store verification process — Apple somewhat relaxed rules last year that stated apps cannot contain any non-Apple executable code. Now the rule limits only downloadable executable code. Other coding apps have been approved too, like Textastic, For: i and Koder.

Codea has seen 25,000 downloads since October, but just last week Apple contacted Nasilowski and had him take out the code-sharing feature of his app. A disappointment for sure. It’s not just Codea though. A more high-profile kerfuffle happened in 2010 when Apple rejected Scratch, a well-liked programming app for kids created by MIT’s Media Lab. The reason it was rejected was under the former rules — that have since been relaxed — that banned any executable code that wasn’t Apple’s.

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MoPho lets you either select a photo from your existing picture library, your Facebook, Flickr or Picasa albums, or snap a photo in the app, and then preview it on one of their available ready-to-print products. Those include an “HD aluminum art” plaque, two varieties of 11 oz. mugs, a double-sided keychain, a mouse pad, a set of four coasters, a 20 oz. frosted glass stein, a restickable poster, or a t-shirt. MoPho also says it plans on introducing other products, including an iPhone case.

Once you’ve picked your product and cropped or zoomed your photo as desired, you go through a fairly painless checkout process. It involves a few more steps than Apple’s Cards app, since you aren’t going through in-app purchasing to pay for your item, but it’s easier than going to one of those customized gift shops at the mall to have it done.

Penguin Digital, the company behind MoPho, has big plans beyond simply selling direct to consumers. It’s planning an SDK for public launch in around a month’s time, according to Kris Minkstein, who handles business development and marketing for the company. The SDK will allow other appmakers to integrate purchasing of real-world products like those offered in MoPho into their own software, without having to worry about logistics, supply and shipping.

Considering how many photo apps are out there right now doing well, it’s a smart strategy. Imagine being able to order customized physical goods right from within Instagram or Camera+; something tells me more than a few folks would jump at the opportunity.

Right now, MoPho only ships to U.S. and Canadian addresses, but further international expansion is in the works. MoPho is already doing pretty well with customers, apparently, having broken the top 100 for Photo & Video apps in its first day of availability in both Canada and the U.S. The SDK is the real story here, however; it’ll be interesting to see how third-party adoption progresses, and how else we might see on-demand, real-world commerce make its way into the App Store ecosystem.

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China Telecom would be the second iPhone carrier in China, joining the country’s second-largest network provider China Unicom. China Telecom would add a potential buying audience of 33.4 million mobile subscribers to China Unicom’s network of 36.5 million users. All that remains is that Apple secure a license from China’s Telecommunications Equipment and Certification Center prior to offering the device for sale.

Apple wouldn’t need to do much to offer the right hardware for the network; China Telecom uses a 3G CDMA2000 network, based on the same standard as Verizon’s mobile 3G network in the U.S. Adding the carrier officially would not only expand Apple’s reach, but also help it win back more legit channel sales from the gray market: Gartner analyst Sandy Shen told Bloomberg that as authorized sales outlets become more widely available, gray market sales dwindle.

Apple may soon face entirely different challenges in China, however, especially if it rapidly scales its potential iOS user base in the country. Recent reports indicate Apple is currently being sued by a group of Chinese writers over allegations that pirated books are being offered for sale on the App Store. The group has asked Apple to remove the books, but so far, the iPhone-maker has refused. The group plans to file another lawsuit on behalf of more authors soon, and says the problem has become rampant. The group is only seeking around $1.2 million USD in damages for this first suit, but in the long term, Apple could alienate content providers and invite continued legal trouble by ignoring the problem.

As China becomes more central to the future of Apple’s mobile market, the company will likely have to come up with new ways to address these and other unique challenges. We’ve seen that localization is key when it comes to making apps successful in Asian App Stores, so it would make sense that Apple may eventually want to set up more localized operations for dealing with Chinese App Store content as well, especially given the recent move to make the Chinese App Store open to payments using local currency.

It looks like we’ll soon see China’s iPhone use explode, above and beyond the impressive growth it’s already posting in that country. Don’t be surprised if Apple pumps up its local operations as well.

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