But repeated attempts to get Apple to offer the software at its app store have been fruitless.
Because of Apple's "walled garden" approach, the software available on its App Store is relatively protected from government-sponsored malware, in contrast to the Android operating system.
The update to Google's search application for the iPhone, which Apple will release through its App Store software distribution service for the smart phone, will allow users to ask a question and get an answer from the Mountain View, Calif.
Apple will distribute software from third parties to users through the App Store, which allows users to wirelessly download software on the iPhone, or, on their computer, via iTunes.
In OS X Lion (which I and many others are still using) the App Store and Software Update exist side by side.
FORBES: Uh Oh! Changes In Apple's OS X Mountain Lion Mess Up Software Updates In Lion
For example, the Marketplace hub displays the four different software stores where you can purchase media: third-party apps, games, music and Samsung Zone, a separate app store serving software made by Samsung.
In 2008, Apple opened its own app store to offer software for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Apple also generates billions of dollars in ecommerce and software revenue through iTunes, the App Store, AppleCare, iBookstore, and Apple.com.
FORBES: Apple Is The Cheapest Growth Stock You Will Ever Own
By next spring, any software sold through the new Mac App Store will have to comply with this new policy, which is known as sandboxing.
FORBES: Apple's Mac OS Lockdown To End Developer Independence
But again, unless you are selling apps through an app store, being a software company now may also means being a data center provider.
FORBES: If You Ran a Software Company, Would You Go All-Cloud?
Apple has traditionally blocked outside browsers from its App Store, but competitor Opera Software recently won entry for its Opera Mini application, pushing Skyfire to speed its pace.
But, in another example of the slippage of detail orientation in Cupertino, OS X Mountain Lion dispenses with Software Update altogether, relying wholly on the retooled App Store for updates and creating an unintended consequence for Lion users.
FORBES: Uh Oh! Changes In Apple's OS X Mountain Lion Mess Up Software Updates In Lion
The iPad has been bolstered by its connection to Apple's App Store, which sells videogames and other software, and Apple's iTunes store, where people can easily download music, videos and books.
Developers have the option of either using the Mac App Store or using the more traditional method of software distribution.
FORBES: Apple's Mac OS Lockdown To End Developer Independence
So it only makes sense that Microsoft would adapt a software distribution model that originally appeared on mobile devices: an app store.
FORBES: With New Windows App Store, Microsoft Is Hoping Size Matters
Apple is not stupid, they created the App Store to gain a stronghold on the entire software industry, after a decade of perfecting their business strategy.
FORBES: HP: Down 20%; Now Officially Hated By Almost Everyone
Considering the fact that many workers typically work on a tablet or check corporate email on a smartphone, a corporate app store should also enable those responsible for approving software requests to approve or reject these requests from their mobile devices.
Software written for the device will be made available in a dedicated app store.
Under pressure to defend its enormous Windows franchise from challenges by mobile devices running software from Google and Apple, Microsoft outlined plans for a Windows App Store Tuesday in San Francisco.
FORBES: With New Windows App Store, Microsoft Is Hoping Size Matters
For the enterprise, Apple first added business email, then decent security, then enterprise device management hooks, and now a B2B app store and soon a decent over-the-air software delivery model.
That has hindered Nokia's own software efforts, including its Ovi Store, which competes with Apple's App Store.
Jay Freeman, the administrator of the app store for jailbroken Apple devices known as Cydia, says his software market received that number of visits from jailbroken iPads in just the last month, a growing number driven in part by the release of a new tool known as Evasion that removes download restrictions on the latest versions of the iPhone and iPad.
FORBES: As White House Backs Device Unlocking, 4.6 Million iPad Jailbreakers Left In Legal Limbo
Apparently, when Apple introduced the App Store for OS X, their intention was always to replace the Software Update function on Mac desktops with the new store.
FORBES: Uh Oh! Changes In Apple's OS X Mountain Lion Mess Up Software Updates In Lion
The business has taken off rapidly since Apple introduced a model last July with higher-speed Internet access and the introduction of the App Store, which gives users access to thousands of games, entertainment software and other applications.
It also said it would show a new software kit that developers can use to make programs to distribute through the company's App Store.
None, as it turns out -- API support for the firm's mug recognition software will be dropped in early August, and its iPhone app, Klik, is now gone from the App Store.
ENGADGET: Face.com kills developer APIs and Klik app three weeks after Facebook acquisition
应用推荐