newsobserver.com | Hungry for a piece of the Apple

newsobserver.com | Hungry for a piece of the Apple: "Anyone can hand over $199 for the newest iPhone and see what the buzz is about. But if you really want attention, tell people you wrote a little game or other some other program that runs on the gadget. That's the part that makes the phone so darn fun to use.

Several developers with local ties have software programs available for the iPhone. They're for sale at the iTunes App Store, the only place to buy such applications.

From a part-time developer who already has a day job to an entire company in Durham, they're are all attracted by the same thing -- a chance to cash in on the newest flavor of cool.

'Some people are developing for the bragging rights,' said Keith Shepherd, an Athens Drive High School graduate who moved to Washington after college and recently developed a game called Imangi with his father, who lives in Cary.

'It is cool to be a part of the store,' Shepherd said. 'But for us it is also a business decision. We see the iPhone as a potential market where we might be able as a small developer to actually make some money. It's an extremely large audience.'

'Extremely large' is one way to put it. Apple sold more than a million iPhones in the first three days when they went on sale earlier this month. The company said this week that it expects to sell 10 mi"