Having played with the iPhone and iPod Touch at the Apple Store and with early-adopting friends over the last 9 months or so, I have always thought that the technology platform could be developed into a really amazing tool for a variety of business related uses and, of course, for Med 2.0 applications.

Now that Apple has released their Software Development Kit (SDK) on MAR 6th 2008, it appears that the development of more of these business and Med 2.0 tools could be a very likely possibility.

So what’s new? Well, while the original iPhone captured the hearts of many a consumer, it looks like Apple is now poised to also make this an indispensable enterprise tool as well (can you say “bye, bye, blackberry”?). 

Here are some interesting snippets from the CNET Live Blog of the SDK launch:

10:07 a.m.: So, what do businesses want? “Great e-mail integration,” says Schiller. That also extends to calendars, contacts, and the global address lists of corporations–having that technology instantly accessible and pushed to the device. They also want security policies, like VPNs and remote wiping of a stolen iPhone, and configuration help. “I’m really excited to be the one to tell you today that we’re doing all these things in the next release of the iPhone software.”

10:07 a.m.: What do they really want? Microsoft Exchange. And they’re getting it: Schiller announces that Apple has licensed the Microsoft ActiveSync protocol, which will make it much easier to do push e-mail and contacts with Exchange servers.

10:10 a.m.: You’ll soon get push e-mail, calendaring, contacts, and a global contacts list, as well as the remote-wipe security feature. The iPhone’s Mail application will have this functionality; you won’t have to have a new user interface for e-mail and calendars. This will ship with every iPhone.

10:13 a.m.: Schiller starts demoing the new features. He’s using a virgin iPhone, demonstrating how you would activate the functionality with Exchange. You can do the whole thing over the air, which is very helpful for IT administrators: you won’t have to go collect every iPhone that needs that feature. E-mail, contacts, and calendar are automatically pushed from your desktop to your iPhone upon setup. As far as I understand, many devices, such as my Treo and BlackBerrys, also offer over-the-air setup; it’s almost a requirement in the IT world.

You may ask: So that’s interesting, but how does it apply to Med 2.0?

Well, one of the first things they announced on stage was a handful of businesses that were interested in working with the iPhone:

10:04 a.m.: Schiller starts talking about the companies that have inquired about working with the iPhone, mentioning Genentech, where Apple board member Art Levinson is CEO. It’s also been a university play, according to Schiller, bringing up Stanford University’s deployment of the iPhone. He avoids mentioning Duke, which initially blamed the iPhone for a widespread network outage last year.

So, Genentech wants to work with the iPhone, eh? It certainly would take a forward thinking and innovative biotech company to want to try this. And as a matter of fact, I personally recommended (but wasn’t approved) a pilot program for pharma reps to use an iPhones or iTouch as device for detailing and learning, so if I could see such great potential for it in the pharma/biotech space, I’m sure the Genentech folks could to.

And another thing that I was thinking would be such a great idea for the iPhone/iTouch interface, is to have a Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) for doctors and other medical professionals. 

So, ePocrates (probably the most popular mobile PDR currently) initially launched an iPhone friendly web page of their web-based drug reference in DEC 2007. Well lo and behold, at the iPhone SDK launch presentation, they presented an actual working version of their iPhone application and here’s a brief quote on it from the CNET Live Blog:

10:59 a.m.: Epocrates is the next showcase developer, making software for medical professionals. Glenn Keighley shows off what it’s created. Keighley’s been a mobile developer for a while, but he says the iPhone development was almost like developing for a desktop. The company was able to build a native application that can access an SQL database for accessing medical information, pictures of pills, and checking whether a new prescription will have an adverse effect on a patient who is already taking a bunch of other drugs.

So, as you can see, this could just be the beginning for many a good Med 2.0 applications to come, particularly with the growing number of EMR/EHR (electronic medical/health records) companies out there.

Just take a look at this cool video which I came across on DoctorsGadgets.com, showing the use of the iPhone with an EMR called Life Record…

Oh, and one more thing (as Steve Jobs would say), Apple didn’t just stop at releasing their SDK, but they have also brought on Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (of Amazon, Genentech, and Google investments fame) and announced a $100 million iFund to promote development on the iPhone platform:

KPCB’s iFund is a $100M investment initiative that will fund market-changing ideas and products that extend the revolutionary new iPhone and iPod touch platform. The iFund is agnostic to size and stage of investment and will invest in companies building applications, services and components. Focus areas include location based services, social networking, mCommerce (including advertising and payments), communication, and entertainment. The iFund will back innovators pursuing transformative, high-impact ideas with an eye towards building independent durable companies atop the iPhone / iPod touch platform.

Wow! I think we’re into something good, folks…

In case you can’t get enough, here are some more links on the topic:

- Watch the March 6th SDK Launch
- iPhone Enterprise Beta Program
- CNET Live Blog Coverage
- CrunchGear Live Blog Coverage
- TechCrunch post-presentation summary
- CNETs iPhone Reports
- TechCrunch thoughts on the iFund