New iPhone software offers in-app purchases

Apple previewed the new software for its iPhone yesterday. Consumer-focused improvements include copy and paste, picture messaging, and landscape keyboards for text messaging and e-mail — but for marketers, the introduction of in-app purchases offers an opportunity for some marketers, who can now offer upgrades to their apps or subscriptions to in-app content for a fee without creating an entirely new app. E-books are an obvious application for this service, but gated content services are also possible.