But as of sunrise on the East Coast, Apple's much-awaited iPhone App Store went live via iTunes and it provides an interesting glimpse at the e-commerce that will be available on the platform. The App Store availability was publicized widely, first, by the site TechCrunch.

An initial look at what's available in the App Store shows a lineup that could provide some excitement for the iPhone community - - for both business and lifehacking purposes. There is, at long last, a native AIM instant messaging app, an application for the Web-based Pandora music service, Salesforce.com's Salesforce Mobile application; Major League Baseball's "At Bat" application, which will provide real-time scores and in-game video; and Evernote Lifestyle, by the makers of the new Web-based, note-taking and productivity application.

There are also downloads for Facebook, MySpace, an e-book reader and more.

At this end-point, though, the iPhone 2.0 software isn't yet available at the moment - - so placing those applications on the phone itself isn't yet possible.

But the array of new software for the iPhone will mean that both users of first-generation devices as well as those who turn on the 3G iPhones when they launch Friday will have a powerful, new set of tools at their disposal without having to hack it or jailbreak it. It also means that developers and executives at ISVs will arrive at the office this morning facing an entirely new world, with a demand more urgent than ever that they begin thinking of mobility and the Apple platform.