Had an interesting chat with some folks from PointAbout yesterday about iPhone development and the future of mobile.

They say that if you want to go mobile, you should focus on the iPod/iPhone for now. Blackberry is too fragmented, with each different type of device using a different operating system or browser. And since the iPad can run iPod/iPhone apps, focusing on the iPhone is the closest thing to one size fits all.

In app purchase sounds like the way to go for ecommerce. It sends a payment through the person’s iTunes account, and can be used for on-going purchases — like monthly or annual subscriptions.

The down side is that Apple takes 30% of every sale. The up side is that it’s incredibly easy on the user. He already has all his billing information set up with iTunes, so there’s no (additional) concern about security. I don’t know if the publisher gets the purchaser’s information. If not, that would be a big strike against it.

Appmakr.com is a simple way to create apps for the iPhone from any RSS feed. It costs $300 / app and looks very easy.

I have a hard time believing that magazines will do very well on mobile — at least not in their current form. The interface is going to have to change. I don’t suspect people will want to page through an online magazine the way they do in print.

I suspect the best place for content providers to get into mobile is in tools, reports and calculators.