Since Apple opened up its “App Store” as a ramification of “iTunes store”, I can sense that the concept is catching up with industries other than the mobile content market. Some enterprise developers have already been testing out app stores applied to different technology and business sectors. IBM, for example recently launched Smart Market, a web based application store for business customers wanting to download enterprise applications. Even the UK government has said to be considering the creation of a virtual applications store for the public sector.

But how does this resound with the IPTV and TV industry? Well, according to this industry insider, the next big thing for any company is to have a web-like TV application running on your set-top box, and here’s why:

“New applications in play-shifting and time-shifting the content will arise to fit the long-tail needs of video on demand at low cost, while convergent applications such as caller-id or text messages from your phone can be displayed on your TV. Not only gaming consoles but also other consumer devices will also be included in the media landscape at home, mobile phones, PC, even future appliances and energy management systems, all from your set-top box.”

From a developer’s point of view, as long as web services like Google and Yahoo keep their APIs open and developers can effectively integrate the web services with IPTV and other multi-devices, then the possibilities of developing TV apps could be endless. Whereas from a business point of view, it’s early days for me to say whether a TV app store could be a viable revenue generating channel for IPTV providers.