It's a well-known problem that developers want their applications placed in Apple's App Store. Yesterday, Craig Hockenberry posted an open letter to Steve Jobs on his blog, stating that some developers were producing cheap apps to get good placement in the App Store. Amazing as it seems, it looks like something actually happened, as the App store has started separating paid apps from unpaid, with rankings for each. These lists now appear on the left and right sides of the results, giving users a chance to see what's currently the cream of the crop.

However, this information has been available on the iPhone version of the App Store since the 2.2 firmware update. Unfortunately for them, users searching for new applications in iTunes have had a less exploratory experience. Of course, some applications will now get more exposure among iTunes shoppers. Developers had even gone so far as to change their pricing to get better screen real estate on the store's pages.

In related news, it looks like Apple decided apps publishers who want to have a little bit of fun should be allowed their day in the sun. For example, Apple is going to start approving a whole new “genre” of apps, and the Pull My Finger App will be the first to be accepted in this genre. If anyone wonders why Apple has rejected so many apps by now, it seems that the company was sorting out how this “genre” of apps were going to be handled. More and more apps will follow, as Apple has lifted the restriction on them. All in all, there will be a couple of productive days for iPhone users, as they'll receive lots of apps.