Even if Microsoft launched on Monday its first iPhone app, Seadragon Mobile, Microsoft developers do not expect the software giant to start building a wave of new apps for the world's most successful smartphone. Seadragon mobile allows users to browse large collections of images and zoom in and out using finger taps. In order to develop it, Microsoft used its well-known deep zoom technology, being based on the Photosynth system for patching images together to create a 3D environment. However, Seadragon can also be extended to other kinds of data, being especially well suited to cloud computing scenarios involving large volumes of data.

Unfortunately for its Windows Mobile users, Microsoft does not plan to launch Silverlight Mobile until sometime next year. Channel partners expect any eventual Microsoft iPhone development story to have Silverlight For Mobile at its core. Other news indicate that Microsoft is also in the process of building its own mobile applications marketplace, codenamed “Skymarket”. Furthermore, the company might also launch its Windows Mobile 7 as early as 2009. An interesting fact shows that Microsoft has yet to develop Seadragon for Windows Mobile, but users shouldn't think that the company is shifting its resources to the iPhone platform.

Anyway, Microsoft developers are sure that the company will bring Seadragon to Windows Mobile. Furthermore, they think this is just a bold predictor of what's coming with Silverlight For Mobile. This is certainly a step forward in Apple's attempt to keep the iPhone as leader of the smartphone market, and that's because more and more rivals have launched their own devices, like Google's Android or Blackberry's Storm.