The Wall Street Journal reported that a developer is planning to launch on Friday a new service called Cydia Store that could sell hundreds of iPhone applications. The apps aren't available through Apple's official store, and they require "jailbroken" iPhones. Such iPhones have software downloaded that modifies the device to run any application.

The article also mentioned another developer, Rock Your Phone, which also plans to sell unauthorized iPhone apps. But this store won't require iPhones to be modified, the article says.

Most smartphone users can install software from a plethora of application stores, but iPhone users can only shop at Apple's iTunes store, unless they take the step of unlocking their handset. Apple can be counted on to fight this move hard, and recently argued that jailbreaking an iPhone was illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A single site providing tools and applications could quickly be shut down by Apple's lawyers, so it seems likely the only reason that Cydia has been allowed to survive this long is that without being able to charge users the software developed for jailbroken phones was a commercial dead end.

Moreover the Cydia creator wants that route to become a little more official and a little more streamlined. You see, most of the apps through Cydia are free, but the ones that cost money have the payment handled by each individual developer, usually via PayPal. With this new ambition, Cydia creator Jay Freeman plans to convert Cydia into an "all-out application store" not unlike the App Store, Android Market, or BlackBerry App World. With this new system, the payment mechanism would be standardized and all money would filter through the Cydia system. This makes it safer for buyers and easier for sellers.