A lot of big developers are currently look at what applications can be made with the Apple iPhone software development kit (SDK).

Two of Microsoft's divisions are currently exploring the possibilities of introducing business apps and voice recognition applications to the popular handheld unit from Apple.

Corporate vice president of Microsoft's Specialized Devices and Applications Group Tom Gibbons gave word that they have the skills to develop applications but are currently looking at the SDK and are considering what functionalities users may need:

We do have experience with that environment, and that gives us confidence to be able to do something.The key question is, what is the value that we need to bring? WeÂ?re still getting comfortable with the SDK, right? ItÂ?s just come out. So we had a guess as to what feasibility would be like, now weÂ?ll really get our head wrapped around that.

On that note, Microsoft's newly acquired voice recognition unit called TellMe is also interested in developing an application for the iPhone. It's only a question of what tools the SDK can offer the team.

Mike McCue, the TellMe's general manager, seemed pretty enthusiastic about , saying: "If the SDK supports these things (voice recognition), weÂ?re absolutely going to get a version out there as soon as we can, get TellMe out there on the iPhone."

From all indications, it looks like we can expect a lot of support from the third-party software developers. It might be interesting to see which group gets out their applications first, and if they can corner the market fast enough.