Locals Aim To Cash In On Iphone Application Niche

BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA) -- Would you believe you can make $3 million in three months off one invention?

That's the truth when it comes to iphone applications. A number one app can rake in a fortune and anybody can do it.

A team of locals with no experience hope they are on their way to achieving such a goal after honing in on a niche market - entertainment. Matt Greenhut, a personal trainer, and Taz Khalid, a banker, spent months researching the top selling iphone applications before they started their project.

"Last January of 2009 what really caught our attention were stories of developers doing really well with applications in the entertainment category," said Greenhut. "We think we have pretty good senses of humor so we started coming up with various scenes and skits and themes."

The two teamed up with a technology firm in Herndon and launched eight applications, five of them approved already. Based on the success of two other well known applications, Pull My Finger and IFart, they're hoping that one particular app will turn out to be a top seller.

"It's called Girls Fart Too," said Greenhut. "It's a collection of funny scenes with guys and girls hanging out. In these scenes, the young women get busted for farting. It's not about not just the funny fart noises but all the comedy that ensues. The lies, the cover ups, the embarrassment, the denial, the teasing and the badgering."

It's no secret to those who follow the industry how successful similar applications turned out. The Moron Test is currently a top seller while the other bodily noise applications raked in more than $10 thousand a week at their peak.

"Where the economy is today, everything's bad news," said Khalid. "Any doctor will tell you that laughter is a cure."

Laughter at the cost of 99 cents for life. For the roughly 66,000 independent developers of iphone apps, there is a mere $99 fee to create, test and distribute. Greenhut said it's worth a chance.

It's just one of the few areas in the economy that is doing well. Cell phone sales are down but smart phone sales are up.