Albuquerque's underrepresented status on the weekly technology newswires is thankfully set right as New Mexico-based Byte Works makes the headlines with its techBASIC App Builder offering.

Described as an app that brings the power of a desktop computer to an iPhone or iPad for programming, techBASIC will compile under Xcode with the techBASIC App Builder for (potential) sale on the App Store.

The ability to write an app for the iPhone or iPad in BASIC opens up iOS app development to a brand new audience. Its makers state that not only is the learning curve for Objective C gone, but programs that took "hundreds of lines" of code and multiple classes to write in Objective C, can now be written in just a few dozen lines of code in techBASIC.

The techBASIC programming language includes:

Array and matrix commands

Access external and internal sensors including Bluetooth LE

Interactive graphics

Step and trace debugger

A built-in help system

"techBASIC's technical computing environment makes it easy to create apps with interactive graphics, access internal sensors, and connect to external devices with Bluetooth low energy. techBASIC also includes built-in calls, making it easy to create apps with all of the standard iOS controls," said Mike Westerfield, president of Byte Works.

techBASIC App Builder takes techBASIC programs written on iOS and converts them into fully functional standalone apps, enabling developers to write apps without using Objective C.

Users who create apps using techBASIC can then distribute them just like any other app on the Apple App Store as free or paid apps. They can also be distributed using ad hoc distribution to any iPhone or iPad.

NOTE: The software itself is not free or open source, but Byte Works insists that the end product is an app that is "indistinguishable" from apps written in Objective C.