Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

As I reported in Sunday’s Times, the iPhone has been a golden ticket for some developers who have cashed in on the platform with popular applications.

But the chances of hitting the iLotto have grown increasingly slim. As more developers seek their fortune in the glossy curves of the device, the App Store is becoming crowded. Competition is spiking, driving down application prices — and the chances of becoming the next iMillionaire.

Could the iPhone 3.0 change that? Some developers think so.

Apple’s new version of phone software, expected to be released publicly this summer, will allow developers to employ several new ways to monetize content and build new business models beyond mobile advertisements and charging a flat fee per download. In particular, developers will be able to sell subscriptions and allow users to make individual purchases from within the application itself.

Those changes might only benefit professional developers and larger gaming companies like Sega and Electronic Arts with the resources to deliver extras worth paying for, like secret gaming levels and expansion packs, warns Erica Sadun who has authored several books about coding for the iPhone, including one on the newest software changes.

“These are advances that will better benefit the larger developers than the smaller developers,” she said.

But Nicole Lazzaro, a game design consultant, described the upgrades as “a big win for developers.”

“Right now, it’s pretty hard to make back your development cost at a $1 per application,” she said. “You have to sell quite a few applications to do that.” With the changes, she said, developers can still entice iPhone owners with a lower upfront price and introduce upgrades and offers within the application that will generate additional revenue over time.

Some independent developers — such as Kostas Eleftheriou, one of the creators behind iSteam, a nifty digital parlor trick that fogs up the face of an iPhone like a bathroom mirror — think the upgrade will spur a new wave of creativity.

“There will be a sudden storm of apps that were not possible before,” he said, referring to the addition of peer-to-peer networking, multimedia messaging and cut-and-paste functionality. “The new features will be available for everyone, not just big companies.”