The iPad App Store just launched yesterday, and as you might expect, these apps are generally more expensive. The priciest iPad app costs a whopping $900.

It's called SiteClone Publisher, a universal app for both iPad and iPhone, and we couldn't help but feel curious about just what it does for such a hefty price. It turns out SiteClone is a framework designed to help corporate and government entities develop apps that pull content from websites even without an internet connection.

For example, if Wired.com bought SiteClone, we could create an app that pulls videos, audio clips and other media when the iPad is online, and later even if users are without an internet connection, the app could still access all that data without having to redownload it. The screenshot at right is an example of an app using the SiteClone framework.

That sounds awfully wonky and somewhat complicated, but why so expensive?

"The app contains two years of in-house development work, so we didn't want to make it too cheap," said Pete Meyers, vice president of EP Visual. "If we sell a few of them, hopefully we can lower the price." Meyers explained that hospitals, for example, could make use of SiteClone because they're notorious for poor internet connections.

$900 is exorbitant for an app, but it sure beats the feature-less iPhone app "I Am Rich," which was priced at $1,000 before Apple yanked it from the App Store in August 2008. Let's hope we don't see an "I Am Rich HD."

A hat tip to Daisy, who pointed out this app with the help of Mobclix analytics.

Product page [EP Visual]

See Also:

Photo courtesy of EP Visual