Bill Hughes, Principal Analysts with In-Stat, agrees that push e-mail is important but warns that offering reliable push e-mail isn't as easy as RIM sometimes makes it seem. Hughes doesn't think iPhone users will see a quality third-party mail client with push functionality for at least another year.

2) Enterprise Security Enhancements

The lack of necessary security safeguards continues to vex IT departments considering supporting iPhones. For instance, IT cannot currently wipe or lock lost or stolen devices, and support representatives don't have the ability to control the data that users download or upload to and from the device. Nor can they remotely enforce password changes.

"IT departments need the ability to remotely wipe devices and enforce password change policy," in their corporate smartphones, says Gartner Analyst Ken Dulaney. Dulaney says such security features are so important that his research firm won't give its approval to the iPhone as a business tool until the features become available. And Silva, who recently worked on a report titled "The iPhone is Not Meant for Enterprises," named security as the top reason the iPhone is not currently suitable for business use.

Forrester's Silva says he thinks a mail client with more robust encryption could be on the horizon. Mahdavi also expects to see new applications that attempt to address these security-related concerns.

3) Improved PIM Tools and Synchronization

Security also poses an issue with personal information management (PIM) tools for iPhones, one of the first likely add-ons to appear, says In-Stat's Hughes, who predicts it will be between three and sixth months before any applications developed using the new SDK hit the market.

"Users want truly mindless synchronization of personal information, but when security's a concern, the more mindless the synchronization—i.e., there's no password necessary—the larger the problem," Hughes says. New PIM tools for the iPhone will have to emphasize security while finding a balance between ease of use and safety, he says.

The SDK release could lead to improved synchronization applications for personal information and media, namely over-the-air calendar and contact syncing, which is not currently available to iPhone users, Dulaney says. Apple could also announce new support for Microsoft's ActiveSync functionality, Dulaney says.

Finally, don't forget the Exchange equation: Scott Gamble, senior director of strategic development at Alliance Data, a payments firm, and a business iPhone user, says the most valuable application that could be released for his iPhone would be one that provides better integration and sync capability between his smartphone and Microsoft Exchange Server.