MANILA, Philippines -- Hong Kong-based Novare Technologies is harnessing Filipino talent in developing software for Apple's iPhone mobile device.

Novare is headquartered in Hong Kong but its Technology Resource Center, which is its applications development unit, is located in the country.

Apple last week announced it will come out with the software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone, which would allow developers like Novare to build applications running on the much-hyped mobile device.

Novare has already conducted testing of its applications designed for the iPhone, said Ernie Imperial, the company's business development director, who welcomed Apple's SDK announcement.

"We have the skill sets, we have done testing of our applications and we are primed to deliver these to prospective customers," Imperial said via phone interview.

Novare likewise develops applications for the Blackberry handheld, mostly enterprise applications since the device is geared primarily toward business users.

"We are looking at consumer apps as well since that's the strength of the iPhone," added Imperial. Similar to the Blackberry, he also sees enterprise applications becoming popular on the iPhone.

Apple has yet to launch the iPhone in the Philippines but Imperial said: ""The target (for Novare) would be iPhone’s legal markets, both consumer and enterprise."

Apple has said it will make the iPhone available in Asia this year although local service providers have yet to announce they would carry the device. The iPhone is already sold locally in the gray market and hackers have reportedly "cracked" the device to run local SIM cards.