Google Wave may still be in its infancy, but it’s already looking towards the future – a future that includes monetization. And part of that monetization will apparently come from an iPhone (or Android)-like app store, where developers can market Wave apps and consumers can buy them, with Google presumably taking a cut.

According to The Next Web, Google confirmed an app store is in the works at an event in London on Monday. The blog speculates that “a Wave marketplace could stock in-Wave applications, along with desktop applications, browser extensions and a world of devices, from laptops, phones, tablets and more with built in Wave support.”

The development doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as Google Wave already has an extensions platform for adding functionality. Back in June, we wrote that “we wouldn’t be surprised if entrepreneurs created robots or gadgets for businesses they could charge for, and expect applications that rival the usefulness of Twitter apps.”

However, an app store is only attractive to developers if there are users. Between iPhone and iPod Touch, there are more than 40 million of them – hence, why you now have more than 100,000 apps, with every other mobile platform far behind. Wave was just rolled out to 100,000 users last month, who are slowly getting invites so they can add friends and colleagues.

We have a long way to go until a Wave app store becomes a reality, let alone a viable business, but it’s an interesting possibility to think about.

Source:http://mashable.com/2009/10/27/google-wave-app-store/