Hong Kong tempts iPhoners with city’s culinary delights

(Apple)

It had to happen in a city that is so fiercely proud of its culinary attractions - the Hong Kong Tourism Board has this week launched an iPhone application that will take you on a tour of 40 of the city's favorite restaurants.

Downloadable via http://www.discoverhongkong.com or from the iTunes store for free, the "Hong Kong Local Delicacies'' application backs the knowledge of a collection of local food critics and celebrities and they give the insiders' tip on where to go for such local favorites as dim sum.

There's also an introduction to local favorites such as congee and rice noodles.

There are now around 150,000 applications available for iPhone, most of which will also be available for the iPad after it is launched this weekend.

A recent report published by GetJar (http://www.getjar.com) - a site which bills itself as the world's second largest application store - claims that software for mobile devices will top US$17.5 billion (13 billion euros) in the next three years, while downloads of applications will grow from just over seven billion last year to nearly 50 billion by 2012.

MS