Nitobi, the company behind the PhoneGap mobile app development framework, announced the beta release of its PhoneGap Build service, which it said enables the creation of mobile apps without the need to use specialist software development kits, compilers and hardware. The service enables the creation of apps using standard web technologies including HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, which are then uploaded to PhoneGap Build, which compiles apps in the cloud and returns native software for platforms including Android, Palm, Symbian, BlackBerry, “and more.”

According to Nitobi, PhoneGap Build is free while in beta, and will remain free for open-source projects after this. It did not state how it will charge for commercial builds after this date. The PhoneGap Build website also indicates that MeeGo, bada and Windows Phone 7 support is planned. The company says that iOS support is currently unavailable, “but we’re working on the technical and (more so) legal issues surrounding that.”

The original PhoneGap source code has been downloaded “more than 350,000 times,” and “thousands of apps built using PhoneGap are available in app stores and directories.” Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with the Symbian Foundation to integrate Symbian’s web app creation tools with PhoneGap, and it also recently added support for BlackBerry OS6 to its portfolio.