BusinessWeek reports that Apple has included features in its upcoming iPhone OS 3.0 that would allow users to share apps with other iPhone users. However, it’s unclear whether Apple will activate that feature.

Apple’s new iPhone 3.0 software includes features that, if activated by Apple, may let users share software with one another, according to a person familiar with the technology. Eventually, iPhone users may even get a commission when they’ve induced someone else to make a purchase, says Richard Doherty, director at consultant Envisioneering Group. Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock wouldn’t discuss features that might be available in the future, saying only, “We’ve made no announcements at this time.”

Apple could take advantage of the “peer-to-peer connectivity” described at Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 preview event in March to allow users to “invite” nearby users to download applications. This report also discusses the role users might play to further promote apps.

One example of P2P connectivity will be available in the new iPhone 3.0 software, due this summer. Users will be able to play multiplayer games with one another using Bluetooth connectivity, rather than needing to be on a carrier’s network. A player’s phone will automatically detect nearby iPhones and iPod touches that run the same app and send them an invitation to join the game. Initially, the feature will work only when both parties already have a particular app. “Now you can sell copies of your app to two players instead of one,” says Dave Howell, a former Apple engineer who now runs peer-to-peer file-sharing apps maker Avatron Software. In the future, a player may be able to invite another to a game when the second person does not yet own a particular app. Such invitations could trigger additional purchases.

WWDC will be June 8th in San Fransisco and will be a major topic next week.