9:55 AM -- Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) has approved the first official iPhone app with the ability to stream live video over 3G and WiFi connections -- possibly thanks to head honcho Steve Jobs's personal intervention.

According to a report from Ars Technica, the developer sent Jobs an impassioned plea after the app, Knocking Live Video, was rejected by the App Store over its use of a private API, which violates the store's developer agreement.

"When it was rejected, I decided not to give up and reach out directly to Steve Jobs via e-mail," the app's developer Brian Meehan, of Pointy Heads Software, told Ars Technica. "I reached out to Apple to reconsider our application due to its potential to culturally change how people share live moments phone-to-phone."

Two days after he sent his email, he was contacted by an Apple exec and told the app would be approved, in an order that came "directly from the top." The app is now available for free at the app store.

It could be a sign, some believe, that Apple will improve its approval process to keep innovative apps like Knocking Live Video from slipping through the cracks.

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