14 DAY TRIAL // When rumors of an iPhone SDK surfaced just after the reports about Apple's iPhone web application portal began emerging, it all seemed too good to be true. The company was clearly pushing forward with its web based applications strategy that had so far worked far better than many could have hoped for. Apple surprises yet again, with their most recent announcement that should make every iPhone developer, current or future, happy.
Straight from Apple's Hot News site: Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers' hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers. It will take until February to release an SDK because we're trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once-provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc. This is no easy task. Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones-this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target. Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than "totally open," we believe it is a step in the right direction. We are working on an advanced system which will offer developers broad access to natively program the iPhone's amazing software platform while at the same time protecting users from malicious programs. We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones.
Steve
While the iPhone platform will not be as 'open' as the Mac one is, where anyone can develop any application, it will still be far more open than it is now. The 'console' approach is more than enough, but the devil will be in the details and it will be important to see how much money Apple will be taking from developers, for the SDK and everything else that will be involved in the service. While February is still a long way off, there will undoubtedly be more information along the way that will allow developers to at least plan their applications, if not start development already.
While the iPhone will be the center of the spotlight here, the fact that this same SDK will allow development of applications for the iPod Touch is not trivial matter. While the iPhone may still be the hot new gadget, it is only a matter of time before the iPod touch starts outnumbering it heavily.