Apple Is Picky About Its iPhone Dev Program

Seemingly, not everyone was paying attention to what Steve Jobs had to say during the March 6 event when Apple introduced the long-awaited iPhone SDK. Reports everywhere talk of somewhat of a discrimination between developers who applied for the iPhone Developer Program and got a negative answer from Apple.

"Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request," says the Cupertino-based company in its email to those who applied and didn't fit the profile that Apple was looking for. "As this time, the iPhone Developer Program is available to a limited number of developers and we plan to expand during the beta period. We will contact you again regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time," Apple assures applicants.

As some of you may recall, Apple's boss said that the program would be available only to a "limited number of developers" in its early stages. He actually said these words on stage. Jobs described their initiative thoroughly and in a very open manner, not hiding any aspects that might later turn out to be in the disadvantage of developers worldwide, big and small. Apple has implied that as v2.0 iPhone software approaches, more developers will be taken aboard.

There's one aspect however that Apple and its CEO failed to make clear and that is the fact that only US devs can apply for the program right now:

"Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request. At this time, the iPhone Developer Program is only available in the US and will expand to other countries during the beta period. We will contact you again regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time. Thank you for applying," says the Apple email sent out to non-US applicants.

AppleInsider posts an upset developer's comment up on iLounge. Chad mentions iFund, a sensitive topic starting with the release of the SDK and the announcement of the iPhone Dev. Program, with $100 million somewhere in the middle:

"Got my rejection email, today. Know someone else who did, also," said Chad, a prospective developer commenting on the matter on iLounge. "Suppose iFund will wanna float any money my way now that apple has ditched me? I doubt it. Ah… thanks Apple."

MORE RELATED ARTICLES: 'Light' Competition for Apple's MacBook Air Fan Update Fails to Fix Air-Freezing Issues iPhone Getting CrazyKart 2 WWDC 2008 Dated June. Introduces iPhone Sessions iPhone 2.0 Screens and Video iPhone Dual Boot UK, Swedish, German and Norwegian Apple Stores Down Apple Faced with iTunes, iPod Lawsuit