Apple Announces iPhone SDK
Posted by rspeed on Wednesday, October 17. 2007 in Apple
There have been three issues which have prevented me from buying an iPhone:
- AT&T
- Price
- 3rd party software
Due to the fact that I'm unwilling to use hacks to unlock a phone's SIM, the first issue is going to continue at least until the exclusive use agreement with AT&T ends in a few years. The second was resolved to my satisfaction with the $200 price drop. The third, however, seemed like it may never truly be solved.
Today, however, Steve Jobs announced that they'll have an iPhone / iPod Touch SDK available (hopefully) in February. This all but confirms my suspicion that Apple wasn't allowing 3rd party apps on the iPhone simply because they didn't have an SDK ready at launch time.
He strongly suggested that a digital signature will be required for applications to run. This puts Apple in the position to determine who is allowed to develop applications and who is left out in the cold. I'm hopeful that the process of getting a certificate will be free and will only require proving your identity.
Overall, things are looking pretty good and I can't wait to get my hands on it.