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The iPhone lets in the 3rd Party!
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Now im not sure if this is big news to most of us since only a handful of people in India own iPhones but il go through the basics of this move by Apple nevertheless.
- Apple has opened up its Software to outside develops in order to crowd - source and make the iPhone cooler than all those other handsets that currently exist in the market. The Nokia’s, Blackberry’s et al.
- Apple executives have released an SDK or Software Development Kit
- Applications will be critically examined before they are released. The revenue share for applications is pretty good - if an application is sold on the official Apple website, the developer gets 70%
- This is not an open source project, it is a for profit project (which is i think where the main problem lies - for consumers atleast) The argument however could be that open source projects so far haven’t really benefitted too many consumers anyway. Check out OpenMoko’s phone here - a phone with features similar to the iPhone but its an open source phone.
- Programming wizards can work on actual iPhones by registering in a developers program with Apple for 99 Dollars
- Software for engineers to develop programs in a virtual iPhone model is available on Apple’s website (although i think it is not Window’s compatible)
- The Applications will work on the iPod Touch as well - they are basically iPhones without telephone capabilities.
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Some thoughts:
Even though I don’t own an iPhone yet, this is indeed BIG news for me. I was following the event live on Gizmodo as well as Engadget.
Apple has just released the beta of it’s SDK, which is NOT exactly the same as “opening up its Software to the outside develops in order to crowd-source
The apps will officially be out in June of this Year ( hopefully )
Each app will have a digital certificate needed. Apps will NOT be sold on the official website, but rather, a nifty utility will be provided on the iPhone 2.0 firmware called the AppStore, the only legit place through which apps can be downloaded and used.
Developers can download the SDK from the official Apple Developers site and start working, but they can be only tried on the iPhone Emulator.
The SDK is Mac only meaning, only Apple Mac users and developers can develop the apps. Not only that, the SDK is limited to Intel Macs only.
To try on the iPhone hardware, you have to pay the $99 fee to Apple.
All of the above will not be made available to consumers before June 2008.
Now, for the main part. I really think that the above is NOT going to benefit us Indians, or for that matter any SIMFree phone. I don’t think you can use the above certified apps on a unlocked phone.
So untill India gets an official iPhone, all of the above is a distant dream.
wow - i shouldve just pinged you and got you to write the post! True it wont benefit us Indians at all because the phone is locked which is why i think the OpenMoko phone is a better option for a tech enthusiast - design aside, it has everything that you would want on the iPhone and more. I would still term apple move as crowd sourcing - although i admit it is regulated crowd sourcing. Its a good idea for a company like apple to screen applications and not just let it be an open platform - 1 is the revenue perspective and 2 - more importantly is the branding perspective. They would often be asking - is this application useful to an apple enthusiast? is it synergizing with brand values? Not too many consumer focussed companies are crowd sourcing well - maybe apple will lead the way.