http://www.macrumors.com/2007/10/04/...lication-plan/
Normally I wouldn't post something that Mac rumors has but it's a 9to5mac article that they link to.
All of us here have been hoping for third-party application support from Apple but DO NOT BE DECEIVED! This is not in any way going to benefit ANY of us.
For those who don't know, the T-Mobile Sidekick/Danger Hiptop (the cell phone made popular by Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton) has a development system which is basically the following:
You download the SDK and an emulator free of charge, you can develop apps/games for the Sidekick using the SDK, but YOU CANNOT INSTALL IT ON YOUR PHONE. For that, you need a developer key. Getting one is not easy, you have to write an application and prove that it is worthy of the Sidekick by having Danger approve it, and only THEN can you get a developer's key. ONLY the key, note: This does not approve the app for distribution, it's only for a developer's key.
Think that's bad? It gets worse. Installation of the developer's key on your Sidekick VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY, and renders your Sidekick unsupported by both Danger and T-Mobile.
So there you have it, if you read the above link and the 9to5mac article Apple is actually enlisting the help of Danger execs to implement a similar development system for the iPhone, except that basically they think that only those close to Apple will even have a shot at getting the SDK.
They claim that what they're doing now locking the phone down is because they don't want people to pirate EA's and other companies' games/apps when they come out for the iPhone. Don't fall for this BS! Last time I checked iPhoneSimFree hasn't been cracked yet and you still have to buy a license in order to use it.
Also, the way Apple has 1.1.1 locked down right now proves they can lock their **** down, so it's just an excuse to exclude the general development community from developing applications for the phone.
Steve Jobs will no doubt talk about this in January if there's any truth to it, and spin it out to be the 'holy grail' that we developers have been asking for but this is pure BS.
Please discuss, I personally am writing a letter to Apple immediately to propose that they stop this nonsense.
If this happens I will no longer be a customer of Apple.