Late Breaking iPhone SDK Rumors: EDGE OK, Apple's Cut, Mac-Only SDK

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

Patiently waiting. Just a few more hours until much is revealed.

 

[slickmacke]

I thought I might like to stir the already boiling pot with an email I just received from our IT dept. They have had a few communications with Apple about the iPhones they purchased us last year and here is something they forwarded to us.


"Also, the support representative recommended that you download all software upgrades if you have not done so at this time. There have been three releases since the date of purchase. A fourth upgrade will be released by early April, which will allow you to download approved third party software to your iPhone."


I thought it was a little weird that a "support representative" knows of an update that will be released by early April.

Anyway...just wanted to get some of your thoughts on this little bit of info.

 

[kkrueger]

Yay for new apps! I'm pretty new to all of this, so I'm curious...will the new apps me made available through iTunes or through the developer's website?

 

[kakiser56]

Im a Select member and I didnt get a copy of Server.

You need to download it and burn it on to a DVD yourself.

 

[arkitect]

So when will this conference be on in real (UK) time?

6pm UK time.

 

[nickbates]

Not to go too far off topic, but isn't the iPhone based on a version Tiger (10.4)?

No, it's based on Leopard (10.5)... where have you been? You must have missed all the hoopla last year about Apple diverting Leopard developers away to work on the iPhone version of Leopard (thus delaying the release of the full Mac version of Leopard.)

 

[Steven Haskayne]

Erm...

Paying for apps means screwing with ppl in countries with no iTunes Store?

People won't be screwed as you can only have an iphone if you have an itunes account (or, yes i know, "unlock" it).

Just do what every other person outside the US should. But a US itunes gift card from ebay and register a false US address, then Hey presto - You are good to go!

 

[pyramid6]

You cannot download XCode tools from Apple without being an ADC member. It stands to reason that your not going to be able to download iPhone SDK without being a member as well. It also stands to reason that they are going to integrate the iPhone SDK into XCode, as they have done with all of there SDKs. XCode only runs on Mac, it will not run on anything else, nor will it ever in my opinion. Now if you read remember nothing else.

ADC membership is free! http://developer.apple.com/products/online.html Anyone can sign up, and you don't even need to own a Mac.

I would love for Apple to distribute any apps I develop on iTunes. Hell, I'd even pay them to do it. Hopeful, there is a way to distribute applications outside of iTunes as well.

P6

 

[Sky Blue]

Anyone who calls themselves any sort of developer will have Leopard.

exactly

 

[bytethese]

WiFi and EDGE apps? Control my home via iPhone, Check. Slingplayer for iPhone, Check. Sky's the limit, Check!

 

[dr_lha]

Yea, but countries that don't have an iTunes store prob don't sell iPhones either.

You're forgetting about the iPod Touch.

 

[andiwm2003]

i just hope they release some apps with the sdk.

i want a

pdf/txt reader
a notes editor that syncs with my mac
a voice recorder
a client for my .mac account to view pdf's/txt files there

i would be willing to pay a moderate amount for apps like this. i know it's unlikely but well i always can hope......

 

[sebastianlewis]

Hope they are right about them being able to use both EDGE and WiFi. Because of the oddness of the iTunes WiFi Store, I wasn't quite sure what to expect on that end.

Sebastian

 

[kevd00d]

i'm as excited about the event as i am about bacon-wrapped hot dogs

 

[macintel4me]

.. Apple will be wanting a "small percentage" of revenue from iPhone application sales. ...

If Apple manages 1) the financial transaction, 2) product customer lists, 3) product distribution, 4) product update distirubtion and 5) licensing there is real value worthy of a cut. However, this does raise quesitons such as are 30 day trials allowed? Could additional features be turned on with an extra fee outside of the Apple iTunes ecosystem? Does each version of the app need to be approved? What's the lag time between customer purchase and third party software vendor getting paid?

I guess we will find out a lot more in a few hours.

 

[averyash]

This is just a rumor, it doesn't confirm anything. Also, there could be free apps available as well, the rumor doesn't say otherwise.

If Apple gets a small cut of stuff sold via iTunes, i guess that's tolerable. Enough to help pay for Akamai servers or whatever. But it better be pretty small.

And if there are apps sold outside of iTunes, it wouldn't make sense for Apple to get a cut.

Write it down:

Apple will take a 30% cut of sales from apps sold via iTunes (obiously no cut for free apps... 0% of $0.00 = 0)


This represents another step in what is a long term plan for Apple. Apple has continued to expand the offerings of the Apple store. Music... TV Shows... Movies... now Applications for the iPhone. Apple is both capitalizing on the fact that iTunes is an outstanding distribution model as well as building on the wireless (and hard-media-less) trend that is outlined with comments on the MBA. Remote drives are a nice short-term fix for installing software from CDs, but my money is on Apple moving to distribute software, beyond that soley for the iPhone, via iTunes and taking this same cut of sales.

 

[macintel4me]

Apple will take a 30% cut of sales from apps sold via iTunes (obiously no cut for free apps... 0% of $0.00 = 0)

It would be very Apple-like to offer apps only in 3 or so pricing categories much like the "good, better, best" model. For example, free, $4.99 and $19.99. Yes, I made that up. But I could see Apple, not dictate, but really control pricing to give a better experience to the consumer. The "small cut" would probably be a different percentage based on the price point. Just my guess.

 

[GeekLawyer]

Maybe I'm naive here, but if I paid $500 for the phone, I'm probably pretty willing to spend $20 on an application I really want to run on it. I am in the habit of paying for things of value (to me).

 

[Hattig]

Not to go too far off topic, but isn't the iPhone based on a version Tiger (10.4)?

If so, does this mean a release updating the OS to the Leopard libraries? I guess we'll find out once the SDK is delivered.

Yeah, I agree. I suspect the next major release (to be numbered 1.2, 1.5 or even 2.0) of the firmware will drag iPhone OS X up into the Leopard world completely. I expect the APIs to change from the current 1.1.x support branch to the final stable SDK-supported APIs.

This is where I expect new iPhone applications to have been developed in the past couple of months as well, so the new firmware could bring some exciting stuff alongside the SDK. Beta SDK in March, new iPhone OS release in April, final SDK in April/May?

 

[macintel4me]

Yeah, I agree. I suspect the next major release (to be numbered 1.2, 1.5 or even 2.0) of the firmware will drag iPhone OS X up into the Leopard world completely. I expect the APIs to change from the current 1.1.x support branch to the final stable SDK-supported APIs.

The iPhone is probably some mix, but more closely tied to Leopard. CoreAnimation is a Leopard-only feature and the iPhone/iPod touch user experiences is FILLED with CoreAnimation. My guess is the beta offered today will include a transition from LayerKit to CoreAnimation.

 

[Peace]

Im a Select member and I didnt get a copy of Server.

Server is only available via download from the ADC website.

So when will this conference be on in real (UK) time?

Friendly reminder about a great "app".

Open dashboard and click on the world clock. Set it to Cupertino. When it says 10AM that's when the iPhone event starts.

 

[TitoC]

It's still bad news. There are developers with iPhones who would not touch a Mac with a stick. And I bet their numbers are way above the amount of developers with an iPhone and Leopard.

Bye Bye. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

 

[hayesk]

Oh. My bad. But I think anyone who ponied up for ADC membership probably bought Leopard by this point.

I mean if you spend $100 on ADC how could you justify not spending $100 on Leopard?

ADC Online is free. But I agree with your point - developers pretty much all have Leopard at this point. And considering the iPhone runs a variant of Leopard, it's not an egregious requirement.

 

[i.mac]

Maybe I'm naive here, but if I paid $500 for the phone, I'm probably pretty willing to spend $20 on an application I really want to run on it. I am in the habit of paying for things of value (to me).

agreed.

The apple user experience is worth it.

 

[garty]

Paying for apps means screwing with ppl in countries with no iTunes Store?

How do those ppl get games for their iPods?