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iPhone SDK
Revolutionizing the smartphone that revolutionized smartphones (say that 5 times fast), Apple is about to release the long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated iPhone SDK or Software Developer's Kit. What makes this offering so appealing is that it puts an end to voided warranties caused by iPhone users "hacking" into their iPhones to install desired third-party applications.
Let's face it, as great as it may be, the iPhone doesn't do everything users want it to do. It doesn't even do all that other competing smartphones and PDAs and Pocket PCs, et al do. So it only makes sense that savvy programmers would devise applications to serve those needs. The only problem being that Apple wasn't sanctioning this type of behavior.
The only form of third-party software development for the iPhone that Apple did permit, web-based apps that users could access via the Safari browser built into their iPhones, failed to satisfy developers and users alike.
But that's all a thing of the past. With the upcoming release of the iPhone SDK, users everywhere can look forward to a blizzard of new ways to improve, enhance, and expand upon their iPhone's functionality. The editors of Macworld recently published a list of 25 such improvements they'd like to see the iPhone SDK spawn, including:
- An iPhone ebook reader compatible with Amazon Kindle
- A screenshot capture utility
- A carpenter's level
- A blogging interface
- A unit and currency converter
- A radio
- A finger-painting program
- A dictionary/thesaurus
- An RSS feed reader
- VoIP
Just thinking about all the possibilities unleashes the imagination, doesn't it?
But one of the greatest innovations analysts anticipate due to the iPhone SDK is a bridging of the consumer-business gap, bringing the power, versatility, and user-friendliness of the iPhone into the business arena. The iPhone's use in the enterprise has been debated for just about as long as the iPhone has been available for purchase.
The iPhone SDK should make it easy for IT experts to give iPhone's enterprise class security and connectivity, which makes they can bring the businesses they work for a revolutionary new (and dare we say easier) way of conducting business.
AT&T has already seen this future in their crystal ball and, at the end of January, came out with an iPhone data plan for businesses. That surely makes AT&T one of the business most looking forward to the March 6 iPhone SDK release.
In addition to a full introduction the iPhone SDK and all that it can do, the 10 am Town Hall Meeting style unveiling hosted at Apple's Cupertino headquarters will likely also explore the approval process for any applications developed using the iPhone SDK as well as plans for how such apps will be distributed.
One rumor has it, incidentally, that the distribution venue will be none other than the iTunes Store. Smart.
What do you wish your iPhone can do? Well consider this: your wishes may not be so far-fetched after all. In fact, they may be just around the bend.
iPhone News
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