Apple CEO Steve Jobs made somewhat of a reversal on his decision to lock developers out of the iPhone. He announced during his keynote address at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco that developers of third-party applications will be able to create Web applications for the iPhone using Apple's Web browser, Safari. But Apple isn't providing a software development kit or support community for iPhone applications at this point.
According to the announcement made by Jobs, developers will be able to create Web 2.0 applications "which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone." Apple plans to ship the phone June 29. Apple had previously said the Mac-based operating system on the iPhone would be locked down in the interests of security. But third party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend the device's capabilities without compromising its reliability or security, the company said.
But developers want more. Can the iPhone be a success without creating a developer community or will Apple have to give them what they want?
To find out more about Apple's developer plans:
- take a look at this CNET News article
- read this report from telecoms.com (sub. req.)
- see this release from Apple