« Kindle Demand - Perception and Reality | Home | So Close, You Can Taste It »
iPhone SDK Opens Some Intriguing Doors
By Dave Peterson | March 6, 2008
Today Apple introduced their new Software Development Kit for the iPhone. Until now, most iPhone applications have had to be web-based rather than residing on the handset. The other option was to jailbreak your phone, allowing running of third-party apps, but beginning an ongoing cycle of bricking and re-jailbreaking with each new firmware update. The few official pieces of Apple-sanctioned (and supplied) software such as Maps and Notes only addressed small parts of what the user community would really like to see possible on the device.
Within a few days of starting to use an iPhone, the most striking aspect of the experience was that this was really a pretty serviceable small computer. The virtual keypad takes some getting used to, but it’s got some great shortcuts built in that can increase speed and accuracy with a little practice. If you’ve got a good EDGE signal, web and email-oriented operations on the iPhone mimic the computer experience surprisingly well. But there is more to most computers than their online component. Productivity software (word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and the like) are something I take for granted on a computer. And if you’ve got a good signal, those things can be accomplished today through Google Docs. But a good signal is not always there, and I’m hesitant to rely too heavily on documents that might not be accessible in a dead zone.
Apple’s announcement today opened with a focus on the kind of features that corporate users want, most surrounding email, calendars and security. Most notably, compatibility with Microsoft Exchange, an industry standard for business communication, is going to be built into the next generation iPhone.
On the SDK side of things, Apple is making the very impressive looking kit available for free. Joining the developer program, which enables developers to sell apps on the iTunes Store and receive a 70% cut of the developer-set price, is $99. The developer program for enterprise coders working on proprietary solutions is $299.
An interesting element that was touched on was that the accelerometer technology in iPhone (which allows certain screens, like the web browser, to change from portrait to landscape view when the phone is physically moved), is sensitive on 3 axes, and that input ability can be built into applications. This, combined with multi-touch, suggests some fascinating possibilities for control of future applications.
More information is available here. That accelerometer input option is sticking with me. I may just have to take a look at this SDK.
Topics: Phones |
March 14th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
[…] iPhone SDK Opens Some Intriguing Doors […]