What an action-packed 24 hours...

I was excited about the iPhone SDK announcement until I read on Techcrunch that multitasking won't be allowed - no apps can run in the background and any appas that do run end as soon as you get a call or go back to the menu screen.

That means an official LastFM client that scrobbles your music plays may not be possible and many VoIP clients (Truphone etc) won't be able to run as an 'always on' wi-fi alternative to normal calling. S60 is still king for me until they get that sorted!

Simple admiration for what Steve Jobs and Apple do, i.e. implement an idea and get it right first time, they really join all the dots when it comes to a product

The way Apple achieve this is by leaving out most of the dots (no 3G, no high end camera, no GPS, no MMS etc etc).

Apple take a 30% cut of app sales

I don't know how happy some developers will be with this, they seem annoyed enough by the cut that Handango etc take.

On the other hand, if there's a good distribution system the extra sales it generates might outweigh the lost margins.

Having used the N-Gage client with its incredibly easy method for purchasing software, it does seem that an easy-to-use on-phone software shop is the secret to a vibrant ecosystem. You can talk about technology until you're blue in the face, but having an ultra-easy method to find and purchase software is the way to drive sales, and sales are what make companies develop software in the first place.

Nokia does actually have a very good one-click software distribution system on its internet tablets (you just go to maemo.org/downloads on the tablet browser), but it's built almost entirely around free open source software so there's no need for a purchase mechanism.

As a mobile app developer looks like I will finally have to buy a Mac. My principles are against paying out extra cash for silly designer stuff so this is a bit grating for me. I like people not machines so I buy the basic kit needed to do the job and then shut the door on them when the job is done.

What will be the cheapest deal for a basic dev platform anyone? Preferably a used Ebay basement job.

Hmmm, does MAC OSX run in VMWare? Please..... I don't want to be seen buying a mac.....all my cred will be lost.....

The timing of this SDK couldn't have been better for Apple. Its comes close on the heels of Symbian's Self Signed Certificates debacle. Apple may win some quick sales from enraged s60v3 users with this. Come to think of it, iPhone suddenly sounds impressive to me.

Steve Jobs may have made a lot of mistakes with the iphone but this is a step in the right direction. He's still learning, he will get it right sooner or later.

When that 3G enabled iPhone becomes available later this year it will be really tempting. Apple are taking the fight to Nokia who will have to do more than remix the N95 to compete with a 3G iPhone + 3rd party apps. The real winner here will be the phone buyer, hopefully the competition will lead to further innnovations - something we can all enjoy.

"My principles are against paying out extra cash for silly designer stuff so this is a bit grating for me."

Same here BUT you must have a Windows machine to program Windows Mobile, so it's even...

Steve, to your point 2) above, I'll say this...

Sure Apple still has some catching up to do with respect to RF, voice (audio), and camera performance compared to Nokia, SE or even Samsung.

But the reality is that they have the resources to hire experienced engineers in these areas so they should have little difficulty in improving their design and adding features like 3G to the iPhone!

Historically Apple is a not company that likes partnerships. In the long run, I don't think Apple is very interested in the iPhone being tied down to specific carriers.

I think they chose to partner with the carriers (like AT&T in the US) to help launch the device and recoup some of the development costs (via very favorable revenue sharing).

I also think that as high-speed wireless data services become more widespread (be it 3G, 4G, WiMax or even WiFi), Apple is going to move away from traditional services (voice over GSM) to data services (voice over IP).

Imagine an iPhone with VoIP - using WiMax and/or the upcoming 700 MHz US band as well as WiFi (all of which are network independent) - and with a legacy GSM radio only used for backup.

Such a design allows Apple to circumvent the (very long by tech standards) 5-year exclusivity agreement with the carriers, and gives them an opportunity to expand the market.

My reasoning behind is based on the following quotes from Steve Jobs:

Question about Voice over IP. "Initial take is that we will only limit voice over IP over the cellular net. We'll allow them over Wi-Fi?"

"We have great relationships with our carriers, and Apple's responsible for the software on the phone, so we define the software, we distribute the apps, you have an iTunes account with a credit card, and really, this is our program, and we're running it." Do the carriers get a revenue share? "We're not going to get into details, but generally we like to see the revenue flow the other direction."

See: http://www.macworld.com/article/132376/2008/03/liveupdate.html

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Unregistered wrote:"My principles are against paying out extra cash for silly designer stuff so this is a bit grating for me."

Same here BUT you must have a Windows machine to program Windows Mobile, so it's even...

Really? Can I buy a Dell Mac then?

Way off even, Windows machines are bargain bucket cheap and there is no ridiculous premium to 'make a statement' or have an Apple badge on over-designed and unnecessary outer casing with poor quality hardware inside. The idea of having a designer pc or OS is acutely embarrassing. With a Windows machine I can pick up a generic clone for next to no money and it just does its job.

Why are people talking about Apple and Nokia as rivals? One company has a single phone product, the other has hundreds. Chalk and cheese. It's like comparing Toyota to the Tesla car company.

Quote: 'Simple admiration for what Steve Jobs and Apple do, i.e. implement an idea and get it right first time, they really join all the dots when it comes to a product, compared to Nokia's (for example) technique of finishing bits of products, releasing them all at different times and then hoping it all comes together in the end.'

Mostly agreed but doesn't apply to this announcement as initially Apple were not intending to release a developer SDK but thought development would all be Web 2. They had to change their plans when the realised what a stupid decision that was.

But at least they listened to people.

If the iPhone is such a success then why have I only seem 2 people with one since its launch?
I saw many N95's very soon after its release.
The iPhone seems to appeal to Apple zealots and technology junkies. I think it has yet to strike a chord with the general public in Europe. I don't think its main problem is the lack of 3G or MMS. I think its fundamental flaw is that it does not have keys and in the real world when walking around or in a shaking vehicle you need that tactile feedback to make a device usable. The iPhone would be great for the office but I have a PC and a landline there.

I have to disagree with "Apple implement an idea and get it right first time". The history of apple is littered with failures e.g. the Newton, the original iMac the relatively new Apple TV more listed here. People just tend to forget the flops and remember the successes.

I am a huge N95 8GB fan and have huge admiration for Nokia and Apple. Apple have done a great job here. Currently in order to really get interesting software i have to hear it from other people.

Promotion of S60 software is poor. The use of itunes for Iphone software is a masterstroke. Not only that but the Iphone is becoming the phone we wanted in the first place. I just hope they bring out an uber high spec version at some point to rival the top Nokia's.

Having said that i am interested in Nokia's responses, they are dissapointing user experience wise and 3rd party software have abused background resource usage and multitasking. I'd love to see how their touch UI is more than just the UI but also if its going to take things forward.

Lets see.

Officially 3rd party applications can't run in background on the iPhone and VOIP is restricted to WiFi, so a Skype client (like fring) or a call recorder seemingly impossible or just with hacking/breaking licenses. Ergo i still don't give a flying f*** about the iPhone.

Unregistered wrote:As a mobile app developer looks like I will finally have to buy a Mac. My principles are against paying out extra cash for silly designer stuff so this is a bit grating for me. I like people not machines so I buy the basic kit needed to do the job and then shut the door on them when the job is done.

What will be the cheapest deal for a basic dev platform anyone? Preferably a used Ebay basement job.

Hmmm, does MAC OSX run in VMWare? Please..... I don't want to be seen buying a mac.....all my cred will be lost.....

Try searching for Hackintosh if you are completely against buying Apple hardware. It is possible to get OSX running on a core 2 duo PC but there can be hardware compatibility issues. Lifehacker has a good collection of information on it.

The lack of multitasking of user developed applications does seem to be quite a downside in comparison with the relative openness of S60 development, but I can understand Apple wants an environment free from "Memory Full" messages and slow UI experiences when they pride themselves on having such a fast intuitive interface. One app open at a time will go a long way to keep the iPhone running as normal. S60 users have become too used to a laggy OS, although it has improved greatly with faster hardware.