Still a rumor at this point, Business Week says Apple will start offering software development kits for the iPhone beginning of 2008. According to the article, the delay was caused by Apple wanting to release his new OS Leopard before opening the iPhone to developers instead of the official statement related to “bugs from third-party software posing a threat to cellular networks”. But “concerns like that will probably lead Apple to be careful in selecting which programmers are given the tools to build iPhone software. It isn’t clear yet how Apple plans to go about vetting programmers or to what extent it will open the platform to them.”
Flickr photo by dylanparker.
Update: Sylvain Carle (in the comments) and the The Unofficial Apple Weblog report that the SDK will be available in February.
What it means: Apple has created a mini-revolution around the iPhone when it launched in the US last summer (it’s still not available officially in Canada). More than 1M units have been sold and this has created a very interesting installed base for third party applications (hundreds are already available and can be installed on a hacked, unlocked iPhone). If you operate in the local space, mobile is key and you should be looking at the iPhone as a potential platform for your local app.
Seb Provencher's Blog 
Confirmed now, from the horse’s mouth :
“Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.”
Read the rest at http://www.apple.com/hotnews/
Confirmed now, from the horse’s mouth :
“Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.”
Read the rest at http://www.apple.com/hotnews/