“Google Code is hosting the first third-party native application ever for the iPhone. A real full-fledged iPhone application with a graphic user interface and its own icon in the iPhone home screen. Yes, this is not a Web 2.0 app but the real thing,” Jesus Diaz reports for Gizmodo.
“The application is MobileTerminal, ‘a terminal emulator application for the iPhone,'” Diaz reports.
“While most iPhone users won’t find a terminal emulator exciting, there are plenty of reasons to get thrilled about this development. First and foremost, this is the first iPhone native graphical application done without an official SDK from Apple (there are others, but they are low-level.) This means that hackers are steady at work trying to do useful stuff with the JesusPhone beyond unlocking it and that more applications will follow,” Diaz reports.
“Second, if Google Code is hosting this it probably means either that 1) Apple is giving the nod to this kind of development, 2) they are going to release an SDK or 3) Apple will realize the need for people to access the iPhone as a development platform to do really cool stuff with it. All three options are good for me,” Diaz reports. “And finally, and most important, we can only hope that someone develops ScummVM and MAME, two game emulation platforms, soon. I want unlimited classic arcade games and Monkey Island in my iPhone. Now.”
Full article, with links and video of the application in use, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RadDoc” for the heads up.]
Why would Apple give a nod to this sort of thing. It seems to me that if they wanted 3rd party apps, they’d release an official SDK. And I think we’ll probably have some sort of iPhone SDK by MacWorld 2008 at the very latest – and hopefully sooner.
Oops,
Apple can’t release an official SDK because of their agreement with AT&T. At some point, if there are enough apps being developed without an Apple SDK, they can turn to AT&T and say: We tried to stop it, but now we have to control it.
Apple has the next generation platform in its hands. This would immediately mean the platform wars are really over and Apple destroyed the death star at the last second.
I hope the recent comments about ‘we wanted to crawl before we walked’ mean that the iPhone will be opening up.
Please don’t blow this, Apple. It’s the ultimate opportunity.
Agreed. This is the ULTIMATE opportunity for Apple. They HAVE TO open this up.
Ok, this is all fascinating, third party apps on the iPhone. And not some Web Two-(D)oh! thingy. I am thrilled beyond bladder-control. But I don’t get the bit about SummVM and Mame (besides having played Monkey Island for days on end.) Buy a portable game-console, or a LAPTOP if you need that multi-functionality.
This is a *phone*, added to an iPod. It’s not supposed to do a whole lot more, other than giving you the chance to browse the web a bit, send and receive email, calendaring etc.
The iPhone is NOT a document editor, game-console, or much more else than it already is.
Sheesh, nothing to see here. Just move along, grumble grumble
Uggh! AT&T gets to dictate whether or not Apple releases an SDK. How craptastic is that?
Apple should’ve made the iPhone carrier-agnostic, included SKYPE, and let the buyer choose the carrier. I know, I know, you wouldn’t have visual voicemail. But I’d trade that in anyday for an open phone with SKYPE and with 3rd party support.
ScummVM means i could play Full Throttle on my (yet to be acquired) iPhone. Excellent! Gone Jackals rock!
Chris D.,
I completely disagree. I think the iPhone is way more than a phone added to an iPod. It can do so much more, in fact, because it’s software upgradeable. It’s closer to a laptop than any other smart phone out there.
I think it could be a great game console, and it could easily be a fantastic doc editor with some simple multitouch gestures.
I’m totally geeked about it.
@ Chris D.:
Why? Why can it not be those things? Why does it have to be limited to those functions you list?
@ Diaz & Macdan2004 & Chris ][:
It does what it says on the package, but as with most spoilt brats & grown-ups these days, as soon as you have what you wanted then no sooner do you need the thing you think you don’t have!
Wait until it has acquired critical mass & AT&T have recouped alot of the initial investment they made to support it, then you will see the platform opened not only to third party apps. but to other networks as well.
Never forget that the others were offered the iphone before Cingular but they all turned it down claiming that Apple was asking for too much. Now I bet you they wish they had accepted the offer and taken a gamble just as Cingular did.
When you win the lottery or the Horse race, others do not start saying you should share your winnings with those less fortunate than you because you didn’t have all that money before & therefor is too much for one person who is not used to having that much to have it all in one go!
The iphone is Apples invention & creation, the platform it operates on is an Apple creation of which Cingular were prepared to implement & invest in, AT&T realised its potential alot sooner than any of the other networks & bought Cingular or absorbed it in its entirerity, they should be allowed to recoup their investment, refine the product so that the market (you & I) are happy before openning it for general release.
Drink some Camel’s Milk! The Fart you squish out will expunge your unrealistic demands and thus assist you to appreciate what you already have to its fullest extent before looking over the fence for more!!!
Who cares…. Buy a PSP… Or a DS… Or a Treo. Some of you will NEVER be satisfied. NEVER!
And the other half have no idea what you are talking about. The lack of SDK has nothing to do with AT&T.
@Chris D.
if i could get slightly better than notes doc editing, and the ability to sync and play keynotes on the thing and get a video out plug, i could replace my laptop with an iPhone. how is that ONLY a phone and an iPod.
i am hoping that they have a 60gig iPod without the phone, with the video out and touch screen, with keynote playing and basic doc editing in the future there somewhere….
@Camel’s Milk and Jebus:
I’m not making the argument that Apple should do anything or anyone should hack or anything else of the sort… just simply asking “why”, by whatever means happen to come to pass, can it NOT be those things? Technically it can be many things, so if it’s technically possible, it may happen.
No need to go calling anyone (indirectly) a spoiled brat, thank you very much.
Why does the internet seem to always bring out the worst in people? Do you go around talking to people like this in your day-to-day (non-internet) life?
I seriously doubt that AT&T can dictate anything to Apple about what goes on the iPhone. Apple and Steve Jobs said that they are working on letting 3rd party developed apps. They want to make sure the quality is up to snuff so consumers don’t bring there phones back to apple because of poorly written software that has crashed there phone. That is the whole reason why up till now there aren’t any 3rd party developed apps. And the only reason.
How do you play MAME games without keys/buttons?
So… my question is… if anyone has tried this out… is there an SSH client that can be used from the terminal app?
The same way you type without a keyboard on your iPhone
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MW: Southern
Where exactly does ‘southern’ fit in 😕
The iPhone doesn’t do it for me and I think people are eventually going to realize it’s a fad object, but not really useful outside the geek community. Meaning the mainstream won’t adopt it.
The iPod for music, now that’s 100% useful.
iPod for video, eh….
Laptops for surfing the internet and everything else a computer is needed, that’s 100% useful.
But a phone with only a 2 mega pixel camera, no 3G, hard to see screen when surfing etc.
Once people “show off” their fad product iPhone, once the “wow” factor has diminished, people are going to ask themselves if the iPhone is really worth spending $600 and a lot of time syching to a computer (especially Winblows) to get any practical use out of the thing. I think they rather get a cheap macbook or PC laptop instead and get tons more functionality and a larger screen.
The iPhone is turning out like the AppleTV, geeks are hacking it to get any usefulness out of it.
The iPod is good because you can choose to put all of your music on it and never have to hook it up to a computer again, but downloading videos to it and having to resynch it for new video content is a hassle.
ditto for the iPhone, oh gee I can sit here for hours and work the bugs out, download content, oppps gotta DCSS that DVD and downsize the video… there goes three hours…
What I’m trying to say is the iPhone synching and video for iPods is downright inconvient and painstaking slow annoying process.
Remember Apple reinvented their mouse to Mighty Mouse? Well MM absolutely $ucks beans totally compared to Logitec mice.
Logitec mice are well thought out devices, MM isn’t.
Neither is the iPhone very well thought out.
The iPhone is like a a creative painting by artist. You tell the artist you don’t like it and he says WTF is wrong with you instead of asking why and getting the others opinion.
I looked at the iPhone, it’s a nice device, but a fad product with little true functionality if your already a computer user.
thats my 2¢ tough kitty titty if you flame me
Awww, isn’t that cute. A troll named Mumps has arrived on the scene.
And golly, wouldn’t it be fun to bet the troll about $10,000 that he will be proven wrong to the extreme over the next year?
Of course, when he lost the bet, he wouldn’t be able to pay you your $10,000. This is apparent, in that it is obvious he simply is miffed that he can’t afford to buy an iPhone. Therefore, the iPhone is just a fad.
His best line is, “Neither is the iPhone very well though out”. That’s pure gold, from a humor point of view. It comes from a guy who can’t even run his own life well enough to afford an iPhone. Classic stuff, Mumps. Keep it comin’.
Guys, I think Mumps makes a good point. I’d much rather carry a laptop in my pocket than an iPhone any day.
If only the laptop would fit in my pocket…
1) A camera phone that’s “only” 2 megapixels is not a deal breaker for anyone. People that want to take good pictures do it with a dedicated camera. Period. Add to that the fact that there is a fairly good chance that the current iteration of the iPhone is quite possibly not the last, and there is the ever so remote possibility that the camera on a future model will be better.
2) No 3G is of course not optimal. But I think everyone knows that. But again, there is a fairly good chance that the current iteration of the iPhone is quite possibly not the last, and there is the ever so remote possibility that the iPhone will not be stuck with EDGE for time immemorial. I think the concept is called “revision”.
3) Hard to see screen when surfing? What, are you an idiot? As opposed to what other phone you can surf on? As opposed to what other phone with a comparable screen? Pray tell, hotshot.
4) Your complaint about syncing is pure talking out of your ass. Especially since everyone here knows you don’t have an iPhone. You’re a Windows dickhead and you can’t afford an iPhone, and THAT, is your problem.
mumps was just itching to get his point across, and he was right in some spots.
Mumps supporter is probably an Elephant!! what pockets! if you can pop your laptop into one!!! Would that be the bum pocket? ha!!!
@ Chris][, The internet brings out the worst in me when I read comments that make me think that very little thought has gone into the comment!
For example, how old is the iphone? Has the platform matured to the point were it is justifiable to complain about percieved lack of what ever it is one thinks one wants?
You are right in saying that technically it can be many things & indeed a promise has been made to provide free upgrades over the period of the two year contract, hence the ongoing fee AT&T are paying Apple.
Apple know what they are doing, that is why they do things the way they do, not by copying, not by a consensus of a quango, not by a wish list from it’s customers, not by demands from third parties who are keen to expand their income streams. But by having their own goals which we all know alot about & at the same time very little about.
So what is my point? Well just like you, there is much I would like, but unlike you, I appreciate a nice surprise so I bite my lip and hold out on making demands that are probably unreasonable given the age of the iphone. It has taken the ipod quite a while to establish itself as the industry standard. It is taking a while for the Apple TV even longer. How long will it take the iphone to do the same? I can only guess when all the other networks are prepared to do business with it, whether through their own choice or by pressure from their customers.
Sorry you were upset by my comment, but hopefully you now understand why I made them.
Ps. Drink Camel’s Milk!! Farting relieves internal stress and helps to balance the mind, body and soul by getting rid of the fetid & foul smelling miasma’s.
Pps. Yes I do to your last question. If you provide me with a platform to vent my spleen I will wring every ounce of justifiable critical putdown & softcore abuse I can muster!!
@Mumps supporter
Touche! That was exactly what I was thinking! When will people realise??!
Uh, guys, I was being sarcastic about carrying a laptop in my pocket. I thought that should’ve been pretty obvious.
And btw, Mumps is a dipshit. I hate stupid people.
No, Mumps wasn’t right in ANY of his points. He’s a tool. He can’t even run his own life and yet he thinks he knows better how to build a smart phone than Apple does. Also, he’s never been laid, although he may have paid for a “hand release” at a massage joint.
Ok folks, time to get off the kool-aid and start talking about the non existent security on the iphone. It is getting so bad that other mac sites are now forced to report that if you have an iphone, prepare to have it hacked, taken over, and all of your data stolen. For those idiots that spent $2000 on this toy for the ultra rich, here are a few links explaining what a mistake you made:
http://macnn.com/rd/82942==http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/07/23/iphone.security.flaw/
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/08/03/iphone.security.slammed/
This is why the toy called the iphone cannot be allowed on corporate networks. Apple does not understand networks, corporate needs, push technologies or security. Instead they have cute displays with wonderful colors and shapes. Businesses don’t have time to track down hacks and intrusions into their network because of this device. Considering the lax attitude of Apple on this, one would hope that the Attorney Generals of the states start lawsuits to stop Apple from selling this broken product and to sue for billions for lost productivity and lost data.
3) Hard to see screen when surfing?…As opposed to what other phone you can surf on? As opposed to what other phone with a comparable screen?
Not comparing phones here, I’m talking usefulness and value for the $600 one has to spend.
Just think about the physical steps one has to go through with a touchscreen…hand in the way, remove to see screen, hand in the way…opps made a mistake…hand in the way, fix mistake, remove hand to see screen, etc.
I know, I have used a touchscreen GPS for years now, it’s a pain in the ass sometimes. The workflow is bad and the screen gets dirty.
Now on a laptop, there is a more balanced flow, the eyes stay glued to the screen while the hands are on the keyboard safely out of the way. Each can work independantly of the other.
Photo’s look a whole lot better when they are scaled up to fit a laptop screen, especially with high pixel rate cameras.
So a iPhone costs just as much as a MacBook slightly used, you get a 2 mega pixel camera that takes poor quality pictures, you get slow Edge network (sometimes even defaulting to Edge even when a good Wifi signal is around, costing even more money). The iPhone is locked in AT&T so your fscked there too.
So one might as well get a MacBook or a PC laptop, or even a very inexpensive Linux laptop for a few hundred dollars instead because one is going to defaut to using WiFi as much as possible anyway!!!
Comparing usefulness and functionality for the price, the iPhone doesn’t measure up.
Now yes there is a point about the portability of a iPhone vs a laptop.
I agree by taking a sustancially less functionality you get better portability. If you only need a iPhones level of functionality, then take the portability advantage naturally.
However, what is out there and what Apple doesn’t make anymore, is a smaller laptop than the 15″ which has nearly all the functionality of their big brothers that only needs a cell phone integration.
Still fits in one’s suit pocket, can make phone calls and surf the internet etc on a reasonable sized screen with no dirty fingers on the screen getting in the way of what one is seeing.
@Mac Realist
You and mumps must live in the same basement. Look who’s “hacking” the iPhone: David Maynor, the idiot who was outed by black hat!
@ 8R
You and mumps must live in the same basement. Look who’s “hacking” the iPhone: David Maynor, the idiot who was outed by black hat!
You and the rest of the fan boys are so right 8R. By the end of next year the iPhone might have 1 whole percent of the cell phone market. Did you hear that, 1%!!!!!! This is a game changer!!!! Nokia is gonna be toast facing Apple’s 1%.. WOOOO HOOO..
Everything about the iPhone is absolutely perfect and anyone who disagrees is just a Windows troll.. I bet Ballmer is throwing chairs upon realizing that Apple is gonna get 1% of the market.. This is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So you’re saying the iPhone is the best solution for portability with that set of limited functionality…
And why don’t you think that the smaller laptop you describe is coming from Apple? When it arrives and it will, it will make the idiotic UMPC/Origamis that you say are out there look like cheap toddler’s toys.
By the way, besides lacking cell phone functionality, most laptops don’t have integrated cameras either.
But that 1% of the market will be hugely profitable. Unlike the 70% that have margins of close to zero. (See Motorola.)
And when Apple inexorably starts its march down in price, just like from the iPod to the iPod shuffle, then Nokia better watch out. That 1% will be growing to 10% and then 30% but with profits per sale. Then Ballmer will say that his hardware partners are inept and MS has to build the phone itself. History repeating itself, so maybe the chairs will fly again as well.
By the way, who said that the iPhone is perfect? Just you, setting up a strawman so you can knock it down.
“By the way, who said that the iPhone is perfect? Just you, setting up a strawman so you can knock it down.”
No not at all.. Hey like the rest of you fanboys, I’d buy an iPhone if Steve wanted $2000 for it!! It’s a game changer!!!! The entire industry is SCARED!!!!!!!!
then Nokia better watch out.
You betcha!!! I say they are TOAST next year. I say they go out of business because of the iPhone!!
iHistory repeating itself, so maybe the chairs will fly again as well.
Couldn’t agree more Buddy! Ballmer is SCARED!! Bad!! Let’s face it, this is HUGE!!!
I really like the way you pick just some parts to respond to but leave out the substance … perhaps because you have no answer?
Is that a learned skill?
“I say they are TOAST next year.”
You said it, not me. It’s your dumb prediction, not mine. I didn’t imply anything about Nokia for next year, or even the year after that.
Don’t need no Apple fanboys to say it; others will do the job.
Shoeman, Mumps: see here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070804/tc_pcworld/135494
No offense people, but DOS in 2007 is just plain ridiculous…
I really like the way you pick just some parts to respond to but leave out the substance … perhaps because you have no answer?
No, I am a Mac user not a Mac fanboy…. You guys remind be of the robots in the 1984 Mac Ad….
There’s not a word that I just posted here that are my own words.. ie. “This is HUGE”, “Nokia is TOAST”, “Ballmer is Scared!!!”…. That’s the programmed nonsense you fanboys post daily… Don’t believe me, go back and read some of the RAH RAH nonsense posted here everyday!!! “It’s the best cause Steve said so, Woooo Hooo”
iPhone is a great device… But let me give ya a hint little boys, you’re not even in Nokia’s world… A $600 phone that is slow and missing the most common features that even a $59 phone has is not going to “change everything”…
I know, I’m a “Windows Troll” now.. You kids really need to grow up a bit..
And please enlighten us with some facts: how is the iPhone ‘slow’ –
Trolls spew FUD – if you have substantiated facts – then please, do tell.
Ah, I get it, so sorry to have missed your sarcasm. Disregarding the irrational fanboy comments, I do partially disagree with you.
Because of certain things that Apple has done with the iPhone, the iPhone is a game-changer. Even Tomi Ahonen, a former Nokia consultant, still a Nokia user, not an Apple fanboy, and recognized worldwide as a cellular expert, has declared that the iPhone changes will have a huge impact – to the point of before iPhone (BI) and after iPhone (AI). It’s not primarily a market share impact, but a design impact that will ripple throughout all the handset makers.
Having said that, the race has just begun – will Nokia and the others catch up in the areas Apple changed, before Apple catches up in the subset of features that users are really interested in? It’s an open debate. What will the various submarkets value?
Without being a fanboy, I believe that Apple will get it more right going forward than the Nokias/Motorolas/et al. Why? Because that gang had years to come up with these changes, and did not. Because that gang is interested in features, not usability. Because that gang is still beholden to the walled gardens of the operators, and not focused on the “free” mobile Internet. But it’s possible that this wake-up call will stir some of them out of their inertia, and they’ll roar ahead and best Apple.
And please enlighten us with some facts: how is the iPhone ‘slow’ –
Trolls spew FUD – if you have substantiated facts – then please, do tell.
Oh yes, It’s all “FUD” of course….200kbps is GREAT!!! Wooo Hooo… This is HUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone who doesn’t believe that EDGE Rocks is a troll!! hahahahahaha
I agree, “How is it Slow”.. EDGE ROCKS!!!!!!! WOOO HOOO Steve!!! Quit spreading FUD!! The iPhone is FAST!!!
Apple can’t release an official SDK because of their agreement with AT&T.
Who said it had to be official?
Steve, lock some good coders in an obscure, off-campus building someplace (complete with black pirate flag). Give them pizza, caffeine, and orders to produce and anonymously “leak” the iPhone SDK.
It’d be out in 24 hours, tops.
What’s so hard about that?
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“Without being a fanboy, I believe that Apple will get it more right going forward than the Nokias/Motorolas/et al. Why? Because that gang had years to come up with these changes, and did not. Because that gang is interested in features, not usability. Because that gang is still beholden to the walled gardens of the operators, and not focused on the “free” mobile Internet. But it’s possible that this wake-up call will stir some of them out of their inertia, and they’ll roar ahead and best Apple.”
What are you disagreeing with me about?? I agree with about everything you said…
But you are being too rational for MDN.. Put it like this in MDN Speak
“Nokia and Motorola are FINISHED… I Just know it!!!!!! They’re all SCARED!!!!! It’s the END for them!!!!!! Iphone is the PERFECT device”
I think my disagreement with you was with your implication that the iPhone wasn’t a “game-changer”. Obviously, I think it is, and I guess maybe underneath that sarcasm, you think so too. Now the benefits of the changed game don’t necessarily all accrue to Apple. But the handset and cellular operator industries have certainly gotten a booming wake-up call, and the game has certainly changed. Like with cable TV, the real trojan horse is the Internet inside the iPhone.
As for MDN, this is where the real fanboys live and play. It’s their space so let them exult and rejoice over the Great Apple. I come here just to chuckle at the real Windows trolls that come by. So let them play. No harm there. (Those Windows users really interested in Apple don’t usually come here.)
Commenters on this forum should state whether they ACTUALLY OWN an iPhone before they make comments. That way, the rest of us will know if they are just spouting off uninformed crap, or are actually making comments about something of which they have firsthand knowledge.
Having said that, I DO own an 8GB iPhone (and an Apple TV unit for that matter). I LOVE the iPhone as it is and look forward to the improvements that will come in time. I have used it more in the past three weeks than I EVER used some of the “advanced features” of my old Motorola v710 POS from Verizon. Let me comment on a couple of the gripes people have had.
First, the EDGE network. Free wifi access is very spotty in Washington, DC, where I live. I use EDGE all the time for sending and receiving email, SMS, etc. I like to browse the web during lunch break, and the speed is fine for reading news and forums and playing some of the new web-based iPhone games. EDGE is just fine for getting maps on the Google Maps app and the weather, stocks, etc. The step-by-step driving directions are very accurate and incredibly useful. It’s not GPS, but frankly, it’s not necessary on this device because they have implemented maps so well. Would I like it if it EDGE was faster? Sure, but for those who say it’s “unusable,” that’s just pure bullshit. I could not do these things AT ALL on my old Motorola phone which cost about $350 when it came out.
The 2 megapixel camera is quite good! Keep in mind that this camera creates photos that are 1200×1600 pixels. That’s PLENTY enough pixels for High Definition viewing. It must have a really good lens because these photos look fantastic when viewed on a computer monitor and particularly well when viewed through Apple TV on my Sony Bravia flatscreen TV. My friends are amazed when I tell them they were taken with my iPhone camera. The addition of a flash would make it even better for low light situations.
Photos and video look stunning on the iPhone too. The slideshow function is really cool, and the quality of the 160 dpi screen is hard to comprehend unless you actually have viewed it. Navigating web pages is really easy with Safari and this screen. Once again, anyone who says it’s too small is just missing the point of accessing the web on a pocket-sized device.
Lastly, you should not ignore the simplicity and ease with which Apple has made syncing all this content back and forth with your computer and the iPhone. Plugging in the iPhone lauches iTunes (AND iPhoto too if you choose to automatically import your pictures). There is no comparison with other phones and providers for this functionality.
When I travel for pleasure, I usually took my work laptop along with me so I could check email and browse the websites I look at every day, and look up stuff in whatever city I happen to be in. I won’t need to lug that laptop with me anymore because I have my iPhone now.
My $600 was VERY well spent!
There is no official agreement with AT&T about the SDK. Nope.
Apple’s refusal is based almost wholly on iPhone security. As they gain more real-world experience, they will eventually release an SDK that builds in security from top to bottom. We’re still in the trial phase, where Apple is carefully watching what users and hackers are up to. (This is also true for the AppleTV.)
Why the caution? If there’s one thing that can kill the iPhone for not just business but also consumer adoption, it would be a lack of security. NOBODY wants to live through the Windows experience again. Lack of 3G, lack of 5MP+ camera, lack of local file storage, lack of voice input, lack of video camera, lack of MMS; none of that can kill the iPhone, but lack of security would.
and I guess maybe underneath that sarcasm, you think so too.
As I mentioned many times before, I own 6 Mac computers (well, me and the wife and all the kids)… We all have iPods.,
I do hope the iPhone does well. I even hope to buy a future version of it. But as it is now, I simply believe that it’s not worth that they are asking for it. It is missing too many “basic features” (NOTE: This is the point where the MDN fanboys start with “yeah, it doesn’t grate cheese either, hahahaha”) , it has no voice dialing (very important to me as I travel a lot), it doesn’t push mail on any service except “Yahoo”, the network sucks BAD (Yeah, I tried one a friend on mine bought the 2nd day), so on and so forth..
To me, the iPhone has tremendous POTENTIAL. The interface is it’s key feature and something to build on. But I’m not impressed by “It’s really Gorgeous”….
So I hope Apple builds on the foundation that is iPhone. But at this moment, I’m sorry. It’s not in the same league as a Blackberry or N95. Not even close… (that Sir, is my opinion. Around here, having an opinion makes you a Microsoft agent or a spy sent by Ballmer)..
@aldebaran: Did you have a data plan before the iPhone?
Apple’s refusal is based almost wholly on iPhone security.
Hmm. The Mac OS X SDK hasn’t hurt Mac security at all. As the iPhone IS running Mac OS X, Apple’s position here makes no sense.
A few possibilities here:
1. The AT&T contract is that stringent. It’d be bad business to piss off your only carrier…
2. This is another example of Steve’s ideal of a fully-closed consumer device. Only select engineers at Apple have internal access to it.
3. Apple is trying to make reverse engineering as hard as possible, thus slowing the clones. Questionable because MS is a complete wreck right now, and it’s hard to see anyone else taking the risks.
The way this is going I’m wondering if iPhone wasn’t code-named “Roswell”!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”raspberry” style=”border:0;” /> What’s behind the screen that Apple doesn’t want us to see?
No SKYPE? next.
An iPhone is not a Mac. Although both have a common base in OS X, the iPhone does not contain lots of OS parts that are in the Mac.
The iPhone is closer in pedigree to the iPod, which was closed except it had an open file system. Now the iPhone has added an always-connected nature over both cell and wifi, and Apple has chosen to close its file system.
Apple still views the iPhone as consumer electronics, not as a general-purpose computer. We know it really is a general-purpose computer, if it only had more software. In time, Apple will get to where we want it to be. So keep asking for it, and when Apple feels confident that its security is as good as it needs to be, I think we’ll see the SDK.
By the way, if people hack into the iPhone, and put software on, I don’t think that bothers Apple. Apple just doesn’t want the average joe to think its okay to put other software on, and then have that lead to crashes and stolen information.
And in other news, AT&T’s entire wireless network has NOT crashed due to this.
I agree. Some people will never, ever be satisfied. When they get a car, they start to customize it. They buy a computer to see how they can improve it. They buy a house and start to plan additions. These people can never actually enjoy anything. I pity them.
It must be nice to be a mindless lemming, always satisfied with your world as it is, never trying to improve yourself or anything else.