Business Week is reporting that Apple plans to release a bona fide software SDK for the iPhone in "early 2008," possible at January's Macworld conference. The report cites "sources familiar with the company's plans," but doesn't offer many details.
The logic behind this rumor seems to be that Apple has been waiting for the release of Leopard and its new features before offering a development platform for the iPhone. However, given that an iPhone SDK would need to support Windows users as well, that logic seems highly flawed.
Business Week also jumps in to propagate the rumors circulating that Apple may allow iPhone apps from select third parties, which would be approved and sold through the iTunes Store or similar Apple-controlled means of distribution. Electronic Arts and Google are names that frequently come up in this version of the rumor.
Given that Google already has two apps running on the iPhone (YouTube and Google Maps) it at least seems a shoo-in should Apple decide to go that route with third party apps.
However, much as we would all like to see additional features on our iPhones, Business Week's claims are unsubstantiated and only time will really tell. Still, as Macworld 08 draws near, one thing's for sure: the rumors will soon be heading into the stratosphere.
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