TechWinter

The iPhone has released its software development kit (SDK) which  allows developers to build applications on the iPhone rather than just (very) interactive AJAX mobile websites.

This means there will be hundreds (we hope) of application released over the next 12-18 month most of them will be ports of existing applications that are on other platforms such as Symbian (Nokia and SonyErisson) and Windows Mobile (HTC).  They have lots of developers that are keen to get their software onto the iPhone.

A big issue early on will be software that is likely to look or work funny on the first mainstream touch-screen mobile phone but as developers learn the software will no doubt improve rapidly with feedback from the iPhone community.

Interestingly there has been another big announcement and that is the UK’s very own BBC have developed a version of their very popular iPlayer for the iPhone and (iPod Touch) but as of right night according to TUAW there are only a few shows availabe. Expect to hear more from the BBC on this soon!

Imagine how much fun an iPhone user could have once that application comes to the iPhone.  It will bring TV a much bigger step towards true mobility than any previous attempt.  Just think any BBC show anywhere at anytime.  That is very very cool in my books.

For more information on the iPhone SDK:

• iPhone SDK (Apple.com)
• The Register

For more information on the iPlayer:

• NMA News
• TUAW.com

Lets just hope the SDK and all the hype holds up to some extent although I do question the near-term value of a video download service on a 2.5G mobile device as it could take hours to download.