Appletell

When the SDK for the iPhone is launched at WWDC, it is going to be exhilarating.  Apple has given developers plenty of time to create useful and outstanding apps, and I expect there will be plenty of them.  For example, at the keynote, developers had already made Spore and an instant messaging client in only a couple weeks.  Also, third party developers that have been using Installer.app have also made extremely awesome and helpful apps in a short amount of time.  What does this all mean?  Excitement.  When this whole deal is officially released, there are going to be hundreds of apps released with it.  The functionality of the iPhone is going to skyrocket and it is going to be even more desired.  But the real question is what apps do you really want to see.

First and foremost for me, and probably many others, is some sort of iChat. This would be great to keep in contact with friends on the go and, not to mention, save me a ton of money on text messaging overage fees.  Another application I would love to see would be for voice recording.  Whenever I am on the go, I always end up thinking of something I want to remember.  It could be so easy just to record it in the phone rather than writing a whole note.  This could also be very useful for business people who need to record a quick interview on their phone for later.  Lastly, and more general, I would love to see some awesome games.  There are a lot of times where I’m bored in the car or on a plane and iPhone games would be perfect to pass the time with.  What do you want to see and/or waste your time with?  Games, productivity, educational?  Let us know in the comments!

Apple has now opened up its iPhone and iPod Touch developer program to areas outside of the United States.  Why does this matter?  Now, developers outside of the States can create official, Apple accepted apps that can be published in the App Store that is to come out with the new iPhone software in June.  All of this news comes from a TUAW reader who says he has been accepted into the program but lives in the UK.

This is great news not only for the developers who will now be able to create apps, but also for everyone who owns an iPod Touch or iPhone.  This creates a potential for hundreds of more apps created by the large population of Apple developers outside of the States.  I’ve said it before, the SDK announcement is going to be huge, and I have a feeling the App Store is going to be filled with hundreds of goodies to waste some time trying out and using.  The usefulness of the iPhone will skyrocket with third party apps, and I can’t wait.  Are you excited?

I was disappointed to hear that any functionality related to the iPhone’s music playback is inaccessible by the iPhone SDK. Although the SDK has many possibilities, anything to do with the iPhone music player is prohibited. This means that possible applications for social networks like Last.fm are not possible through the SDK. This is something I do right now with my Jailbroken iPod Touch running 1.1.4, using an app called MobileScrobbler. Apple hasn’t spoken about this restriction, but some suggest that the reason for it being in place is to stop rival music stores to iTunes being created. I’m happy for no rival stores to be created, but Apple is limiting a lot of the capabilities a developer could do with the device. There is, of course, a chance that the restriction would be removed later on, once the SDK is out of beta stages.

Via [iPodNN]

Apple has begun to reject applicants to the iPhone Developer Program through an e-mail that they have sent out to a massive number of developers who applied recently. The news does not come as quite a shock since Apple initially announced that only a “limited number of developers will be accepted into Apple’s new iPhone Developer Program.” Unlucky applicants will have received the following e-mail from Apple shortly after applying:

Dear Registered iPhone Developer,
Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request. At this time, the iPhone Developer Program is available to a limited number of developers and we plan to expand the program during the course of the beta period. We will contact you again regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time. Thank you for applying.

Best regards,
iPhone Developer Program.

The recent rejections from Apple may be due to the fact that the iPhone SDK has been downloaded over 100,000 times already, and the iPhone Developer Program may be becoming overcrowded with developers.

Sun Microsystems announced that they are developing a Java virtual machine for iPhone.

The virtual machine will be based on the Java Micro Edition (ME). Apple showed no interest in putting Java on the iPhone, and so Sun said that after the SDK announcement, they would do it themselves. VP of Java Marketing at Sun, Eric Klein, told InfoWorld that the JVM would be free on Apple’s App Store alongside all other developer apps.

“We’re going to make sure that the JVM offers the Java applications as much access to the native functionality of the iPhone as possible,” Klein told InfoWorld.

Read [InfoWorld]

For those of you who are lucky enough to be in the San Francisco area this evening, it’s time to get your party on! Phill Ryu and John Casasanta of MacHeist, and Austin Sarner of AppZapper, are once again hosting a Delicious Generation Party this evening. The party will be full of Mac developers, media, food and even beer. Here’s what the Delicious Generation website has to say about this year’s party:

Last year, we brought hundreds of users, developers, and members of the media together for an amazing night of food, beer, and software. We’ve decided to do it again this year… with a little more sizzle. Introducing the Delicious Generation bash 2.0 at Macworld. Our party is a great opportunity to meet your favorite Mac developer, and we’d like to extend a special invitation to the developers attending Macworld. Prepare for another night to remember - exclusively at Macworld 2008.

As of writing, some of the people who have RSVP’d on their site include Apple employees, Adobe employees, bloggers from TUAW, and the Pixelmatrix Design. The party is from 8:00pm-12:00am, and will be held at Elan (Google Maps link). Space is limited, and is largely focused at the press and developers attending Macworld 2008. Though if you have an interest in Mac software, and are in the area, I’m sure they would love to say hi.

Leopard has got a lot of positive reviews, but there are still many bugs in the code. Windows disappearing from Spaces, and Wifi continually dropping, Apple really needs to fix these bugs. And from the look of things, Apple is working on them. They have seeded Mac OS X 10.5.2 to developers for testing, supporting the theory that 10.5.2 will be launched to the public at Macworld in January.

The update hovers around 354MB, and addresses 76 code corrections. Apple has asked developers to test out certain parts of the OS, including Data Detectors, the Mac OS X Dock, the Finder, grammar checking, iCal, iChat, Mail, Parental Controls, Quick Look, Rosetta, Safari, Time Machine, and Leopard’s 802.11 AirPort implementation. If you haven’t upgraded to Leopard yet, you may want to wait for 10.5.2, as it seems almost all bugs are fixed.

Via [Appleinsider]