A number of iPhone developers apparently ran into issues today with the beta version of the iPhone OS expiring (yielding what some dubbed a “pink screen of death”). Perhaps someone tripped over an Ethernet cable in Cupertino that controls the expiration dead man switch?
Fortunately, it seems to have been little more than a matter of mistiming on Apple’s part. A third beta of the iPhone SDK has now been released; it adds support for the latest version of the iPhone OS and fixes some bugs. As a beta release, there are still known issues with the new version, including an apparent incompatibility between iTunes 7.6.1 and Xcode which can result in crashing (you’ll want to install iTunes 7.6.1 before the SDK).
Hopefully, this will resolve any lingering issues with iPhone expirations.
I'm not sure how large the intersection between Linux user and iPhone owner really is, but you might blame at least part of that on the fact that there's no way to use your iPhone with a Linux box. At least, yet. But Linux users are a hearty sort—they're not about to let petty incompatibilities stop them.
Matt Colyer is a developer who's working on bringing iPhone support to Linux by creating a filesystem using fuse that would allow Linux machines to mount the iPhone and allow users access to the filesystem, all without having to jailbreak the phone.
Right now, the project is very much in early stages, and Matt's looking for help from anyone who's willing to contribute by adding information to the documentation of the iPhone's command protocol or by providing traces from iTunes that will help shed more light on the protocol.
So, if you're a Linux user who'd like to at least have the option of using an iPhone with your platform of choice, you might consider dropping Matt a line and seeing how you can help out.
At the special event earlier this month where Apple laid out the future of developing software for the iPhone, the company said that it would be providing the full suite of its existing development tools, such as Xcode, for creating iPhone applications. However, in the first version of the SDK that was rolled out, there was one notable omission from that lineup: Interface Builder, the application that lets developers easily design the UI of their program.
Given the importance of UI on the Mac, Interface Builder is a pretty critical tool in the development process, and some developers had chosen to hold off on their efforts until the SDK was revised. Which, as you might have guessed, was today. A new version of the SDK—build 9A2151 for the alphanumerically curious among you—has been posted, including the anticipated Interface Builder.
That seems to be the only major change in the latest build, according to the SDK's read me, which continues to list some known issues for what Apple calls the "Beta 2" release; Apple says "this second beta is known to be incompatible with installation folders
other than the default /Developer." So be a good little feller and install it where it wants to go.
Given their long-standing rivalry, you might think that Microsoft would be wringing its hands over the iPhone. But if there's one thing the Redmond-based company knows, it's where the money is. With the announcement of the iPhone SDK, combined with Apple's support for Microsoft's Exchange email protocol, the iPhone has become a ripe target for Microsoft's software development.
Microsoft's Tom Gibbons (pictured), who heads up the company's Specialized Devices and Applications Group—which includes the Mac Business Unit—told Fortune that they're investigating iPhone development.
“It’s really important for us to understand what we can bring to the iPhone,” [said Gibbons]. “To the extent that Mac Office customers have functionality that they need in that environment, we’re actually in the process of trying to understand that now.”While the iPhone can, of course, view Office files from Word and Excel, many users have made known their desires to be able to edit those files on their iPhone as well.
Outside of Gibbons's group, there are other at Microsoft who are apparently interested in the opportunities presented by the iPhone platform as well, such as TellMe, the voice recognition software that Microsoft purchased not long ago. Seeing as voice-dialing is another oft-requested feature, if Microsoft can make it happen, the customers will probably flock to them.
Annnnd big software companies are now 0-for-2 when it comes to their iPhone development plans. First it was Sun, who backpedaled on its promise to bring Java to the iPhone faster than a kid doing a 180° on a Big Wheel. And yet, even having seen that, Adobe still went ahead and said that it would bring Flash to the iPhone.
Only maybe not so much. A follow-up statement from Adobe took a more conservative bent:
“However, to bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone Web-browsing experience, we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it,” the company said.Yes. There is the little matter of that. Sounds like someone over at Apple slipped a copy of the SDK details under Adobe's door with the relevant portions highlighted.
And thus, the question: will Apple make an exception for Adobe in order to bring the much-ballyhooed Flash support to the iPhone's browser, or will it stick to the ground rules it's already laid out? Seeing as how Easter weekend is upon us, I suggest we solve this issue via the time-honored sport of Peep jousting. I'm offering 4:1 on Adobe's peep—any takers?
I was away at the end of last week, so I missed much of the hubbub about Apple's letters to the would-be iPhone developers. The poorly-phrased missive was initially interpreted by some as a rejection, but later assessments suggested that it was intended more to keep devs in a holding pattern as Apple scrutinized the requests.
Since then, it's become apparent that some developers have gotten accepted into the program, though the numbers appear to be fairly limited at present. While the SDK allows you to develop apps for the iPhone, developers need to obtain a certificate from Apple in order to to test applications on their phone and distribute programs via the App Store, get access to Apple's iPhone documentation and support, and to install the 2.0 beta version of the iPhone OS. Even those in the program appear to have limitations, though, as there seems to be a five iPhone limit for testing; installing it on unauthorized devices will render those devices inoperable.
Presumably, more devs will be allowed access to the program as time goes on, but I have to wonder what kind of impact the five phone limit will have on beta testing. One developer I spoke to pointed out that if there's no way to enable wider beta testing, we'll likely be seeing "a lot of buggy apps on day one." Given how much noise Apple has made about security and stability, I'd think that's a scenario they'd want to avoid.
Miss watching hours of random embedded videos on your iPhone? Frustrated by interactive sites that show up blank in Mobile Safari? Well, you can thank Adobe: they're bent on bringing Flash to the iPhone, come hell (read: Steve Jobs's wrath) or high water. So says CEO Shantanu Narayen:
"Flash is synonymous with the Internet and, frankly, anybody who wants to browse the Web and experience the Web's glory really needs Flash support"Well, that's great, Shantanu, but have you wondered exactly what Apple might think about that? Jobs said earlier this month that there were technical and performance issues with Flash on the iPhone. Some have contended that the technical hurdles are not an issue, and that the sticking point between the two tech titans rather comes down to politics.[...]
We've evaluated the SDK, we can now start to develop the Flash player ourselves and we think it benefits our joint customers."
But Adobe doesn't apparently see this as an issue, nor is it apparently worried about the SDK restrictions that have hamstrung Sun's intentions to bring Java to the device. Meanwhile, Apple remains mum on the whole issue.
If there's one area of software that will likely benefit most from the iPhone SDK, it's probably gaming. To the surprise of many, myself included, Apple decided not to include even a single game on the iPhone or iPod touch (even the very first iPod had a hidden version of Breakout).
So, of course, game developers are pretty psyched about bringing titles to the iPhone and iPod touch, both because of their wide popularity and because of all the unique features available on the platforms, such as the multi-touch interface and accelerometer.
But to find out what's really in store, Macworld Senior Editor and resident gamemeister Peter Cohen sat down with Michel Guillemot, President and CEO of mobile game developer Gameloft. Gameloft was one of the first companies to start producing games for the iPod and they're continuing that tradition with the iPhone—they plan to have 15 titles out by the end of this year alone.
For more insight on the future of games on the platform, check out the full interview at the link above.
With the iPhone SDK out in the wild, developers are starting to peruse Apple's superfine print. While Steve Jobs discussed some of the major restrictions in the initial presentation, it was clear that questions, as the songwriter wrote, lingered on.
Rogue Amoeba CEO Paul Kafasis, who I talked to for our developer reaction piece to the SDK, has posted an entry on the company's blog detailing the restrictions that he and his team believe to be essential for Apple to correct. Furthermore, they've submitted those issues to Apple's bug reporting system, in the hopes that other developers will lend their support by submitting duplicate requests.
Among the issues at stake are: dropping Apple's exclusive distribution, allowing access to the iPhone's full file system, letting applications run in the background, providing a media picker framework, allowing VoIP clients to run over the cell network, and more. As Paul points out, the SDK is still a work in progress, and these are all items they'd like to see changed before its final release.
