Steve in another one of his classic open letters has personally confirmed that in February (my guess is the absolute last day) an SDK for the iPhone and iPod Touch will be released.

Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.

It will take until February to release an SDK because we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc. This is no easy task. Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones—this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target.

Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than “totally open,” we believe it is a step in the right direction. We are working on an advanced system which will offer developers broad access to natively program the iPhone’s amazing software platform while at the same time protecting users from malicious programs.

We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones.

Steve

P.S.: The SDK will also allow developers to create applications for iPod touch. [Oct 17, 2007]

Boy oh boy an SDK and a legally unlocked iPhone all in one day. Around the world fanbois heads are exploding!

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Out on the internet there has been a leak of the newest version of AnySIM which will unlock iPhones with radio firmware 04.01.13_G (which is iPhone 1.1.1).

Right now the program is in beta form and being beta tested by the Hackint0sh community, but a release is expected VERY soon. The cat and mouse game continues Steve.

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There have been two rumors that have been plaguing the Mac news scene for YEARS. Once being a “ultra portable” laptop and a super slim Mac. The above spy shot is rumored to be that Mac. Sporting a similar structure to the AppleTV the rumored device will shed the optical drive. Think this is real or a prototype AppleTV? Chime in.

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Apple is at it again with their “Switcher Style” videos with the iPhone. Currently on Apples website are three ads with average New Yorkers and how the iPhone has improved their lives. Wonder how long until the internet outs another Apple commercial character.

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The engineers in Cupertino aren’t historically ones to keep old technology around in their products for sentimental– or even practical– reasons. Apple was the first major computer manufacturer to move their entire product line to USB peripherals, the first to make FireWire standard, and one of the first to offer notebooks with ExpressCard instead of PCMCIA.

It makes one wonder then why on earth they’ve kept that useless caps lock key around. Sure, its part of the standard keyboard layout (and arguably not for much longer– the OLPC has no such key), but since when has Apple really cared that much about standards?

It seems, though, that even if Apple isn’t dropping caps lock all together, they’re at least making it less of a nuisance to those of us WHO DON’T SEND EVERY EMAIL AS IF WE’RE YELLING ACROSS A CROWDED CITY STREET.

Jonathan Rentzsch of Red Shed software has figured out that the slim new Apple Keyboards are smart enough to ignore accidental caps lock activation. A quick jab at the key, such as the kind one would do on accident, is insufficient to trigger virtual screaming. Instead, users must hold the key down for a few milliseconds to get the undesired result. All the gory details, plus video, at Wolf’s site.

So, after biting the bullet and doing the iPhone 1.1.1 software update (Hey, somebody has to do it so you don’t!) Apple took away quite a few little features I have come to love about the iPhone, but they also introduced a slew of secret undocumented features. One of which is MP3 and WAV attachment support.

Perfect for anyone who uses GotVoice or CallWave.

Apple may be a cold, uncaring faceless corporation; absent any empathy for your bricked iPhone plight, but their employees are a different story. Mac Genius’s have long had the power to bend the rules under special circumstances, and it seems the trend is continuing with reports coming in that some very lucky hackers have had their iPhone’s restored by a caring Genius. If this is true, Apple has a secret re-locking app that they only make available to their employees. What I wouldn’t give to get my hand on that hunk of code!

I’m lucky to not have to try this, but here are a few tips for garnering the sympathy of your local Genius:

- Act Stupid: “My friend/brother/dealer gave me this iPhone for my birthday/graduation, and when I tried to update it last night, it stopped working!” Don’t say brick, don’t be geeky– act the way your grandma would if she was in your position. Refuse to accept that someone “unlocked” your phone, and make sure to ask what unlocking is.

– Find a Geeky Genius: A lot of people unlocked their iPhones just so they could see what happened and have the experience of doing so– something that anyone with the hacking gene can sympathize with. Hang around and try to spot the guy at the bar with the most passion for technology and least concern for the corporate line.

– Beg: If all else fails, resort to pleading. These guys are busy, and would rather just re-lock the thing instead of having you standing there for an hour arguing with them.

Not too shockingly Apple has blocked access to Joshs Album Art Grabber.

It appears Apple has blocked this again :( Querying the store still works, but if you try to download the art (no matter jpg or TIF) you get an error. This for the same albums that worked an hour or two ago. Thanks a lot Apple!

It was also some really bad timing as I was *this* close to launching a new version of the site complete with the ability to query other sites (such as Buy.com, Amazon, Walmart) in addition to iTunes. I might still launch that (I mean, I did kinda buy the domain already..) but it’ll be kinda ‘bleh’ without iTunes art :(

Well it was fun while it lasted. Josh is asking if anyone thinks that the could help him out coding past this latest block to email him at joshpowell@gmail.com.

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So you picked up a pair of those cheap E2C’s– awesome– but now you have to figure out how the hell you’re actually going to use them with your iPhone. Of all it’s quirks, the recessed headphone jack is the one thing that I can’t seem to justify to critics (or myself, for that matter.)

Sure, you could splurge and pick up one of Shure’s Music Phone Adapters and keep the fantastic talk and control features of the default earbuds, but that means spending more on the adapter than the earbuds themselves.

For the rest of us cheapskates, there is the Helium Digital headphone adapter, selling for a miniscule four dollars shipped. The only catch is that they’re in such high demand that there is a 2 week wait to place an order. [via]

After a long secretive private beta, Core Image powered image editor Pixelmator has finally reached version 1.0 and been set free for public consumption. Billed as a light-weight low-cost replacement for Photoshop, Pixelmator supports layers and has many of the same tools as its competitor, in addition to Automator actions and iLife & iSight integration. Pixelmator retails for $59.

It will be interesting to see how the also recently released Acorn image editor fares in the face of this new competition, despite the fact that the two seem to focus on slightly different niches. [via]