Developers Show Strong Interest in iPhone Development *Updated*

In the first few days after Apple released a beta of the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), it was downloaded a surprising number of times.

"Developer reaction to the iPhone SDK has been incredible with more than 100,000 downloads in the first four days," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Also, over one million people have watched the launch video on Apple.com, further demonstrating the incredible interest developers have in creating applications for the iPhone."

Apple iPhone (see larger image)

It should surprise no one that there's such interest in iPhone development; this model is one of the best selling smartphones in the United States, and it's doing fairly well in Europe, too.

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The iPhone SDK will give developers access to the same tools for creating applications that Apple's on-house team does.

The tools are free, but to distribute applications, developers will have to be a part of Apple's developer program, which costs $99 to join.

The free beta version of the iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) can be downloaded from Apple's web site.

...but No Software Releases Until June

Developers will not be allowed to directly distribute their software to iPhone and iPod touch users. Instead, it will all have to go through Apple. And the distribution system won't be in place until late June.

Applications will be sold through either iTunes or directly on the smartphone or handheld. Apple will get 30% of the proceeds from all sales. 

There has been some criticism of Apple's insistence on approving all applications that are released, as it is blocking several types of software, including VoIP applications that use a cellular connection and pornography.

Further criticism has been leveled at Apple since it revealed that third-party iPhone applications will not offer multitasking, but will only be able to run one at a time.

Update

Apple has begun notify individuals and companies if they have been accepted into its iPhone Developer Program, a necessary step to distributing applications.

While some people have been immediately accepted, it seems that most have received a notice that the program is open to only a limited number of developers at this time. Still, these applicants haven't been rejected. Instead, Apple promises to contact them again when the program is open for more developers.

The latter email says:

Dear Registered iPhone Developer,

Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request. As this time, the iPhone Developer Program is available to a limited number of developers and we plan to expand during 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

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