Developers

With coders now being accepted into Apple's iPhone Developer program and receiving the OS 1.2 beta software, we're learning a lot -- and it's not all pretty.

As previously reported, Apple's documentation states: "Once you install the pre-release iPhone OS on your device, such device may only be used for development and testing purposes until the final (GM) version of the iPhone OS is released. In addition, you will need to install new versions of the software from time to time throughout the beta period. Failure to install the most current version will, after … Read more

Google will hold a developer confab in May, called Google I/O, to discuss the challenges of writing applications for the Web.

This year's two-day event in San Francisco is larger than last year's Google Developer Day, its first organized conference aimed specifically at Web developers.

While the format is different--there will be more in-depth technical sessions and tutorials for newbies who want to write mash-ups--Google's developer strategy remains the same.

Why do they court developers? To encourage creation of more and better Web applications, said Tom Stocky, a senior product manager at Google, on Tuesday.

"… Read more

Developer Ashutosh Chaturvedi is one of the few coders who has actually been accepted into Apple's $99 iPhone Developer program. The program allows access to pre-release iPhone software (including the OS 2.0 beta); technical support; the ability to get code onto iPhones for testing; and distribution of applications via the new App Store.

Ashutosh posted a series of Apple documents, explaining the program, to his blog. Among the salient details:

The pre-release iPhone OS 2.0 software has the ability to deactivate unregistered phones Apple's documentation states: "Once you install the pre-release iPhone OS on your … Read more

Apple has sent another mass mailing to coders who applied for the iPhone Developer program, stating:

"Thank you for applying to the iPhone Developer Program. We have many more requests than we can serve during this initial beta period, so we must limit the Program at this time. We plan to expand it during the beta period, and we will contact you regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time. We appreciate your patience."

The same message appears on the iPhone developer Web site under the heading "Already applied to the Program?"

A previous message, … Read more

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--When up-and-comer Facebook opened up its developer platform last May, it had a trickle-down effect for the Web's largest auction house.

"Thanks to Facebook, everybody wants to develop applications for platforms," Max Mancini, eBay's senior director of platform and disruptive innovation, said here Tuesday at the Dow Jones Web Ventures conference.

Mancini said although eBay has offered developers a platform for creating specialized eBay applications for the last six-plus years, Facebook popularized the concept in the Web community. In fact, five or six other developers beat eBay to the punch by building a … Read more

It's probably not a wholly accurate description, but to call Mix '08 the conference for "the new Microsoft" doesn't seem that far off. Perhaps even more apt would be to think of it as the show for Microsoft as it aspires to be. Other possibilities? Well, if one were cynical, maybe "the conference for Microsoft as it wishes others to see it." Or if one were sympathetic to the travails of companies with large, and fundamentally conservative, installed bases how about this for a tag line: "If only change were easy as giving … Read more

The Eclipse Foundation on Monday announced the creation of a project called Equinox, a significant expansion for the open-source group beyond development tools and into runtime software.

The project will focus on making tools for deploying applications once they are completed. For example, the software would allow an IT professional to install only portions of a Java application as needed, rather than all of the code, to save on server resources.

The Equinox runtime software will be an implementation of a standard, called OSGi, formerly known as the Open Services Gateway initiative.

The technology gives software companies a standardized way … Read more

Just days after a copy of iPhone OS 1.2 (code-named Aspen) leaked last week, developers have made it possible to run unofficial third-party applications under the new OS version. iPhone OS 1.2 is emulated by the iPhone Simulator included with Apple's SDK, is required to run official SDK applications and also includes the new enterprise (Exchange, etc.) functionality touted by Apple.

The OS 1.2-compliant unofficial applications are built by the official SDK with the aid of some patched headers, can be run in the Aspen simulator and then pushed live to iPhones running OS 1.2. … Read more

We've received word from a number of hopeful iPhone developers indicating that they are being rejected by Apple for inclusion in the $99 iPhone Developer program. The rejection letter looks like this:

"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 … Read more