Over 100,000 developers snap up iPhone SDK
Despite some early problems managing the flood of developers seeking access to the iPhone software development kit, Apple reported 100,000 developers have downloaded the kit as of Sunday.
Apple formally released the iPhone SDK after an event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters last Thursday. The SDK will allow third-party developers to create games, business software, and other types of applications for the iPhone with Apple's official blessing.
Apple recorded over 100,000 downloads of the iPhone SDK by developers hoping to build applications like EA's Spore.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)Several would-be iPhone developers reported problems actually getting a copy of the SDK in their hands during the first day or so it became available. Over the weekend, Apple sent registered developers an e-mail acknowledging, "You may have recently experienced difficulty gaining access to, or downloading the iPhone SDK." But that traffic jam seems to have cleared itself up as the initial frenzy died down.
In Wednesday's press release, Apple included quotes from a number of third-party developers that give a pretty clear signal of what types of applications are already in development.
Intuit (TurboTax), Namco Networks (Pac-Man and Galaga), NetSuite (ERP/CRM software), and Six Apart (blogging software) are a few of the companies whose PR departments graciously worked up executive quotes for Apple's announcement. During the event, AOL, Sega, EA, Epocrates, and Salesforce.com showed off preliminary versions of their iPhone applications.
If you haven't downloaded a copy of the SDK yet, here's where you can find it. The beta version of the SDK is free to download, but if you want to release applications based on the SDK you'll have to join Apple's iPhone Developer Program for $99 a year.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
- Until it's released these numbers don't mean much
- by Vegaman_Dan March 12, 2008 11:49 AM PDT
- The real number to look for is the number of Apple authorized developers who paid the $99 fee.
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- Free apps don't need the Fee.
- by bobcode March 12, 2008 3:36 PM PDT
- Developers who will offer the software free don't have to pay the $99 fee, right?
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- Sour Grapes, MSFT style!
- by Penguinisto March 12, 2008 4:25 PM PDT
- While technically you are correct, the $99 fee is only a measure of how many apps will be available.
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(7 Comments)The number of downloads of a software package doesn't really mean much if it gets downloaded and never used to produce an actual product.
Yes, more meaningful would be a list of apps. But they aren't there yet. Question is, how many apps for jail broken phone will migrate. I wanna' see a terminal.app with vim and ssh. I doubt Apple would allow wget, though.
I can say that with certainty because the SDK works both ways... knowing how to interact w/ the iPhone is a solid way of building Desktop-side apps for it as well.
IOW, you don't have to get a signed cert for a desktop app that accesses the iPhone... just the apps that actually run on one.
BTW - how much does it cost to get a Microsoft-signed cert for Windows Mobile, anyway? ;)
/P