3rd party iPhone apps: Turnabout is fair play

Steve Jobs has maintained since the launch that the iP hone is a closed ecosystem: Apple will keep a tight r ein on their product's integrity by allowing only web-based apps. Well, since the contraband's coming out in waves anyway, might as well let them , right? At least he can regulate it (to a point). So Jobs released a statement on the Apple site announcing an iPhone Software Development Kit for developers out by February 2008, and in saying so thoroughly and loudly munchi ng on his words. To save you the trouble of going to the site, here is the full text of his anno uncement:

Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developersâ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iP hone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revoluti onary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architectu re, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers. It will take until February to release an SDK because weâre trying to do tw o diametrically opposed things at onceâprovide 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 phonesâthis is simply not true. There have been se rious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spre ad from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerfu l, 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 allowi ng any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they h ave a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While thi s makes such a phone less than âtotally open,â we believe it is a step in the r ight direction. We are working on an advanced system which will offer developer s broad access to natively program the iPhoneâs 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 gre at third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones. Steve P.S.: The SDK will also allow developers to create applications for iPod to uch.

It's all good.