Main Blog Iphone

Apple as early as Wednesday is expected to launch as part of its website a directory of official Web 2.0-based iPhone applications, AppleInsider has been told.

One developer familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous, said Apple representatives have been tracking down authors of Web-based iPhone apps and asking them to submit official screenshots, icons, web addresses and descriptions of their applications to the company.

The submission processes is said to be very similar to that required of developers who submit their Dashboard widgets to Apple’s official Dashboard downloads directory. In an effort to keep the initiative hush-hush, Apple has also reportedly ’sworn’ these developers ‘to secrecy.’

This latest move by the Cupertino-based company suggests that — at least for the time being — it is sticking to its guns regarding third party application development for its touch-screen handset — mainly that it discourages native application development in favor of Web-based applications that do not pose a threat to the stability of the iPhone operating system in general.

The move also appears to fall in line with recent claims by ArsTechnica, which last week cited sources in saying that Apple was working on solutions that will help developers gain more exposure for their Web-based iPhone apps, but presently holds no plans to issue a “true” software developers kit (SDK) that would allow for native third-party application development.

While the report suggested that Web app developers might eventually be able to create iPhone home screen icons that will point to their offline web apps, Apple could presumably also include a new home screen icon as part of a future iPhone software update that would jump users to its official directory of online applications.

Well lookey see here, sounds like v1.1.1 isn’t all doom and gloom after all. The iPhone dev community’s apparently not only moved past accessing the nigh-unbreakable file system protections Apple implemented in the latest iPhone and iPod touch firmwares, they’ve also managed to hack the SpringBoard app into shape enough to properly launch 3rd party apps (which were, as expected, recompiled to function with the new iPhone frameworks). But it’s still not without some bad news: unfortunately, it sounds like most (if not all) of these new hacks rely solely on that single TIFF exploit in Mobile Safari, meaning that everyone’s back to square one the moment Apple beams v1.1.2 to the public at large.

Apple has obviously made some enemies over this whole iPhone firmware situation, and clearly not everyone wants to follow the straight-and-narrow when it comes to the company’s factory-limited and locked device. Now, at least one California resident named Timothy Smith has decided to bring the fight to the Cupertino monolith’s doorstep — and he showed up with lawyers. According to papers filed last week, the angry iPhone owner is suing Apple in hopes of barring the company from selling locked phones, and forcing the Mac-maker to provide warranty service for customers even if they’ve bricked their phones via third-party software — though there seems to be no definitive evidence that Apple’s update is the source of the brickings. The suit claims that, “Apple forced plaintiff and the class members to pay substantially more for the iPhone and cell phone service than they would have paid in a competitive marketplace either for the iPhone or for AT&T’s cell phone service,” and that the company, “Acted in defiance and without sufficient consideration of consumers’ rights to unlock their iPhones because it knew that the probable result of its update would be to render unlocked iPhones inoperable.” The lawyers in the case have set up a website where owners can join in on the suit — so if you’re feeling slighted, maybe they can help.