Apple to reveal details of iPhone SDK on March 6th

Apple Inc. on Wednesday announced it will host an event next week to promote the much awaited software development kit or SDK for its super-popular mobile phone, the iPhone. The iPod/Mac maker yesterday issued invitations to the media for a briefing on its “iPhone Software Roadmap,” including the iPhone SDK and some latest enterprise features.

Although the computer maker was expected to launch the SDK this month, but rumors have circulated recently that it would be delayed by as many as three weeks.

Last year in October, CEO Steve Jobs said that developers could have the complete software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone by February 2008. However, it's still unclear whether Apple will release the iPhone SDK on March 6th, the day on which the event is scheduled at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.

At the time of iPhone’s launch, the inability for outside programmers to offer applications that could run on the phone drew ire from the development community. Now, with the release of iPhone SDK, Apple would likely succeed in pleasing them.

The iPhone SDK will allow developers to create third party applications that will run directly on the iPhone and the iPod touch, helping the company avoid the threat of viruses infecting the core system of the iPhone and spreading through these third party apps.

"Apple has understood the importance of local applications and they are responding to that, and it will help them sell more iPhones," said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst of Creative Strategies. "It should release a plethora of creative applications and it will make the iPhone much more practical as a mobile applications tool."

Launched in the end of June last, iPhone is the second best smartphone sold in the United States behind RIM’s BlackBerry. It combines a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching into one device.

Unlike the tiny multiple keys found on existing smart phones, Apple's iPhone has a single button and a 3.5-inch (9-cm) touch screen, and is larger than the iPod Nano.

iPhone, which has a built-in camera and five hours of continuous talk time and 15 hours for playing music, runs the Safari Web browser and Apple's Macintosh operating system software. It has Bluetooth, a short-range wireless technology that supports wireless headsets or links to devices like printers, and can connect to the Internet wirelessly via Wi-Fi.

Meanwhile, Apple also released a firmware update for the iPhone, the fourth since iphone launched eight months ago. Available through iTunes, the 162.1MB patch, software version 1.1.4, includes bug fixes and replaces all old versions, Apple said in a release.