Infinite Loop / The Apple Ecosystem

iPhone SDK rumors suggest delays, inclusion of simulator

Although the iPhone SDK is supposedly coming soon, details about just what it …

February means Valentine's Day is coming up, but it also means that the iPhone SDK should be arriving within just a few weeks. To date, all we've seen of the SDK is a string of numbers and letter purporting to be the installation key for the iPhone and iPod touch. Other than that, the rumor mill has been pretty quiet—that is, until TUAW's Erica Sadun was able to dig up a few more bits of information about the SDK, including the possibilities of a simulator and SDK delays.

References to a simulator were found when looking at a list of platforms that the iPhone supports: the platform numbers for the iPhone and iPod touch show up, alongside a new, mysterious number and a "simulator" platform. The inclusion of a simulator would make a lot of sense, since it would lower the bar for development a bit by not requiring developers to own iPhones. According to Erica, Apple's other motivation for including a simulator may be to give developers a way to work on applications while the company finishes up the rumored iTunes distribution system.

Speaking of taking longer, another more ominous rumor suggests that the iPhone SDK may not be arriving in February after all. Delays in packaging, documenting, and testing the SDK could push the release back as far as WWDC in June. Delays could also be caused by Apple spending tweaking the security "features" of the SDK.

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