Apple unveiled on Thursday the iPhone SDK at a special event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. Apple executives said the SDK provides developers with the same tools it uses to develop applications for the iPhone.
[ What are developers saying about the iPhone SDK? Ephraim Schwartz reports.]
Applications for the iPhone will be built on a Mac using Xcode, the same development tool used to build Mac OS X applications. Using the tool, developers can monitor memory usage and other ways that applications can affect the iPhone hardware.
Apple also introduced a new development tool called iPhone Simulator. This tool runs on a Mac and simulates the entire API stack of the iPhone OS. Apple said that you can run your iPhone application in the simulator, which gives developers an incredible turnaround time on development.
[ InfoWorld Chief Technologist Tom Yager weighs in on Apple's iPhone software strategy ]
Scott Forstall, Apple's vice president of iPhone software, explained that Apple had to build a version of its development framework, Cocoa. Dubbed Cocoa Touch, the new development tools are based on the touch interaction with the iPhone instead of the keyboard and mouse interaction users have with a desktop computer.
Forstall said the SDK is made up of several Core technologies. Much of what you find in the iPhone operating system is the same as what you would find in the Mac, except power management, which is even more robust on the iPhone, according to Apple. Core Services, Core Location, and Core Audio will also be available to developers.
[ From app dev to security, discover how to frame your iPhone strategy with this special report. ]
"So we have a fantastic set of tools, in addition to the amazing set of frameworks that make up the iPhone OS," said Forstall.
Apple also took some time to show off some of the newest Web apps that run in Safari. Forstall highlighted sites such as Facebook and Bank of America during his talk.
More information on the SDK will be posted as it becomes available.
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