iPhone 2.0 lets open source in through back door

With the first Apple iPhone open source developers were like burglars breaking windows, forcing their software onto the device.

Thanks to the Apple iPhone SDK they're more like beggars now. Knock on the back door politely and you might get a beer. (Picture from Funny.co.uk.)

But that's a long way from walking through the front door like an honored guest, Funambol vice president-marketing Hal Steger told ZDNet today.

"They've been less than forthcoming in extending the olive branch directly to us. We're viewing Apple as a proprietary mobile platform. They're still basking in the glow of their success."

The Mac-ambivalence may be behind media response to Funambol's Wireless Sync announcement yesterday. The Washington Post called it a direct competitor to Apple's own MobileMe.

Not really, said Steger. "It's apples and oranges." MobileMe is far more limited, almost a MiniMe next to the synchronization services Funambol is offering.

Apple's attitude will change only when it faces real competition, and Funambol CEO Fabrizio Capobianco writes in his blog that the iPhone 2.0's pricing is designed to forestall that. "Surprise. It is a mass market phone," he enhused.

The low price is based on direct carrier subsidies, just as your "free phone" is subsidized now, as Apple is forced to forego its piece of AT&T's data revenue and the carrier, in turn, raises the price for those contracts.

You can do that when you're the only game in town. When will that change?  "We're tracking the other platforms closely," Steger said, predicting some Android kit will arrive by year-end.

Funambol will be ready. "We are a Switzerland, in that our strategy is to provide solutions for all the leading platforms," Steger concluded. Hopefully that doesn't mean they outplay the Czechs, lose, and get their key man's knee broken.