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iPhone SDK will see an explosion of Social Web software

MySpace is said to have got early access to the official Software Developer Kit for Apple's iPhone. Either way, there's no doubt that the release of an SDK will see an explosion of iPhone-native Social Web applications.
Written by Steve O'Hear, Contributor
MySpace working on official iPhone app?
At a special event in Cupertino tomorrow, Apple plans to unveil the iPhone Software Develop Kit (SDK) "road map", the path to which third-party developers will be able to create native applications for the iPhone (and iPod Touch) that run outside of the Web browser. Having reneged on the promise of a February release, we don't yet know whether or not Apple which actually seed the finished SDK to developers tomorrow or release a Beta or make us wait.

Despite this uncertainty, there has been many published rumors suggesting that a number of handpicked companies have been given early access to the SDK so that they can get a head start developing flagship applications for the iPhone - perhaps to be showcased at tomorrow's event. Intriguingly, MySpace is said to be one of those companies.

According to electronista, "MySpace is in the midst of developing a native iPhone and iPod touch application... described as impressive compared to current mobile versions of the social networking site." One limitation that an iPhone MySpace client faces is the device's lack of support for Adobe Flash, negating access to MySpaceTV for example or streaming audio on the site. Having said that, a rich MySpace client that can hook into all of the iPhone's multi-touch and graphical goodness should easily be able to surpass previous native versions for mobile phones offered by AT&T, Helio and T-Mobile, along with the 'baby web' version (to borrow Steve Jobs' phrase) available via any handset's WAP browser.

Even if MySpace doesn't turn out to be an early SDK benefactor, there's no doubt that the release of an SDK will see an explosion of native Social Web-based applications: think MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, AIM, Windows Live Messenger etc. even if these are not official offerings from their respective companies. Already those with a 'jailbroken' iPhone or iPod Touch have access to unofficial - and sometimes official - clients for Instant Messaging, social networking, Twitter and Pownce for example.

And when Jobs was asked about a blogging application for the iPhone at Apple's shareholders meeting earlier in the week, he answered by suggesting that if one didn't surface, the attendee should go away and learn Cocoa (Apple's software development platform) and roll their own.

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