iPhone coverage from Engadget

Who was there besides the press and presenters??

Oh just Q&A

JUNE!!! NOOO!!!!!!

And I kind of understand the charge with the Touch. They make a bit of money from the iPhone contracts, but nothing with the iPod Touch. That's probably why.

Looks like it's essentially done.

As exciting as all this was, it was very disappointing that we have to wait until June to get our hands on it. Granted, there will be a lot more apps available by then, not to mention far more polished versions of what we saw (some of the apps above only had two week development times).

Wow I was really hopping maybe we would be able to get a few apps or new features today


Now we play the waiting game .......

Well, not a very remarkable event, but wasn't really expecting anything more.

I'm very saddened, but not too surprised, at Apple's move to completely monopolize the distribution of the iPhone apps. I'm sorry, but it's just a ridiculous and sinister move, and seems like something people would crucify Microsoft for if they did something similar. I wonder what the EU would have to say on the matter.

I don't have a lot of experience with distribution costs, but 30% seems extremely high. I suppose when you make it your way or the highway, you can charge whatever you want.

Yeah, this wait till June is gonna SUCK!!!! I was expecting a wait, but I was hoping for a few apps starting today or tomorrow. grrrr

fleurya said:

Hmm, so developers can only sell iPhone apps through Apple's App Store? I don't like the sound of that. Sounds like more monopolization and control tactics to me.

Devs get 70%, translation, the cost of apps to you will be up to 30% more than they may have been without Apple's "exclusive" App Store.

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I believe that that is a good idea - Apple SHOULD have full control over how apps are distributed. Look at their list of banned apps:

Malicious
Porn
Illegal
Unforeseen
Privacy
Bandwidth hog

As much as I love my third-party apps right now, there's no security. How do you know an app won't fry your iPhone? Having an Apple-sanctioned distribution environment sure sounds good to me.

I also think that Apple is being extremely generous in their pricing scheme. 70% to developers is awesome...all you have to do is sit there and write an app, submit it, and watch the money flow in. No bandwidth costs, no dealing with ordering issues, nothing. And free distribution for free apps is phenomenal. This is better than I was hoping for from Apple!

Q: "Isn't the fact that Apple is the sole distributor of apps likely to cause monopoly issues?"

A: "We think this is going to be a boon for developers, there's no other way to get an app in front of every single iPhone user." Just to make it a little clearer -- we don't intend to make money off the app store; the split with the music companies is about the same. We give all the money to the content owners and the developers here, and the 30% that pays for the store, that will be great.

Holy cow, a venture capitalist program! $100 million!

Wow waiting till June is going to be impossible for me! I wonder if we will see any updates between now and then..... maybe a little something to hold us over.


Now we play the waiting game........

j21m2293 said:

Wow waiting till June is going to be impossible for me! I wonder if we will see any updates between now and then..... maybe a little something to hold us over.


Now we play the waiting game........

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I'm sure they're holding out 6 months from January for the release of the 3G iPhone, and hopefully a 32gb upgrade as well. Plus to give time to developers to start rockin' and rollin'.

Sonos, if you're reading this...please please PLEASE release a Sonos GUI!

Despite the 3 month wait, I think this is really really great news. I am really pleased/impressed with these announcements.

kaidomac said:

I believe that that is a good idea - Apple SHOULD have full control over how apps are distributed. Look at their list of banned apps:

Malicious
Porn
Illegal
Unforeseen
Privacy
Bandwidth hog

As much as I love my third-party apps right now, there's no security. How do you know an app won't fry your iPhone? Having an Apple-sanctioned distribution environment sure sounds good to me.

I also think that Apple is being extremely generous in their pricing scheme. 70% to developers is awesome...all you have to do is sit there and write an app, submit it, and watch the money flow in. No bandwidth costs, no dealing with ordering issues, nothing. And free distribution for free apps is phenomenal. This is better than I was hoping for from Apple!

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I suppose you also think it's a good idea for internet service providers to control what you can access on the internet? Or for cellular phone service providers to control who can call you? I'm sorry, but that kind of control, while it does have some good points, can never outweigh the bad points. And I'm just talking about simple censorship issues, I'm not even getting into economic issues. It goes against the free-market principle and it's just wrong.

If Apple wants to run an App Store, that's fine. But don't make it the only way for developers to get their product on the phone. Steve says it''ll help devs get their apps in front of users, but as we can clearly see from all the jailbroken apps out there people are using, getting apps in front of people is not a real problem. It's a solution to a problem that never existed; an excuse for them to make this shady move. I think the entire retail industry would have a big "excuse me?" for Steve on this one. Software sales of every other kind do not seem to be having any trouble getting their product to their customers. What is so different about iPhone software???

I guess I got on the Apple wagon a little late in the game. I was seduced by all the talk of how great a company Apple is and how fair they are. I still think it's a good company, but there have just been way too many questionable moves on their part over the past year or two.

Why are you so worried about the distribution model? It's not like Apple is forcing developers to sell their apps, it isn't keeping things like VOIP from being developed. Apple wants to provide a stable environment for the iPhone while at the same time allowing for third party apps to be developed for it. So it needs to have quality control, which makes perfect sense.

Oh, and the existing third party apps all go through an App Store like program, Installer.app. It works really great, and I see the App Store doing equally as well.

fleurya said:

I suppose you also think it's a good idea for internet service providers to control what you can access on the internet? Or for cellular phone service providers to control who can call you? I'm sorry, but that kind of control, while it does have some good points, can never outweigh the bad points. And I'm just talking about simple censorship issues, I'm not even getting into economic issues. It goes against the free-market principle and it's just wrong.

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You are going overboard and comparing apples to oranges (no pun intended). Apple controlling the release of software is NOT the same as an ISP controlling your access to the Internet. If a large majority of their users are going to be downloading 3rd-party apps, then Apple has a responsibility to them to ensure that the apps they download won't destory their phone or steal personal information (call recording, passwords, contact lists, etc.). They also have a responsibility not to ruin AT&T's network with malicious apps.

Apple is offering developers a legitimate way for developers to make money distributing apps, as well as offering free apps, and offering users a simple way to get those apps. Most Apple users are simply not going to go to some random 3rd-party site to get something for their iPhone, I'd imagine. iTunes and the App Store is a standardized way of approaching things. It makes sense to me, at least.

I guess I got on the Apple wagon a little late in the game. I was seduced by all the talk of how great a company Apple is and how fair they are. I still think it's a good company, but there have just been way too many questionable moves on their part over the past year or two.

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That's another deception that most Apple users fall into (myself included). The bottom line is, don't love Apple - love their products. They are just a big corporation like any other corporation, except they make really neat products that a lot of people like. I agree - Apple has done a lot of stupid moves recently. The $200 pricedrop on the iPhone just weeks after I picked up a pair for my wife and I made me pretty angry, especially since it had only been out for 2 months to begin with. But again...don't love Apple, just love their products and what their products can do for you.

Steve Jobs does not care about you, me, or anyone else on this forum. He is in business to make money and to make great products, and he does a great job at it. One of the pitfalls of getting into Macs is confusing those two - the company vs. products. I definitely learned that lesson with the iPhone

Well the feeling for me after the conference is mixed:/
I am glad that we will have 3rd party apps available on the iPhone.
But my spirits are a little diminished because of the wait. I was really hoping we would be able to get a few new features today or in the coming weeks....

You all have to realize today was the official release of the developers kit. It's going to be awhile before everything is fine tuned.
Realize a lot of apps will be free.AOL won't start charging for an iPhone version when the other versions are free.
When apps are free, Apple will be in charge of all costs. They have to fork all the distribution fees. I am glad they are taking control of the app store.
All and all, I am very stoked about the release. The demos only begin to harness the capability of the iPhone. June will be an amazing month for iPhone users. Can't wait!

I also hope they release a copy-paste tool and widescreen Email.

kaidomac said:

I also hope they release a copy-paste tool and widescreen Email.

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Yeah I wonder if anyone asked Jobs about that in the Q&A