iPhone developers: Build something good and your profits will scale
Nico Mak (the original developer of WinZip - and remember PKWare was the DOS market leader) was making $1m+ off of WinZip licenses...10+ years ago - as for now...I'd say easily order of magnitude.
Some highlights from the liveblogs:
It's like a Mobile Wii - TouchFighter - use accelerometer to tilt and navigate (remember Wing Commander?)
Will Wright's Spore on an iPhone!
70% of revenue goes to developer, paid monthly. $99 if you want to sell, $0 if you want to give away (most app developers will probably do both)
Deploying to iPhone from the SDK is simple - take that control-freak mobile network operators from the control-freak Apple!
Enterprise-class Wi-Fi, with WPA2/802.1x,
I like how Apple ignores pressure and takes time to get things ready and right. If there was an SDK 6 months ago, it probably would not have been such that non-Mac development orgs could code something in 2 weeks (with Apple assistance)
It was my understanding that to distribute your app through App Store (the ONLY way to publically distribute), you must pay the $99 per year, regardless of if you charge for your iPhone app or not. This is a bit lame if you ask me..
It's true that you must pay $99, even if you're developing freeware. I don't know if it's per year, but probably.
Part of the cost is for the encrypted certificate that apps need to be signed with in order to legitimately run on the iPhone. This has always been the case.
It also allows Apple to know which developer is responsible for an app. So if your iPhone app ends up being malicious, Apple knows who is responsible.
but seriously $99 for deploying to all iPhones? I think that is a bargain. Even if your "just" a single developer. If you make something usefull, you should easily get that investment back on sales, mindshare, userbase or sheer cool factor.
The way you can wire up a UI without writing any code is masterfully done.
Really, your GUI should have a clear separation between your logic anyways, so if you can't wire up the GUI without writing a ton of code, something is astray.
I really hate building interfaces for the web and would love to build them with tools like interface builder but I just haven't felt any need to build a desktop app. Its really exciting that you can now use desktop level dev tools for a mobile application.
Back in the day, WebObjects Builder was like Interface Builder for the web. But now you have to use Eclipse for WebObjects development and NeXT/Apple's WebObjects tools are no longer being developed.
i think they are enabling the iphone to actually become a 'smart phone' - I know several people who switched from smart to iphones and thought they were missing some things,
It's a shame that I can't get an iPhone in South Africa, I suppose it's like that for a lot of the world, I'll be playing around with the SDK in the meanwhile.
I went from a Razr to the iPhone, and I am a huge fan. I finally can use my phone for my calendar, contacts, check things like weather/stocks, full video ipod capabilities, and so on.
Don't even try it. It (Xcode) depends on some of the new libraries in Leopard. I've been trying. Looks like I have to get X.5 this weekend. Sigh. (Always try to be a year behind on major changes like OSs because of bugs and fixes.)
iPhone developers: Build something good and your profits will scale
Nico Mak (the original developer of WinZip - and remember PKWare was the DOS market leader) was making $1m+ off of WinZip licenses...10+ years ago - as for now...I'd say easily order of magnitude.
Some highlights from the liveblogs:
It's like a Mobile Wii - TouchFighter - use accelerometer to tilt and navigate (remember Wing Commander?)
Will Wright's Spore on an iPhone!
70% of revenue goes to developer, paid monthly. $99 if you want to sell, $0 if you want to give away (most app developers will probably do both)
Deploying to iPhone from the SDK is simple - take that control-freak mobile network operators from the control-freak Apple!
Enterprise-class Wi-Fi, with WPA2/802.1x,
I like how Apple ignores pressure and takes time to get things ready and right. If there was an SDK 6 months ago, it probably would not have been such that non-Mac development orgs could code something in 2 weeks (with Apple assistance)
It was my understanding that to distribute your app through App Store (the ONLY way to publically distribute), you must pay the $99 per year, regardless of if you charge for your iPhone app or not. This is a bit lame if you ask me..
It's true that you must pay $99, even if you're developing freeware. I don't know if it's per year, but probably.
Part of the cost is for the encrypted certificate that apps need to be signed with in order to legitimately run on the iPhone. This has always been the case.
It also allows Apple to know which developer is responsible for an app. So if your iPhone app ends up being malicious, Apple knows who is responsible.
but seriously $99 for deploying to all iPhones? I think that is a bargain. Even if your "just" a single developer. If you make something usefull, you should easily get that investment back on sales, mindshare, userbase or sheer cool factor.
They're obviously making a run for the enterprise market with all the M$ support! I almost didn't believe it at first!
Yes and with the native Salesforce.com app they are really moving to take on RIM.
The SDK is actually much more impressive than I expected. I didn't expect game support like that.
The Touch Fighter game looks awesome! The Dev Tools also look really well thought out.
You'll love the dev tools. You'll be able to enjoy what we Mac programmers have been enjoying for several years now.
The way you can wire up a UI without writing any code is masterfully done.
Really, your GUI should have a clear separation between your logic anyways, so if you can't wire up the GUI without writing a ton of code, something is astray.
I really hate building interfaces for the web and would love to build them with tools like interface builder but I just haven't felt any need to build a desktop app. Its really exciting that you can now use desktop level dev tools for a mobile application.
Back in the day, WebObjects Builder was like Interface Builder for the web. But now you have to use Eclipse for WebObjects development and NeXT/Apple's WebObjects tools are no longer being developed.
I'm really impressed. Trying to download the SDK now, but the the ADC servers are melting...
can somebody who's succeeded set up mirrors? :P [private of course, for a couple days until the surge subsides!]
found this: http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4066811/iPhone_SDK
People are saying it's legitimate, but I would exercise some caution.
Interesting! Thanks, but I also got a chance to get into the line on the Apple site itself. So, all is well now.
1. need a mac 2. need xcode installed 3. need cocoa knowledge
i can't share my copy otherwise i would host it.
liveblogs are so exciting. i almost want to go out and buy an iphone + macbook right now
i think they are enabling the iphone to actually become a 'smart phone' - I know several people who switched from smart to iphones and thought they were missing some things,
It's a shame that I can't get an iPhone in South Africa, I suppose it's like that for a lot of the world, I'll be playing around with the SDK in the meanwhile.
I wonder if you've exhausted all resources. At last count, there are something on the order of 400,000 cracked iPhones in China now.
I mentioned it to a friend tonight and he said that he knew of people who have cracked models in South Africa.
If you crack it doesn't it void the warranty or void the device after firmware updates?
If you are actually determined to use it and develop some software, that should not exactly be a major concern.
Very impressive. It almost makes me want to buy an iphone.
Yep, I'm in the same boat as you - "almost" ;) All I'm waiting for is the hardware upgrade announcement (WiMax, 3G).
I went from a Razr to the iPhone, and I am a huge fan. I finally can use my phone for my calendar, contacts, check things like weather/stocks, full video ipod capabilities, and so on.
Crap, the SDK doesn't work on OS X Tiger? Anybody know of a work-around?
Don't even try it. It (Xcode) depends on some of the new libraries in Leopard. I've been trying. Looks like I have to get X.5 this weekend. Sigh. (Always try to be a year behind on major changes like OSs because of bugs and fixes.)
It also doesn't work on PPC... yet another reason I need to upgrade my 4.5 y/o PowerBook.
Agreed. Now I have a really good reason to get that new MacBook Air!