The mess surrounding the iPhone, more specifically, third party applications that aren't web-based is finally over. Steve Jobs announced today that Apple is working on a software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone and iPod Touch that will be ready by February. Wait, February? It took the renegade iPhone development teams a week after the original June 29 release to begin developing hacked third party applications, but it takes Apple nearly eight months? Apparently so, and Jobs says it is because they have to create the SDK to allow developers the freedom for application creation, while still protecting the phone from viruses and other malicious baddies.

Good news all around — especially for individual developers and more so for larger developers. (Skype, anyone?) It's also good news to watch as this trend slowly grows around other manufacturers of cellphones, MP3 players and mobile operating systems. The potential for third party applications is endless, but only time will tell how robust the SDK will be and what level of third-party applications will be available.

Now how about that pesky locking issue? — Travis Hudson

Via Apple