On 11.03.2008, at 17:35, Stephane Sudre wrote:
On Mar 11, 2008, at 00:57, Peter Sichel wrote:
On Mar 10, 2008, at 4:20 PM, Michael Ledford wrote:
I think it's pretty clear from the SDK License that Apple will not be supporting any type of 3rd party kernel extension... at least for the foreseeable future if ever. The SDK license strictly points out that the only code that will be allowed to enter into a customer's iPhone/iPod Touch is code that only uses the public API. Any code that uses unpublished API will be rejected. Since there is nothing there for Kernel Extensions I think the writing on the wall is pretty clear.
I think this is a huge win as Apple can change things internally as much as they wish and that really cool application that everyone uses will not be affected because it wasn't allowed to use some of the stuff that changed. As well, it ensures performance and stability. The two things that are probably the most important to maintain on a mobile device.
I can understand Apple's point of view, but it also means some interesting
applications can only be written from inside. Here's an example:
I'm the developer of a Macintosh software router/AirPort gateway and
would love to build an app to allow your iPhone to act as a Bluetooth
modem or AirPort Access point for when the G3 iPhones arrive.
I can imagine a cell-connected base station being rather popular on
long car trips with laptop equipped passengers.
Will Apple do it? Is there any way I could do it?
In addition to this potential limitation in the SDK (whose contents does not officially exist)
The SDK is available now. As beta with lots of things not working (like installing and running an App on the iPhone itself doesn't work for me...)
, I tend to believe there's also a restriction from the carriers and Apple.
This is not really true. I have an official unlocked iPhone which I'm entitled to use with any carrier. So there's no believing here. Its maybe not in Apple's marketing interest but its not any legal restriction apple could enforce. They cant in France and in some other places.
As of today, I don't think you're entitled to use an iPhone as a modem.
I would say this is not a question of being entitled, its more a question of the iPhone being capable of. Every Nokia, every Sony Ericsson which you find on the market in europe has built in bluetooth modem and synchs calendar and contacts entries via bluetooth (with iSync hopefully). You will not find any phone on the market in europe which doesn't support this (unless it doesn't have any bluetooth at all). The iPhone is the ONLY phone which doesn't.
Having an iPhone since a while, here's my (and most other european's to my believe) most wanted missing features for the iPhone:
- Support Bluetooth Modem function - Sync over Bluetooth for Calendar and Contacts - Send Images via Bluetooth (OBEX) - Support for MMS. - Access to the SIM card addressbook. others would add Support for J2ME to run all the games and utilities which are out there.
All those features COULD be done on the iPhone with the SDK in theory. .. but none of them will be possible because:
- you can not build shared libraries (to use it for example for WAP / MMS in multiple Applications) - you can not run background processes (to listen to incoming SMS or for Bluetooth IP routing) - you can not build kernel extensions (to deal with SCTP, bluetooth drivers) - you have no API to deal with incoming SMS (for MMS notifications). - J2ME is of course not supported. - Access to the SIM card is not possible (to import or access the adressbook on the SIM itself) - Selling through the iTunes store in a country with no iTunes store is pretty difficult (and yes, there are tons of people with iPhones in those countries) - 30% margin for Apple for software is way too high. This might work for music but not for Software (this is at least argueable in some way but forcing everyone to use it is pretty rude to the developer community).
And anyway, AFAIK, you can only use the Bluetooth feature for the iPhone Headset.
true And if we are to believe the claims regarding battery life with WiFi and G3, I'm not sure how long a car trip could be in this case without an external power source.
Thats not the point. people simply want those features. And me as a developer (and many others) want to add the stuff Apple has forgot because they have no clue of how mobile phones are used in Europe. But the SDK is a joke in this respect. It restricts developers far too much on what they can do.
So the only way is to go the unofficial path to get things done or to ignore Apple for software products. *sight*
Andreas Fink
Fink Consulting GmbH Global Networks Schweiz AG BebbiCell AG
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