SDK

News is extremely limited at the moment, but TUAW reports that another version of the iPhone SDK and iPhone firmware have been released by Apple, and are available now to download.

The news is still coming in from the developers that have gotten a hold of the new firmware and SDK. “This is Apple’s fifth beta release since the iPhone SDK was released in March. There’s just under a week left until the end of the Apple Design Awards submission period.”

The new SDK weighs in at just under 1GB and that is all that is known as of now. I am pretty sure more information about the unexpected release will be given out in the near future.

The Black app. Is it a viral campaign for attention? Maybe, but if all goes well it will be a great social tool for iPhone users all around. It is said that when iPhone 2.0 is released so will one of the first social networking applications for the phone, but… this is merely speculation. “The first iPhone social consumer network.” Any ideas as to what this means? Regardless, the app will be launching on June 5th from Epic Apps, so it seems as if it may be a while before we get any more significant information. Keep an eye out, but until then, be satisfied with looking at the site.

The Nike+ Sport Kit released a few years ago for iPod Nano digital music player is finally getting an upgrade that will see support extended to iPhone and iPod touch.

I have not used the kit, but I have heard that with the existing version of the kit, runners must first return to their Mac or PC, dock their iPod nano, launch iTunes, and then push their latest performance data to the Nike+ website.

However, with the new application coming to the iPhone and iPod touch, runners will be able to beam that data to the website wirelessly the instant they complete their workout.

That being said, I assume the iPhone SDK will allow this to happen, with the application being available via the AppStore. For more information, take a look here.

The people over at ZiPhone spotted some code in the brand new 2.0 beta iPhone firmware that could point to the chip to be used in the upcoming 3G iPhone.

The code makes mention of ‘SGOLD3,” which could very well refer to Infineon’s followup chip to the S-GOLD2 which powers the current iPhone.

Infineon’s other name for the S-GOLD3H chip is the PMB8878, a 7.2Mbps HSDPA chip with all the video acceleration and media playback features iPhone users have come to expect.

Some features include higher resolution camera support (5 megapixels instead of our current 2), a 2X speed MMC / SD interface and more. However, that doesn’t mean any of these specs will end up in the iPhone 3G, but it is capable, leaving our minds souring as to what will come for the next iPhone.

Stay tuned…

Although Steve Jobs said, during his SDK introduction presentation, that the iPhone App Store would work over both WiFi and cellular networks, a new screenshot of the store from Boy Genius Report apparently reveals that a WiFi connection is, at least for now, required.

I’m sure this is just for testing purposes. The network access to the App Store should come with future beta builds.

To get a good idea of what you will most like see in June, check out the plethora of pictures that Boy Genius Report has taken of the iPhone beta software.

Can’t wait

As the SDK progresses, we are finding out more and more about the true features which are to come, as well as the problems developers are having with the beta OS.

More coders are now being accepted into the program and taken back by some restrictions and problems.

Apple’s documentation states: “Once you install the pre-release iPhone OS on your device, such device may only be used for development and testing purposes until the final (GM) version of the iPhone OS is released. In addition, you will need to install new versions of the software from time to time throughout the beta period. Failure to install the most current version will, after a period of time, put your device in a deactivated state.”

In addition to that, once you have the beta software on the phone, there is no downgrading or starting from the begging, so you are stuck. Not to mention, installing iPhone OS 1.2 also disables the phone’s radio, so you cannot make phone calls.

I am guessing the leaked photos of the beta OS will not be overlooked, but here at iPhone Matters (and others, i am sure) we… more...

While recent news reports generated anticipation that Apple’s iPhone SDK would at last allow for a native version of Flash, Adobe has since said that a solution won’t be as simple as they thought.

“A fully functional version that ran within a web browser would require far more integration than the SDK allows.” “Adobe has evaluated the iPhone SDK and can now start to develop a way to bring Flash Player to the iPhone,” the statement reads. “However, to bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone web-browsing experience we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it. We think Flash availability on the iPhone benefits Apple and Adobe’s millions of joint customers, so we want to work with Apple to bring these capabilities to the device.”

The SDK currently restricts any third-party software from running in the background or launching any sort of code of its own, both of which pose some problems for an embedded program such as Flash, in addition to other programs like AIM.

Flash is highly anticipated for many users and I am… more...

I am assuming more and more videos will be posted demonstrating the iPhone 2.0 features we are all excited to get out hand on ourselves.

Not too exciting, but I cam across one video on YouTube flicking through apps and settings on the iPhone, pointing out that it is indeed the firmware 2.0.

Take a look: