iPhone apps through iTunes?

If Apple started offering factory unlocked phones with no warranty side by side with the standard proprietary phones, giving their customers a choice, they could make allot of money by selling specialized warranties for them separately and then outsourcing those warranties out to local venders and Apple certified retail chains. It would be an elegant solution to a growing problem for Apple while at the same time pleasing and supporting their customer base.

Now that Leopard is bringing on a new Finder that's soo much like iTunes in interface, it's not hard for me to imagine it being the roots of a new application delivery system for the whole Mac ecosystem. What if the iTunes store morphs (in a future OS rev.) to a sort of store/delivery system for iPhone apps, media AND desktop/laptop Applications. ... For example, buy Photoshop CS5 online via the "store" engine, download it via the iTunes/Finder and it installs directly into your system in the proper place, licensed etc... seems a very likely future step, huh?

@4: No one is going to "Bring down AT&T's network." That has been proven, repeatedly, to be a red herring. There are plenty of worse-designed Windows Mobile phones on which this isn't a problem.

As for the security of the iPhone itself, Apple could go a long way toward fixing that by moving SpringBoard and other userland programs into running on the mobile account rather than the root account. I should think that would be one of Apple's top priorities, actually, and I'm confused that it isn't.

@9: It is very easy for Apple to absolve themselves of responsibility for this. All they have to do is make a "Time Machine" button for the iPhone (read: restore-at-will). Oh, your phone is giving you trouble? No problem, just hit the time machine. Yes, all your important data will be saved, no worries about that.

I just wonder when they're going to change the name of iTunes to something that better describes what it actually does. They keep adding so much connectivity-type functionality to it, It's becoming the iHub.

Cheers,
FL

Two problems.
One, you can't sync from mutliple computers natively (at least it doesn't work for me.).
Two, I don't want to have to go home to install the latest app. I want to be able to install it like I did with Installer.App.

This idea has been around since Steve the Jobs introduced the idea of an iPhone SDK. I would expect applications to appear for sale in iTunes but I wouldn't rule out "anyone" being able to submit an app for free or sale.

I like the point krye makes, regarding security. SDK + malicious coder + dumb users = disaster for Apple. The user would blame Apple, even though the application writer would be to blame.

Hmm, not much to that image. I like the idea of the wifi store for apps, basically like the current macosx downloads page. http://apple.com/downloads/iphone/ would be great!

The idea of having Apple approve all applications is a deal-breaker for me. I would really like to develop some applications that give our management a clean view of our divisions operations. I'm sure I am not alone and every application envisioned for the iPhone would not be for public consumption. Having Apple test/distribute all applications would cause me (and others I am sure) to abandon the dream of using the iPhone as a platform to distribute information.

Can anyone confirm that the iPhone is to be released in Ireland on February 9, 2008?

Could someone please explain to me why the iPhone has three seperate inboxes anyway? It's the only device out there that recieves email, SMS, and voice mail and handles them as distinct elements, but why do I have to chase across three separate apps to work with them? Why can't we have a unified inbox that shows email, SMS, and visual voicemail messages?