Something is rotten in the state of Cupertino. Mr. Jobs, TEAR DOWN THIS NDA.

If the new iPhone 2.1 beta firmware is anything, it's a perfect excuse to say: "I told you so." It explains why the NDA failed to disappear on schedule. Apple kept its promise -- "Ve shall delivah the 2.0 iPhone und SDK on Yuly 11th" -- while working around the fact that that SDK was half baked at best. It was certainly not ready for prime time. The NDA simply expands the beta period. It offers cover to Apple, as they scramble to finish developing ready-to-ship software.

In retrospect, there really was no need for the NDA in the first place, nor this second new 2.1 NDA that just debuted. Anyone, including Apple's competitors -- even the really evil "big brother" ones -- can sign up and download the SDK for free. Apple isn't exactly keeping things hush hush on the down low.

All the NDA does right now is keep developers from talking to each other and blogs, magazines and book authors from publishing how-to articles. Said articles, etc., could actually help Apple reduce its tech support overhead. It would certainly help solidify the brand and allow third parties to make better, stronger App Store entries.

It made no sense then. It makes no sense now. But that's not where the grumbling ends. Our TUAW tipsters have been busy. They tell us that Apple is busy rejecting Applications from the App Store for grammar mistakes in onboard help files (not a joke) and for not presenting the user with the best playability options (also not a joke). Many of these frustrated developers tell us that some of their products have been waiting for review for four weeks and up and that their updates are getting caught in the gears. One wrote that his apps are getting poor reviews while fixes can't see the light of day.

And if the TUAW tipsters' tips are true (thanks TUAW tipsters), the new SDK throws a further wrench into the gears. 2.0 SDK Applications will not be immediately compatible with version 2.1 (although that could change between beta and release).

Other tremendously terrific tipsters tell us that the newest beta program isn't fully open. Apparently only a subset of iPhone SDK development members have been granted access. That once again puts some developers at a tremendous financial disadvantage.

All in all, the buzz in developer circles is not happy. While some look forward to their first August paychecks from App Store, others remain waiting and frustrated in the wings.

As always, please continue to use our tip line if you have anything you want to add anonymously to the discussion. Otherwise, feel free to opine in our comments.

The rumors are apparently true, after a fashion -- despite reports of Jobs' opposition to the idea, Adobe has told the Wall Street Journal that after reviewing the iPhone's SDK, their CEO says they can bring Flash to the device all by themselves. It'll be super interesting to see if Adobe tries to make an end run around Apple to get their platform on the iPhone via the SDK, or if Apple cooperates to let them do it (Flash, for all of its foibles, is definitely a big part of the current internet).

But at this point it seems like Adobe is dead set on getting Flash on the iPhone whether Apple consents or not. We'll watch this one as it develops obviously -- by the time the rest of the SDK-driven apps come around in June, browsing Flash sites might be the last thing on everyone's minds.

[Via Engadget]

Ready to crack on and unleash some applications for the iPhone later this year? Be sure to set aside $99 to get your application onto the store however, as Ars Technica reports "Developers have to register with [Apple]. For that $99, we give them an electronic certificate that tells us who they are .... if they write a bad app, we can both track them down and we can turn off the app's distribution".

In addition to the $99 licensing charge to distribute the application (whether it's a free or commercial app) companies seeking a proprietary solution will need to cough up another $200 ($299 total) for the 'Enterprise Programme'.

Another item worthy of note those still using PowerPC machines: if you want to develop for iPhone, you'll not only need Leopard, but an Intel-based Mac to run the SDK. Disagreements about architectures aside, what does your $99 get you?

• Complete set of resources in the iPhone Dev Center
• Testing of your code on iPhone and iPod touch
• Code-level technical support from Apple engineers
• the ability to reach every user via the Application Store

The paid-for Developer Programme is currently US-only "and will expand to other countries in the coming months."

While we wait for the iPhone SDK, web developers are busily creating iPhone-compatible web apps and pages. There are a few cool ones out there, like Leaflets and PocketTweets. Even FedEx has created an iPhone-friendly page.

Recently we came across Springlets. Unlike Leaflets, which is a single site, Spinglets is a collection of sites with customized web clip icons that look right at home on your iPhone or iPod touch.

My favorite is WikiSearch. To use it, just tap the WikiSearch icon on your hompage, enter your search text and that's it! You're taken to the resulting page on Wikipedia. It eliminates several steps.

Other treats include Speed Dial (dial any contact number with a touch from the home page) and Text Sites, which strips all of the photos from a given web page (useful when you're on Edge).

[Via Steve Rubel]

TUAW has received a tip that the company that does television for Apple's live events and Macworld is apparently hiring for an unannounced Apple event at the end of February. Keep in mind that this is an unconfirmed rumor -- while TUAW trusts our source, job listings are not available on the video company's website, and Apple has not yet announced any events happening this month. But Apple did promise us a year flush with announcements, and starting with the new Mac Pros all the way up to the bigger iPhones and iPod touches last week, they haven't disappointed yet.

And what would the event be about? Considering that we've got our ultraportable already, and our HD Apple TV, what big news are we possibly hoping to hear in "the end of February"?

This is just a rumor, so don't get too excited yet. But if it is true, and if Apple is holding an event before the end of the month, get ready, baby. We just might be about to see the iPhone SDK.

Here's another thing you may have heard on last week's talkcast (which again, I'm told, is this close to being edited and posted): we were talking, of course, about the new iPhone/iPod touch SDK, and knocking around ideas for how Apple might implement apps on the iPhone. Someone in the Talkshoe channel suggested something exactly like this suggestion, sent to us by reader Thomas. They'd like to see apps distributed through iTunes, just like podcasts. Choose which apps you want (submitted by their creators to Apple), dock the iPhone, and voila, apps on the iPhone.

Not really a new idea, and it is pretty obvious in its implementation (I had the same idea about games for the Mac a while back). I'd love to see it happen. But the problem, of course, is just how open Steve wants to (or can be) with the iPhone SDK. I really doubt we're going to see something freely distributed, and I know for sure that we probably won't see anything that anyone can place unsigned content on. I'd love to see a quick, easy way for anyone to simply publish apps for the iPhone, but from what I've heard, there are so many security holes in the system right now that that's not really a possibility.

Jobs clearly wants to fix things (if his iPhone SDK note is to be taken honestly), but unless Apple starts plugging holes fast, I don't see it happening. More likely, I'd see a few trusted developers given SDKs, and asked to create applications of their own which might then be listed on iTunes, for sale or download. Other developers could probably apply, but Apple will likely try to keep control over the whole thing, pulling an application off of iTunes (and possibly even the iPhones themselves) when a problem is discovered.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. As I said, it would be great to see apps on the iPhone from anywhere and everywhere, but the concern we're hearing is that security is far from tight, and Apple is watching its back as closely as it can.

That's right folks. You read it correctly. Cats & dogs are living together, and in other news Steve Jobs has, via Apple's 'Hot News' page, announced that Apple will, FINALLY, support third-party development of native applications for the iPhone.

The SDK will arrive, for iPhone and iPod touch (!), in February 2008 after MacWorld San Francisco. Apple "[is] excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users," but they are taking the time to do it properly "because we're trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once -- provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc."

I think I can speak for everyone here at TUAW, and of course our loyal readers, when I say that this move is so incredibly welcome and WOW. All I can say to Steve is: "What took you so long to let us at your beloved devices?" Now the only question is whether the various iPhone dev teams can sit on their collective coding hands until Valentine's Day...

Thanks to all those who sent this in!