StyleTap is an application that lets you run PalmOS software on Windows Mobile devices. The company has been working on a Symbian version of StyleTap since last year, and is now looking for beta testers. The test will begin on May 12th, and users can sign up by sending an email to StyleTap asking to be part of the beta.

In other news, while the company hasn't exactly committed to releasing a version of StyleTap for the iPhone, it's looking more and more likely that we'll see an official version at some point. In February, the team posted a video demonstrating an experimental version of StyleTap running on an iPhone. This was before Apple released the iPhone SDK, so the team obviously had to Jailbreak an iPhone to get the software running.

Now that the SDK is available, an official version could be in the works, but according to the StyleTap blog, developing the application isn't quite as easy as you might think, thanks to some "legal roadblocks." So StyleTap is asking anyone who'd be willing to pay for software that lets you run Palm apps on an iPhone to let Apple know.

[via jkOnTheRun]

While we're guessing Microsoft would love to make Windows Mobil customers out of each and every iPhone user, that doesn't mean the company doesn't see a business opportunity in Apple's cellphone. After all, Microsoft has been selling Office software to Mac users for years, so now that Apple has provided an SDK for the iPhone, why not port Office Mobile and other Microsoft applications to the iPhone?

Fortune Magazine reports that a team of Microsoft developers has been poring over the iPhone SDK. While the company still has to determine whether it would make business sense to develop for the iPhone, doing so shouldn't be hard. After all, Apple is licensing Microsoft's ActiveSync and Exchange Server technology to provide push email capabilities.

What Microsoft applications would you like to see for the iPhone? We're going to assume Office Mobile is a given, but what about Windows Live Messenger? What we're really hoping for is Virtual PC 2007, but we're not going to hold our breath.

[via Brighthand]

So you may have heard, Apple threw a little press event today. And while we won't get into all of the gritty details (our friends at Engadget have already done a pretty good job of that), we did want to highlight a few of the more exciting announcements related to the iPhone SDK:

• Apple has licensed Microsoft's ActiveSync technology to enable Exchange synchronization. That means Push email, calendar, and contacts.
• The iPhone SDK is available for free today to developers who want to create applications which can be run natively on the iPhone.
  
• Developers will have to pay $99 per year to have their items listed in the iPhone App Store. Apple will also take a 30% cut of any sales you make through the App Store.
• Users will be able to install 3rd party apps through iTunes or the App Store.
• Some of the applications demoed today include AOL Instant Messenger, a business tool from Salesforce.com, and several games including Spore. Yes, Spore.
  
• The iPhone 2.0 software that will let users run these 3rd party apps will be available as a free update in June.

One thing the iPhone SDK will not enable? Software that unlocks the iPhone so it can be used with different Wireless carriers. And that means that while there's now an official way for developers to get their software on the iPhone, there's at least one good reason that we still expect some lively updates from the iPhone hacking community.

Oh yeah, and the version 2.0 software will be available for the iPod Touch as well, but it won't be free. No price has been set yet.

Though NASA and other large enterprise institutions have previously decried the iPhone as "not enterprise ready", it appears Salesforce.com has a different opinion of the buttonless cell phone device. Even as Apple reported a substantially positive quarter, the avant-garde CRM company let it slip that they're working on adding iPhone-specific support to their hugely popular web application suite.

CNN's analysis speculates that Salesforce.com users may be looking to the iPhone as they grow weary of their traditional Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices. This is consistent with Salesforce.com's user demographic. Though they count some Fortune 500 clients, Salesforce.com's customer base is comprised mainly of small to medium sized businesses, where enterprise grade development tools (which the iPhone lacks) are less important than out-of-the-box functionality (which Salesforce.com prides itself on).

One wonders if Salesforce.com is one of those recipients of an advance iPhone SDK, or if the Salesforce.com integration is going to be online and web-based, as other third-party iPhone "apps" have been thus far.

Get ready for iPhone and iPod Touch applications to roll out of the pipes early next year, an SDK is coming!

We heard a rumor yesterday, but our friends over at TUAW have let us in on some exciting news from the Apple front. Apple has said that the much anticipated iPhone SDK will be released to developers by February 2008. This Software Developer Kit will allow developers to create applications for the iPhone, as well as the iPod Touch. Of course, hackers have been developing iPhone apps pretty much since the day the device was released, but now we're talking about applications that won't be deleted every time Apple issues firmware updates.

So start that special savings account now, things are going to get really interesting with Apple devices. Its not like it wasn't heavily expected by Apple developers and loyal fans, but it sure has been long overdue and will unfortunately take some time for the release of the kit. This is mainly to ensure a proper advanced open platform is built that will not only protect iPhone's from viruses but from associated privacy attacks made on users.

This vital and dynamic third party community that is about to be created will be able to grab the SDK after MacWorld San Francisco in February 2008, something Apple and their stockholders are genuinely excited about.

When Apple introduced the iPhone at this year's Macworld Expo, there was a great sigh of disappointment when Steve Jobs informed his developer community that only web-based applications would be supported on the iPhone. That is, no Software Development Kit (SDK) to create native programs. Among other things, this letdown limited developers' ability to harness the iPhone's coveted multi-touch user interface features.

But that may soon change. Business Week has a hunch that Apple has been waiting for the right moment to throw down with an iPhone SDK, and not for the reasons you might think. Instead of avoiding ticking off their wireless partner, instead of trying to maintain quality control, instead of assuming Dashboard-quality applications would keep iPhone code junkies happy, it seems Apple may've had a different reason altogether for the long wait: Leopard.

If Leopard is the official development platform for the iPhone (and who would expect Apple to release an iPhone development environment for Windows?), then the wait may've been warranted after all. After all, we've not seen any multi-touch technology from Apple except on the iPhone, and one wonders if multi-touch is hanging out in the background of Leopard somewhere, waiting to get called to duty. Meanwhile, Business Week openly speculates that Electronic Arts has already received the SDK, but this hasn't been confirmed. Madden 2009 on the iPhone? Sounds good to us.

Two weeks ago we saw the first wave of third party applications for the iPhone. But because Apple has yet to open up the device and provides an API (Application Programming Interface) for software developers, making third party applications right now is not for the faint hearted or even regular developers. A couple of weeks ago in MacBreak Weekly, Leo Laporte called for Apple to open up the iPhone immediately and he could not see any reasons preventing that happening. What Mr. Laporte, and most pundits, seems to imply is that providing an API is a straightforward process. Publish the API online and let the developers use it, right? If only it were that simple.

An API is a contract between the provider (Apple) and the consumer, who in this case is the software developers. As with any contract, once it is published, a level of trust is established between the provider and the consumer. This means the provider describes the functionality accessible by outsiders in the API, and that functionality will work as advertised. The consumer has to depend on the provider to keep their word so the consumer can develop applications base on that functionality.

But establishing an API also means restricting internal development freedom for the device. It is no longer simple to rework a particular function to provide better capability or performance without substantial testings to ensure the existing APIs are not broken. There are a few ways to deal with this situation.

No Apple hasn't finally given us what we want by releasing an official iPhone SDK so developers can create true apps for the phone, but that doesn't seem to be holding back enterprising hackers. Erica Sadun at our sister site The Unofficial Apple Weblog has released a basic text editor and even a screenshot app for the iPhone, while Gizmodo has MobileTerminal, a command line app that should allow for all kinds of iPhone hackery goodness.

Gizmodo also makes a great point: the code for MobileTerminal is being hosted at Google Code, which could mean a number of things, including:

• Apple hasn't fired up the cease & desist engine just yet
• They are quietly sanctioning this kind of hacking
• They're listening to demand and are working on opening the phone up
• They already have an iPhone SDK prepared and are waiting for something like Leopard in October because of specific code constraints

While we're likely to never hear word from tight-lipped Apple on an official iPhone SDK until it's actually made available to download, power users and iPhone enthusiasts are sure to take some solace in the fact that iPhone hackers seem to have opened it up quite a bit on their own already. We'll definitely be keeping an eye on what grassroots iPhone apps appear.

Adobe has released Creative Suite 3 for the masses, which means their attention can now turn to the SDKs for the developers in the audience (that's: Software Development Kit for the rest of us). After all, we can't design by built-in filters and plugins alone, can we? Mark Niemann-Ross, Adobe's Developer Evangelist, has announced on his Adobe Blog that some of the SDKs are in fact ready and poppin' fresh from the oven. Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, InDesign (including Server) and four more are already available, with SDKs for the rest of their CS3 products on the way. You can keep an eye on Mark's post for updates as new kits become available, or simply check out Adobe's Developer Center as well.

The Google Desktop SDK allows developers to create all sorts of gadgets and plug-ins for Google Desktop. I'm a big fan of using GOOG's desktop widgets to display some important news updates on my desktop, as well as the weather gadget, and a slick del.icio.us bookmark plug-in. This new update to the SDK brings a bunch more sample gadgets that you can build off of, with new features and API's. The Gadget Designer has also been tweaked, causing the older one not to be compatible with the new features and APIs. If you have ever thought about getting into designing your own Google Gadgets, you can check out the Google Desktop Develper Group for tips and tricks. Then once you're done, submit it to Google, and send a note into the Download Squad crew so we can check it out! Just remember to stay in tune with the user Interface and design guidelines.

The new Yahoo! Messenger version 8 with voice has been brought out of beta to stir the pot with MSN Messenger, and Google Talk.

Besides being able to tie into MSN Messenger contacts, the new Yahoo messenger is loaded with plug-ins and cool new features from both internal developers, and users, by using Yahoo Messengers Plug-in SDK. Top plug-ins for Yahoo Messenger include one for Coupons.com, Newsgator RSS feeds, and one from Jeteye that lets you store and organize your online world. Nothing tops the new Movie Trailer plug-in that allows you to catch the latest movie trailers while IMing though.

It looks like there is a full on IM war out there. And Yahoo!, MSN, and Google are stuffing their messengers with new features like crazy.

[via cnet]

Microsoft is sponsoring a contest that challenges developers to create chatbots for the MSN/Windows Live Messenger network. The contest, called Invasion of the Robots, promises over $40,000 in prizes, including the grand prize, a sweet Alienware system or US$10,000 in cash. The deadline is September 15, and Judging will presumably be done by a Microsoft panel (the contest rules just say "qualified judges supervised by an independent judging organization"), with winners being announced on October 15. There is also a "Users' Choice" category, the winner of which can choose among thre different prizes valued $500, or just the cash. If you want to enter, head over to the Invasion of the Robots site and download the SDK.

[Via Digg]