Apple to open iPhone platform at WWDC?

The iPhone fever built by Apple and its much adored chief exec has caused some anxiety in Apple execs ahead of the much-anticipated launch on June 29th. The massive interest and the immense attention may lead some to be disappointed with the first generation of Apple's iPhone, according to the The New York Times. "The anticipation, which is intense even by Jobsian standards, has led to some quiet, behind-the-scenes anxiety at Apple. Some Apple executives worry privately that expectations for the one-button phones may be too high and that first-generation buyers will end up disappointed." The report, however, indicates that Apple's planned in-the-field software upgrades for the iPhone may give it an edge in a rapidly changing mobile technology environment and that the company will announce a program at its annual developer conference next week to open the iPhone platform to third-party applications.

The report notes that there are skeptics of the consumer device, as the high price will limit the phones’ appeal to true believers, the bandwidth or connectivity is slower than many other phones, and lack of a true-keyboard may limit text-intensive business applications.

“It’s very media-centric,” the Times quotes a director at a handset competitor. Declining to be identified so as to not elicit comparisons with the iPhone, the director continued: "It will hit one sweet spot, but not necessarily all of the sweet spots — we hope."

Last week at the D5 conference, Jobs touted the software behind the device and said that Apple was looking for ways to open up the iPhone platform to third-party applications, which could spawn an entire new generation of mobile computing. Jobs believed that Apple's Mac OS X, tuned for mobile applications, will allow it stay ahead of its competitors, giving it a five-year lead in the industry and helping it succeed where the Japanese consumer electronics industry failed.

The Times reports that Apple intends to announce at WWDC next week that it will make it possible for developers of small programs written for the Macs to easily convert them to run on the iPhone.

Filed under: Apple