Apple may release a native software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone as soon as January, despite its current insistence on a web-only strategy, a BusinessWeek report suggests. The publication claims to have spoken with sources familiar with Apple's plans, who say that the company will release an SDK in early 2008, and most likely around the same time as CEO Steve Jobs' January 15th keynote at Macworld San Francisco. Analysts contacted by BW suggest that the main reason for a delay since the iPhone's launch may actually be Mac OS X Leopard, which will only go on sale October 26th.

The theory advanced is that Apple has been wanting to introduce new features to the iPhone, but it has had to wait for the advent of Leopard, a base platform which may enable the extra capabilities. The operating system had originally been scheduled to launch in June, the same month as the iPhone.

How Apple may approach third-party developers is speculative at present, but it is proposed that Apple will support the notion of selective access, which would prevent the installation of applications that circumvent barriers placed by Apple and AT&T. The company may also go to the trouble of picking developers individually, only handing the SDK to approved ones.

Rumors indicate that Apple may have already prepared an SDK for two of its largest portable partners, Google and Electronic Arts. The former already has YouTube and Google Maps on the iPhone, but denies having early SDK access; EA, meanwhile, will not comment either way, despite having so far been limited to games on non-Touch iPods.