Jobs Speaks: Apple to Deliver iPhone SDK in February

After months of silence on the matter, Apple finally announced Wednesday that it plans to enable developers to create native third-party applications for the iPhone (not just Web-based applications), and will deliver an SDK in February. The delay has been blamed on security concerns.

"It will take until February to release an SDK 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.," company CEO Steve Jobs said. Apple notes that Nokia does not allow third-party applications on its newer phones without a digital signature for this very reason. Jobs adds that applications can also be created for the iPod Touch.