tonight you will find 5,777 results for "iPhone sdk" on technorati. all taking about what Apple's iPhone SDK announcement means, and how it may play out. personally i very happy with the SDK news and more specifically its details. and i am not excited for usual reasons you will read about. for what peaked my interest was not part of the main presentation given by Apple today, which btw was both impressive (tools) and bold (partnering with developers). no, the real jewel for me in the the SDK crown was only subtly mentioned in the press Q&A session with Jobs and Co. after the main audience was dismissed.
it is VoIP on the iPhone, the same voice over internet technology that drives Skype, Lingo, Vonage and many others companies offering international calls for pennies a min. VoIP is the bain of every single POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) provider, leaking revenue out of of their pockets like a sieve. and now, for the first time, a US cellular carrier (AT&T) is faced with the reality of customers using VoIP instead of billable air time while on their mobile. historically, cellular carries have enjoyed an unprecedented strangle hold on the hardware and software allowed on their networks. they have used this control to limit users alternatives and maximize profits. but here comes Steve Jobs, breaking the strangle hold and effectively making AT&T do to itself what took $4.6 billion by Google and others (4.6b was the min bid required by the FCC at a recent auction of 700-MHz cellular spectrum to trigger an "open-access" to hardware and software requirement.)
this thing, this Mac you can put in your pocket is changing everything and today is the biggest day no one will notice, beyond analysts and geeks that is.
the SDK makes it now theoretically possible for any iPhone users to make VoIP calls from their iPhones. Something never seen on consumer phones in the US before. and for one good reason, why would you pay $1.67/min to call a UK mobile (AT&T Standard International Rate) if you had VoIP client on your phone that could make that same call for pennies/min.
loop the camera into the equation and we are talking Dick Tracy on your iPhone. actually one of Dick Tracy's side kicks would make a great name for the iPhone VoIP app.
caveats galore:
* we have to wait til June for the SDK public release
* no official VoIP client for the iPhone was announced, just the potential for it was mentioned.
* apple says that they will limit VoIP to WiFi only
* chances are it will be a third party that develops the first VoIP client for the iPhone.
My iPhone wishes it was Dick Tracy's watch.
Swerdloff, looks like a Dick Tracy iphone is getting closer. Today Skype launched their first iphone app. rumors that a second camera for video support in the screen, ala iSight, is coming in the next HW version of the iphone. video conferencing here we come.
links:
www.skype.com/iPhone
and
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13549_7-10208838-30.html