100,000 iPhone SDK downloads but not all rosy

Apple iPhone

Today, Apple announced that more than 100,000 copies of the iPhone SDK were downloaded in the first four days that it has been available. Leading developers such as AOL, Electronic Arts, Epocrates, salesforce.com and Sega have already demonstrated amazing applications using the SDK, and developer response continues to be phenomenal with more developers embracing the platform.

The iPhone SDK gives developers the ability to write applications for the iPhone and iPod touch by giving them the same toolset and APIs that Apple uses.

But as more developers pore over the SDK and agreement, some concerns are also emerging. The agreement contains clauses that will limit some software functionality. For example, scripted languages could be forbidden as the agreement states that interpreted code should only be run by Apple’s own interpreter and APIs. The agreement also imposes restrictions on background applications and programs that call other programs (like a plugin).

The Apple iPhone 2.0 software is expected to be available in June 2008 along with the new App Store.