iPhone SDK

The beta 2 release of iPhone firmware 2.2 is here. There are major improvements to the Maps application. Directions can now be found in three different modes, for driving, mass transit, and pedestrians. Street View has also been added, and allows the user to see street level photographs of a location just like Google Maps on the web.

When getting public transportation directions, subways and buses are both included along with scheduled times from Google Transit when available. Want to send your location to someone you're supposed to meet? Location sharing is another built-in feature that makes this easy.

Apple has seeded iPhone OS 2.2 beta 1 firmware to developers for "compatibility testing." Along with the new firmware they have also released iPhone SDK build 9M2611 beta. Most of the speculation circles around a few key features that were missed in the 2.1 upgrade. Of course, it seems Apple had its hands full with connectivity issues and a long list of usability problems that had to be addressed first.

Regardless of Apple's NDA it seems that one screenshot was leaked of definite improvements to the MobileSafari browser. The menu bar will more closely resemble the desktop version, placing the URL field and search field next to each other on the same line. The latest Webkits include JavaScript improvements that should also be released with 2.2. No word on whether or not the phishing vulnerabilities in MobileSafari and Mail will be addressed along with this cosmetic change.

One of the readers of TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) recently sent in what is believed to be the first set of screenshots of the new iPhone App Store. The App Store is an iPhone application showase/marketplace built into the new (currently development beta) iPhone firmware.

Users who previously tried to load the iPhone App Store on their iPhones were met with a "cannot connect" message. Sometime recently, this changed is allowing access to the App Store which now includes a few applications.

Below are a couple of the screenshots which were leaked. One of the screenshots shows a native Facebook application for the iPhone.

After denying countless developer applications for entrace into the iPhone Developers Program last week, Apple has begun accepting applications and allow developers to begin using iPhones to test software developed with the beta iPhone SDK. However, the good news isn't all good news. According to a new article on iPhoneAtlas, Apple has added what is, in short, a self-destruct mode to developer iPhones should a developer fail to comply with terms of the SDK.

As part of the agreement developers make when using an iPhone for development purposes, once a phone is used for iPhone development - it must always be used for iPhone development, at least until

Google Group Manager for Mobile Platforms, Rich Miner, jabbed at the Apple iPhone during promotion of Google's highly touted Linux-based Mobile OS, Android, at the Emerging Communications Conference in Silicon Valley this week. Despite the strong partnership between Apple and Google in the mobile arena, Miner evidently felt it necessary criticize the iPhone and the iPhone SDK in an attempt to highlight the strengths of the Android platform.

Miner offered up the following as an example of the inherent strength of the Android business model versus that of the iPhone, stating