iPhone Live: Questions About Apple’s Openness; Non-WiFi VOIP No Go; Parental Controls On Way
By Tricia Duryee - Thu 06 Mar 2008 02:32 PM PST
Following the main event, CEO Steve Jobs and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) execs Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall took questions from the media ranging from why Apple decided to release a SDK to whether phones that have ActiveSync will also be able to sync with a Mac account. But a number of questions were about how open Apple really will be when it comes to allowing developers access to the upcoming App store.
-- App Store limitations: Jobs said there will be some limitations. Applications won’t be allowed into the store if they fall into the categories of porn, malicious, illegal, infringing on privacy or bandwidth hogs.
-- VOIP: Will apps be available for using the VoIP to make a call over the carrier network, which would use a person’s unlimited data plan vs. their minutes? No. Jobs said that VoIP applications will be blocked unless they are built for Wi-Fi. They will not work on the carrier’s network.
-- Distribution: Will there be an alternative distribution method for developers who don’t want to use the App store or iTunes online? No.
-- On the decision to provide an SDK, rather than Web apps: Jobs: “I think the Web applications have worked really well for what they do, but developers gave us the feedback they wanted to do more.” He said that the one hesitation was that SDKs are a lot of work, and once you give them to developers they have to work for a really long time because you don’t want users’ applications to break when a new update is released.
-- Rim: Jobs said he’s not sending RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) a message with the release of the enterprise features: “This is about making the best product ever for enterprise customers.”
-- Parental Controls: In the iPhone’s Version 2.0, there will be parental controls, allowing parents to block Safari or YouTube.
-- iTouch install extra: The software will also be available for the iPod Touch for an undisclosed fee.
-- ActiveSybc: And, yes, phones that support ActiveSync will still be able to sync with Mac services, such as mail.
Tags: iphone live, iphone
