iPhone, iPod Touch to Avail Coveted Code to Outside Developers

Apple has announced that its beloved iPhone -- which has worked so hard to punish steadfast iPhone unlockers in the past -- will be availing itself to outside applications (a la Facebook). This means developers will be able to create little widgetey apps that run native on the iPhone when installed. (Current iPhone-specific apps -- like Typepad or EditGrid's solutions, for example -- have to run through the phone's Safari web browser.) The software toolkit will be available this February. (Note that the toolkit will also work for the iPod Touch, which is pretty much the iPhone without the calling capabilities.) The Baltimore Sun calls this move a step closer to "realizing [the iPhone's] potential as an ultra-portable mini-computer." Ironically, a Microsoft employee predicted this was the direction mobile would be taking just last July. In 10 years or so, it could be bye-bye laptop.