Software development kit for the iPhone exceeds 100,000

Cupertino (CA) - Apple’s iPhone software developer kit (SDK) is off to a good start : More than 100,000 copies have been downloaded within the first four days after release, the company announced today. The free software includes the XCode IDE, instruments, an iPhone simulator, samples and compilers to create free and commercial iPhone and iPod touch applications.

According to Apple, the developer feedback to the SDK has been “incredible”. Besides those 100,000 software downloads, the company said that the launch video has been viewed more than 1 million times.

The SDK provides a long anticipated opportunity for developers to create their own applications for the iPhone. The platform was released more than half a year after the phone’s launch in June of last year. Back in October 2007, Apple said that it would launch the SDK in February 2008. The company commented on the delay of the SDK and noted that the company was working to enable native third party applications to run on the device and make sure that the platform was secure enough to protect the “highly visible target” from malware attacks.

“We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones,” chief executive officer Steve Jobs wrote in October 2007.

Apple will give software developers an opportunity to distribute their applications through a new “AppStore”. Developers can set their own price for their applications, but Apple will keep 30% of the sales.