Brisbane Cocoaheads

With the release of Apple’s SDK for building iPhone applications, many have plunged head-first into this new platform for the first time, with the new-found excitement that comes in discovering something entirely new and innovative. The energy surrounding the iPhone has been building steadily since its release last June, and Apple’s initial “beta” offering of their SDK gave developers many of the tools they needed to get engaged. Within a short time, however, the community hit a brick wall in many respects, leaving many disenchanted by the restrictions imposed on developers. While Apple insists that the SDK provides the same tools used to create their own software, developers have found that they don’t have access to the same low-level functions of the iPhone, such as the ability to run applications in the background, build certain types of objects, or use low-level frameworks such as CoreSurface, Celestial, or LayerKit — all of which provide direct access to graphics and sound components. These, along with many other features, are found in Apple’s own applications, but nowhere to be found in the SDK.

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