We've heard that the 3G iPhone would add real, true, honest-to-goodness (no joke) GPS into the mix instead of the fakey guesstimation the current model offers, and data unearthed deep within the annals of the 2.0 firmware emulator lends credence to the scoop. Specifically, users have found references to NMEA data, the raw language used to communicate GPS coordinates between devices; that'd suggest that Apple's intending to offer official support for GPS add-ons at the very least, but more likely, it foretells the inclusion of a GPS receiver right in the glossy black shell itself. What that means for efforts like locoGPS (pictured) remains to be seen, but it'd be awfully nice of Stevie to let external modules talk to the new firmware features on original iPhones, wouldn't it?

[Via Navigadget]

Once again, the time has come for a fresh beta build of the official iPhone SDK -- and if you're lucky enough to be involved in the firmware seeding program, a fresh build of the 2.0 firmware, too. The big change this time around appears to be support for OpenGL ES in the SDK's emulator, enabling easy, breezy access to 3D acceleration for testing all those spellbinding games we plan on playing the heck out of in a couple months. So yeah, shouldn't you get cracking on that? Seriously.

Ending the awful (two) days of waiting, NetBlender's officially presenting its latest innovation, BD Touch. Bringing together Apple's iPhone/iPod Touch and Blu-ray's BD-Live internet connection to potentially allow combinations like sending copies of a movie to iPhone directly from the disc menu, viewing fan created content in sync with a movie or, yes, using the iPhone as a remote control. All that geolocation, 3D motion sensitive, multitouch and predictive keyboard could be a part of our favorite movie (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) -- once some developer makes it happen. The disc authoring end of the tool is built into NetBlender's DoStudio software, while there are two iPhone SDKs (the Connect SDK is free, while the Premiere Blend/In SDK adds functionality but requires certification and licensing) available. Video demos are after the jump, so take a look and see what you can come up with.

This image, distributed to mailboxes across the globe this evening, pretty much says it all: a new cut of the official iPhone SDK beta is now available. That little morsel can be had by pretty much anyone that wants it; a new build of firmware 2.0 is available, too, but only to the Chosen Few. Let us know of any fascinating changes you stumble upon!

Don't look now, but mid-2008 is almost here, and for those waiting intently for the release of a LiMo SDK, you're one step closer to having your dreams realized. Announced today, the LiMo Foundation has made available what it calls the "first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices." According to Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo Foundation, the consortium is hoping that R1 will "spur rapid innovation and contributions from all LiMo members," and it's restated that software development kits for Native, WebKit and Java operating environments are set to launch during the second half of this year. Not one to sit idly, the entity has also announced that Release 2 is currently "being specified and developed," and should escape testing and greet the real world in late 2008.

[Via PhoneScoop]

We've gotten word that the official iPhone SDK has already received a refresh and is now available for download from its usual home. Let us know of any changes you find after the exhausting multi-gigabyte download, k?

[Via TUAW]

Update: MacRumors reports that beta 2 includes the Interface Builder for visually designing your app's interface -- a whole heck of a lot easier than doing it the old-fashioned way, we figure.

It seems that Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen isn't a developer for the firm -- or at the very least, he doesn't have a full appreciation for the height of the fence surrounding the iPhone SDK's walled garden. The company and on-again, off-again Apple chum solidly backpedaled on the chief's comments regarding Flash for the iPhone that were made just a day earlier, saying that "...to bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone Web-browsing experience we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it." For what it's worth, Adobe does say that it's still very much interested in doing up a Flash client, it just needs a little extra help from Apple on the side to make it happen -- so if we see this package pop up in the App Store later this year, we'll know that at least one company's been given a free pass to break the rules.

The word is out, kids. Adobe has apparently gone against old Jobsy's wishes, and it's planning a Flash player made all special for the iPhone (ala Windows Mobile) despite Apple's concerns that the technology -- in its current incarnation, anyway -- isn't cut out for mobile duty. During a conference call today, Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen said, "We believe Flash is synonymous with the Internet experience, and we are committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone," adding, "We have evaluated (the software developer tools) and we think we can develop an iPhone Flash player ourselves." We wouldn't be surprised if Adobe were to be given a pass on all those pesky SDK rules that would likely prevent a proper browser-based Flash component to be coded for the device, though those Apple dudes can be real sticklers for rules.

Sure, anyone can download the iPhone SDK, but it takes a little something extra to actually give those apps a go on a real device, now doesn't it? It appears that Apple has sent out thousands upon thousands of rejection letters today to would-be users of Apple's iPhone 2.0 beta firmware via the $99 iPhone developer and $299 enterprise programs, leaving nearly everyone without App Store access, without gems like Cisco VPN support, and indeed, without hope. How'd you fare?

Watching Google tiptoe around its relationship with Apple as it rolls out Android is one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching the industry these days. This is perfectly illustrated in the words of Rich Miner, group manager for Google's mobile platforms, who said, "there's a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone." A truthful statement in all likelihood assuming that the OS is robust upon its global release later this year and available on handsets from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG as expected. Miner then took a few shots at the iPhone SDK saying, "There are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can't do with the iPhone at least at the moment." He then noted that the SDK had been downloaded 750,000 times (compared to Apple's 100k in 4 days) as of February. Naturally, he then applied a thick, brown coat of public relations salve saying, "[If I were a developer] I'd certainly be looking at the iPhone, and if you believe there will be lots of Android phones out there, as we do, I'd be developing for both platforms." Kumbaya my BossEricSchmidtSitsOnTheAppleBoard, kumabaya...

Just four days after Apple announced that the beta version of the iPhone SDK would be available to developers, some 100,000 downloads have taken place. 'Course, it's not like we're shocked by Cupertino's latest horn tooting, but we've all ideas that number pales in comparison to the amount of requests for unlocks. Nevertheless, the real news from the Apple camp is that companies such as Namco and PopCap are apparently on board to bring titles such as Pac-man, Galaga, Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle to the iPod touch / iPhone via App Store. Furthermore, Six Apart's CEO admitted that it's already developing a "native iPhone application for TypePad," and the VP of THQ Wireless implied that we'd be seeing some of its wares surface here as well. As for release dates? Your guess is as good as ours.

Following the initial euphoria of realizing that a genuine, honest-to-goodness official iPhone SDK was finally upon us, the cold, hard reality of Apple's draconian rule wasted no time setting in. TechCrunch has a solid overview of some of the downsides of being an Apple developer -- an Apple iPhone developer, specifically -- and the list definitely takes just a little fun out of the June countdown. Front and center on the list has to be the fact that third-party applications can never run in the background, meaning that you can pretty much kiss your dreams of downloading (or creating) an always-on IM client goodbye. Quoth Cupertino, "users should not feel that leaving your iPhone application and returning to it later is any more difficult than switching among applications on a computer." Ah, but you can have a whole slew of apps running at once on those shiny Macs of yours, remember, Apple? Granted, they're suggesting here that apps should be smart enough to save and restore state as they're killed and restarted, but we figure it takes more than that to simulate true task switching.

[Thanks, Andrew]

For developers, nothing is quite as helpful in the process of learning a new platform as a set of solid examples to guide you down the right path. Google hears that and has started assembling "apps-for-android," a Google Code repository that'll ultimately end up featuring a series of sample apps that exercise Android's various capabilities. The site is a little barren at the moment with the only available sample being "WikiNotes," a rich text editor that uses Android intents to navigate to content. No doubt we'll see a whole slew of apps pop up here as time goes on, but in the meantime, wiki 'til you're blue in the face, why don't you? Follow the break for Google's WikiNotes release notes.

[Via TalkAndroid]

We're sure there have been some really great Java Micro Edition apps developed over the years, we just haven't been fortunate enough to find any that aren't a Bejeweled variant run into many of them. But that could very well change with the news that Sun is using that fancy new SDK to develop a Java Virtual Machine for the iPhone, which it expects to have ready "some time after June," and which will allow iPhone users access to the vast libraries of existing JME apps. We suppose the real conundrum now is which Java ME app we'll grab first: Harry Potter, or MapQuest Mobile. These choices, they overwhelm us.

[Via Mac Rumors]

Just in case you didn't catch the blip earlier between Steve's announcement of the iPhone SDK and the App Store, here's some fantastic news for the thumb-happy sect: Spore is coming to the iPhone. In fact, the EA Mobile title will go down as "the first 3rd party game on the iPhone." Sadly, it won't actually be available until September, but at least you've got a month to circle on your calender, right? Additionally, EA affirmed that there were "other games in early stages of development," and that it was "actively using the new iPhone SDK to develop games for the iPhone OS." Jump on past the break for the full release.