iPhone February

This month Apple will be releasing the iPhone SDK. I can't wait for this. It might be my gateway to developing on the Mac. Currently, I own multiple Macs and I develop using the Mac in Java. But I can't wait for the iPhone SDK to come out. I think it would be really cool to develop on it. I think this will open the iPhone/iPod Touch to alot of cool apps. I think they will announce the SDK, so people what you can do with it a little (as if we don't already know), tell us about how we can sign up to get apps on the phone. I am hoping that Apple will apps in a multi-level approach. I am hoping you will be able to install custom apps (i.e. ones that will not be released to the public). But I know that Apple announced that they are going to have some kind of signing to verify the owners of the applications so that virus, trojan, harmful apps will be kept in check. So that is why I was thinking of a multi-tiered approach the tiers would be something like:

1) Self-signed apps (these are custom and upon installation the person will be notified that it is self-signed and make sure that they trust the application before being installed)
2) Low cost signed apps (have developers pay $50-$100 to get a signature from Apple that can be used to sign the application upon install the sign will be verified against the one at the Apple site)
3) Higher cost signed apps (increase the cost to $250-$500, the app gets submitted to Apple for verification and it will be marked that)

Number 2 & 3 might have iTunes option. Like either, they both get a listing on the iTunes but #3 gets a preferential listing because it will be marked verified by Apple (have a seal of some kind)
or only #3 gets a listing on iTunes. Another possibility is the #2 as free apps only and #3 allows people to charge through iTunes and have people paid through their iTunes account.

There is one thing, that I am willing to bet Apple when it announces the iPhone SDK, a new 32GB iPhone. I have a hard time believing that Apple will need to submit the iPhone to the FCC for just a memory upgrade. So it would make sense that Steve Jobs comes in announces the iPhone SDK and some of the developer programs that will be available and thne he says "and just to go along with all these new applications that you are developing we have increase the memory capacity of the iPhone to 32 Gigabyte". To me it would be perfect timing, but I am not Steve Jobs so I can't be sure about the other ramifications of it. I am probably missing something like it iPhone sales would drop because of it or for I know it will re-vitalize sales. People with 8GB phones will be selling them and getting new 32GB ones.

Well, we shall see.