New Developer + iPhone SDK = SOL?

[Bucky]

As a newb, my first post was to ask what kind of hardware I would need
to be able to take on an iPhone-related assignment. I appreciate all
advice given.

With the release of the iPhone SDK, I now must ask, as a newb, if it
is mandatory for me to have a Mac in order to participate in apps
development for the iPhone, as it appears that the iPhone SDK will
only work on a Mac? This is what I've gathered from browsing through
the pages associated with downloading the SDK. My boss was reluctant
to purchase an iPhone for me, for development/testing purposes - I'm
sure he'll be equally reluctant to fund the purchase of a Mac. If a
Mac is indeed required to use the SDK, that means I'm SOL on this
project. My company is PC-based - the only Mac in the house belongs
to the boss...

One final question - concerning apps for the iPhone - how would one
develop a custom iPhone app for a client, without having to submit it
first to Apple iTunes? I can envision a situation where a company has
multiple sales people with iPhones and they would need a customized
app (not a web app) for their business use. Why would iTunes want/
have to bless a customized app that is not generic in nature? Just
curious...

[Erica Sadun]

First, you can pick up a Mac Mini for about $400 refurb at the Apple
Store, includes Leoaprd and you're good to go.

Second, it looks like the $99 is going to be necessary to access the
nikita installer mechanism. You wont' need to submit to Apple if you
want to do your own installs but either you'll hvae to jailbreak or
pay the $99 to get the ARM-compiled program to your iPhone. So you
can probably go either way but $99 is likely going to make your life
easier.

-- Erica

[Chuck Hudson]

Really a question for the new iphone sdk group. But some quick answers from
what I have found (correct me anyone if I misspeak)

Yes you need a mac - the iphone sdk relies on cocoa and xcode and objective
C - all native to the mac os. We are buying a couple more macbook pros now
because of some new clients - what a great way to increase your hardware
sales ;)

There are two programs for the iphone app developers - the 99$ one which
goes through itunes app store and the other $299 which is an "enterprise"
wide one. There is not much info on this yet but the second one appears to
match what you need for the sales people app. It allows you to internal
synch the app to your iphones in house.

Hope that helps - sure we will hear more.

Btw - isn't it SOOL? :)

[Ed Wrenbeck]

>
> There are two programs for the iphone app developers - the 99$ one which
> goes through itunes app store and the other $299 which is an "enterprise"
> wide one. There is not much info on this yet but the second one appears to
> match what you need for the sales people app. It allows you to internal
> synch the app to your iphones in house.

I think the "provide for clients" is actually an open question. How
will these external users access the internal app store without the
device being a "corporate image" of that company

>
> Hope that helps - sure we will hear more.
>
> Btw - isn't it SOOL? :)
>

S*** outta luck. Only one o needed

[Phillip Linder]

I guess in this situation you need to evaluate the clients
requirements to determine your functional specifications, and then
determine if you really need a native iPhone app versus a web app. If
you can deliver the functionality with a web app - no mac needed.

----------------------------------
Sent from iPod Touch.

[mathiastck]

Hey what new iphone sdk group are you talking about? I'm failing to
find a better google group, could you share the link?