Apple today announced the iPhone Software Developer Program, including details on development, testing and distribution.

Developing on the iPhone

The actual iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) ($99 for Standard program, $299 for Enterprise Program) offers a complete set of resources for development. The development kit requires Mac OS 10.5.2 and allows developers to test their code on an iPhone simulator. At today's town hall, a few major developers took the stage to present applications that were developed in two weeks using the iPhone SDK. Developers included Electronic Arts, SEGA, Salesforce.com and most impressive was a working version of AOL's AIM. AOL developers had a live buddy list within 5 days, despite this being their first exposure to development on a Mac.

AOL's AIM on the iPhone

The App Store

Apple will introduce the App Store with the release of iPhone 2.0 software and they will be the exclusive channel for iPhone and iPod touch applications. Developers will be able to set the price of their applications and receive 70% of the proceeds from all sales of their applications.