Filed under: Features, Apple, OS X

So with hardware accelerated 3D graphics, an integrated database API, tightly integrated performance monitoring tools, and a highly specialized version of the Cocoa framework tweaked just for the iPhone and rechristened as Cocoa Touch, the iPhone's just-announced SDK sounds like a winner. But how does it compare to its well-entrenched competitors from Microsoft, Nokia, and the iPhone community itself? Let's have a look.#comparechart { border: 2px solid #333; border- collapse: collapse; } #comparechart td { padding: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; vertical-align: top; margin: 0; line-height: 1.3em; } #comparechart th { font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 4px; background: #eee; } #comparechart th.mainth { border-bottom: 1px solid #333; font-size: 1.2em; } #comparechart td.red { background-color: #f08c85; } #comparechart td.green { background-color: #b3e2c4; }

Apple iPhone SDKToolchainWindows MobileS60 Cost
$99 Free Free; could be more depending on tools used Free; could be more depending on tools used Wide availability
June Now Now Now Native development
Yes
Yes Yes Yes Languages suppoted for native development
Objective-C Objective-C C++, any language with a .NET compiler C++ Digital certificates
Required for distribution No Available, required for some phones Available, required for some phones Retail support
Full; 30 percent Apple revenue share; free apps allowable No Limited Limited Platform maturity
Immature
Immature Mature Mature First-party support
Yes
No Yes Yes Community support
Just getting started!
Excellent Excellent Excellent App installation method
Direct (App Store), iTunes Installer.app, custom Direct, ActiveSync Direct, PC Suite Emulator available
Yes No Yes Yes Remote debugging
Yes No Yes Yes Target device variety
Poor
Poor Excellent Good Touchscreen support
Multi-touch
Multi-touch Single touch Umm... soon? App availability and variety
Poor (that will change, though)
Good Excellent Excellent Underlying architecture
Cocoa Touch / Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Windows Symbian Flash availability
No No Yes Yes Java availability
No In development Yes Yes
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