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.
|
Apple iPhone SDK |
Toolchain |
Windows Mobile |
S60 |
Android |
Cost
|
Free |
Free |
Free; could be more depending on tools used |
Free; could be more depending on tools used |
Free |
Wide-scale app availability
|
June |
Now |
Now |
Now |
Depends on device availability |
Native development
|
Yes
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Languages suppoted for native development
|
Objective-C |
Objective-C |
C++, C#, VB.NET
|
C++ |
Java |
Digital certificates
|
Required for distribution |
No |
Available, required for some phones |
Available, required for some phones |
No |
Retail support
|
Full; 30 percent Apple revenue share; free apps allowable |
No |
Limited |
Limited |
No, but Android Developer Challenge offers money and publicity |
Platform maturity
|
Immature |
Immature |
Mature |
Mature |
Immature |
First-party support
|
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Community support
|
Just getting started!
|
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
App installation method
|
Direct (App Store), iTunes |
Installer.app, custom |
Direct, ActiveSync |
Direct, PC Suite |
Unknown; installation on emulator is not reflective of production devices |
Emulator available
|
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Remote debugging
|
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Target device variety
|
Poor |
Poor |
Excellent |
Good |
Poor (that will change, though) |
Touchscreen support
|
Multi-touch
|
Multi-touch |
Single touch |
Umm... soon? |
Single touch |
App availability and variety
|
Poor (that will change, though) |
Good |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Poor (that will change, though) |
Underlying architecture
|
Cocoa Touch / Mac OS X
|
Mac OS X
|
Windows |
Symbian |
Linux |
Flash availability
|
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Java availability
|
No |
In development |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
