Apple to Open Up iPhone to 3rd Party Developers

SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled Monday a new version of the company's computer operating system, set for release in October, and revealed plans for how developers can make programs for its iPhone cell phone.

Jobs' announcements came at the start of the company's annual developers conference in San Francisco, which opened to record crowds.

Dressed in his trademark black turtleneck sweater and blue jeans, and shuttling between two large screens, Jobs also discussed plans for more videogames for Macs and introduced a version of Apple's web browser, Safari, to run on Windows.

The enhancements to Apple's operating system and Internet browser - like the whole speech, which started with the PC Guy from the Apple commercials imitating Jobs - seemed focus on weakening Microsoft's stranglehold on the PC market.

"We are already ahead of the competition," Jobs said, with his usual bravado. "Leopard sets the bar even higher."

Among those listening to Jobs' speech was Tony Cerrato, a business analyst and developer for XC Construction in Milpitas, Calif.

"There was nothing too surprising," he said. "But it was all pretty exciting, anyway."

Jobs' update comes at an interesting time for Apple, which has seen its shares more than double over the past year as its iPod music player continued its dominance in the music industry and as anticipation builds for the iPhone and its new operating system.

Apple shares, though, recently lost 2.4% Monday to $121.51.

The CEO said the upcoming operating system, called "Leopard," replaces Apple's current operating system, known as "Tiger," and has more than 300 new features, 10 of which he highlighted at the conference.

Among those were a new way to organize information on the computer, a product that allows Mac users to run Microsoft programs and an application that automatically backs up a company's hard drive.

Analysts say this particular feature could help Apple gain more share from its rival Microsoft.

Apple said Leopard would cost $129 and reach stores in October. The company released the operating system to developers Monday for testing purposes only. The system's launch was delayed by at least two months so Apple could devote more resources to creating its iPhone cell phone in time for its June 29 release.

Jobs also demonstrated the company's iPhone, the much-hyped combination cell phone, iPod digital music player and Internet device. He also said developers could create applications for the iPhone by using Web 2.0 standards.

That development is a major one for Apple. It signals the company's willingness to allow the phone to use third-party applications.

The company also said applications using Web 2.0 standards would also be able to extend iPhone's capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.

Earlier in his speech, Jobs also announced that Electronic Arts is going to make games for Macs. Among those being planned for release later this year are popular titles such as "Harry Potter," "Command & Conquer 3," "Madden '08" and "Tiger Woods '08."

The company also introduced a version of its web browser for PCs, calling it the fastest browser running on Windows, which Jobs said should boost the browser's market share significantly.

"Our hope is Safari's market share grows significantly," as a result of the changes, Jobs said.

A free beta version of Safari 3 is available to download as Apple hopes to cut into the huge market share of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Apple's new Leopard operating system also is designed to help the company be more competitive with Microsoft, which makes a rival operating system that powers about 90% of the world's home and office computers.

By comparison, just 5% of computers shipped in the U.S., and even less worldwide, are based on the Macintosh operating system. Yet, the operating systems Apple makes and sells account for more than 40% of Apple's sales in the last fiscal quarter.

One of Leopard's most eagerly anticipated new features is called Time Machine and automatically makes a backup copy of the data stored on a computer's hard drive.

Another new Leopard feature is Spaces, which Apple describes as a way to better organize and work with information displayed on a computer screen.

A third is called Boot Camp and allows Apple computers to run Microsoft's Windows operating system.

-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 11th June 2007