There’s been a lot of heated talk brewing recently in the business and developer communities around Apple’s decision to ban all non-approved tools and technologies from iPhone/iPad development. On April 8th, the latest version of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement was altered right before the announcement of the new iPhone OS 4 SDK, forbidding developers to use or call any non-Apple APIs, development tools, or languages – the most notable being Adobe’s Flash.
Apple argues that the changes to the terms are necessary to ensure that sub-standard technologies aren’t used to create apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, but Adobe and others feel that Apple’s claims aren’t wholly justified and that they’re unnecessarily stifling innovation and limiting options for developers for the sake of gaining more control over their various mobile platforms.
Scott Janousek, Founder of Hooken Mobile
In an effort to better pin down this debate, we spoke with Scott Janousek, a leading figure in the local mobile and Flash community, about these latest developments. His company, Hooken Mobile, focuses on mobile and device development across a number of platforms, including Flash. Since Janousek’s a frequent speaker at conferences and events focused on both Flash and mobile, and since he’s authored numerous articles and books on the topic, including his latest text, AdvancED Flash on Devices: Mobile Development with Flash Lite and Flash 10, we were eager to get his opinion. Here’s what he had to say:
BostInnovation: When you first learned of the Apple’s changes to their license agreement, what was your initial response?
Scott Janousek: I wasn’t entirely surprised by the change in Terms of Service. I had been to a local Boston Mobile developer’s event the week before the news hit the developer blogosphere. It was after talking with some iPhone developers that I reasoned that Apple would wait to the very last moment to reveal their new ToS and potentially torpedo the Adobe iPhone Packager. It was far too close to the release of Adobe CS5, to be a coincidental move, in my opinion. (more…)
The local mobile scene is hot. Boston is constantly pushing the bounds of mobile innovation and is home to a growing number of mobile startups, organization, and events coordinators. Behind every company or gathering, you’ll find some smart, passionate people. Here’s a list of some of the individuals who are putting the Boston mobile scene on the map.
