WebOS vendor Morfik has created a platform for developers to build applications for Apple’s iPhone, which is being released Friday night. Morfik claims this is the first development tool for the iPhone.
Up till this point, no one had announced a development tool for the iPhone – although there have been suggestions by bloggers that Adobe AIR and Google GWT might become iPhone development platforms. However, it seems Morfik is the first to do it.
Morfik says that Scriptor, a utility built into their WebOS AppsBuilder platform, enables development of applications for products such as the iPhone. To prove that point, Morfik used Scriptor to develop iChess, a working example of an iPhone application. That link is the iPhone version, but see also http://chess.morfik.com for a browser version. It is a chess app, a favorite prototyping app of Morfik. It is running on EC2 now and can be used by purchasers of the iPhone on Friday. Also developers can download the AppsBuilder with Scriptor now from Morfik’s homepage.
There is of course a lot of anticipation around third party iPhone apps – indeed there are dedicated sites for this already. As last100 recently noted, Apple will allow third party apps for iPhone – by giving them access through the web (not the OS).
What Morfik has created is a web development environment for the iPhone. But they also told us that as soon as Apple announces an API for the iPhone, then Morfik will include that into their platform.
