Apple has released the final iPhone 2.0 SDK just minutes ago. Visit the iPhone Developer Center to get the bits!

Developers on the forum are reporting that emails are coming in from Apple accepting them into the iPhone Developer Program. With the lack of communication over the last few months, it’s nice to see what we all hoped for. I’ve yet to receive an email but am expecting to see something shortly. Let us know if you’ve gotten an acceptance email!

Today, while the world takes in the iPhone 3G, the real upgrade is available to all iPhone owners free of charge; the App Store. The App Store provides iPhone owners with the ability to purchase and download user created applications directly to their iPhone. One of the biggest complaints with the original iPhone was the lack of a software development kit. With the 2.0 firmware, all of that has changed.

Sure, the new iPhone 3G provides a huge boost in network performance and location services via an integrated GPS device. Those are two great upgrades to an already game changing device from Apple.

Even though you’ll see upgraded hardware with the iPhone 3G, I think more mileage will be gotten from the App Store which is available to all iPhone customers free of charge. The App Store opens the iPhone to a wealth of new functionality for little or no cost. Steve Jobs said yesterday that there are 500 applications available, with 90% of them being available for $9.99 or less.

What are you most excited about today? I’ll be buying a new iPhone but I’m more excited about the possibilities available with the App Store.

If you don’t mind downloading the package and installing it yourself, you can get the iPhone 2.0 firmware right now, before it’s available through iTunes. I’ve installed it on my phone and have been downloading applications and using them without any problems.

Check out the story on MacRumors!

Today is going to be a busy day! So far we’ve seen iTunes 7.7 become available, which includes the ability to search for Applications for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Some of the more popular applications are easy to find thus far. I’ve been able to find and download Facebook, AIM, Twitterrific, Loopt, and Google Mobile App.

Also expected soon is the release of the iPhone 2.0 software. Currently you can download applications from iTunes 7.7 but you cannot run them without the 2.0 software. That’s expected soon this morning as the first iPhone 3G releases begin to happen around the world.

It’s going to be an exciting day!

Apple has set the deadline for getting your application into the App Store before launch. This of course assumes you were one of the lucky few who actually got accepted to the program. The rest of us will have to wait and see how long it will take for us to join the fun.

Discuss this in the forum!

Silicon Alley Insider is running a story that suggests new iPhone developers may have to wait as long as 6 months to be accepted into the iPhone Developer Program. They are the only source on this story so far, so I wouldn’t get too excited over it just yet.

It does pose an interesting question though. How do you feel, as a developer who has spent time developing iPhone software, knowing that won’t be accepted by Apple before the launch of the App Store? There are a number of real businesses that have an interest in the iPhone platform. The way this has been handled by Apple so far, has been extremely prohibitive for that kind of company. “A guy in a basement” is just having fun. A company that needs to sell software to survive can’t jump into this kind of business model. These people don’t even know if they’ll ever have the chance to sell their software. It makes no sense to continue development on the iPhone platform for that reason.

Apple needs to get this together. At least give us some information. Is everyone going to be accepted on July 11? Or, will we continue to wait as you review, in detail, every application? Google’s Android platform will certainly not suffer from this problem. It could prove to be a major mistake on Apple’s part. Only time will tell I guess.

Discuss this story in the forum!

In preparation for the launch of the App Store, Apple is now accepting applications for evaluation. This gives Apple 2 weeks to review the applications and approve them for inclusion in the App Store for the launch on July 11.

Are you ready to distribute your application to the world? Talk about it in the forum!

Today marks the start of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference. During the keynote, which begins at 10am pacific time and 1pm eastern, Steve Jobs is widely expected to unveil the 3G iPhone. At the same time details regarding the iPhone Developer Program will be announced, ending a long period of uncertainty for many iPhone developers.

Like the rest of the Mac community, we’ll be watching the live feeds and keeping up with the latest. You can expect a full recap of the iPhone Developer Program news here after the keynote.

Apple has released Beta 6 of the iPhone SDK. Details are still coming forward but we do know that Mac OS X 10.5.3 is required. An interesting twist could be behind that action. We’ll see how that works out.