With the recent release of the iPhone UI building toolset, Joe Hewitt brings a great collection of tools to bear on the burgeoning iPhone apps space.

A collection of JavaScript resources and CSS bundled together, Hewitt has given developers a suite of code that includes the following features:

1. UI controls

List groups, on/off switches, and fieldsets that look like the iPhone
"Settings" app

2. Linking to external pages via Ajax

Links to external URLs are now loaded via Ajax and inserted with animation into the page. When a link is loading, it will show a nice activity indicator while the user waits.

To see this in the demo, click on the "Stats" link.

Here is an example of Ajax-linkable source: http://joehewitt.com/iui/stats.php.txt

3. Submitting forms via Ajax

Just like with external links, if you submit a form it will post it via Ajax and insert the resulting content into the body.

To see this in the demo, click on the "Search" button and perform a
search.

Here is an example of PHP used to handle an Ajax form post:
http://joehewitt.com/iui/search.php.txt

4. Correct history support

The back button now shows the name of the previous page instead of just the "home" page.

5. Visual polish

The visuals replicate more of the fine details from Apple's designs.

6. JavaScript compression

There is a variation of "iui.js" called "iuix.js" which is compressed
using Dojo ShrinkSafe. It is about 4KB, where the original "iui.js"
is 8KB.

source: http://groups.google.com/group/iphonewebdev/browse_thread/thread/573a1d243f829db

With the collection of scripting available to leverage for the development of more iPhone web apps I am looking forward to a bevy of new web2.0 applications with rich design.

Labels: Applications, developers, iPhone, iUI, Web2.0

Apple announced yesterday that the 4GB iPhone will be phased out and the 8GB model will see a price drop of $200 bringing the device to the four hundred dollar range. For early adopters of the iPhone this may be a bit hard to swallow and possibly encourage these same people from being eager to rush out and buy new Apple devices in the future.

There have been many folks who spoke in doomsday tones about the move Apple was making to get into the cellular phone market, but the price cut is akin to the moves made by cell phone manufacturers across the spectrum. That is, release a new phone and slash its' price within a year. This runs counter to the typical Apple method of cutting prices on products only after a couple iterations of the device, but it seems a shrewd decision by Apple in time for the holidays to gain wider acceptance of the device.

The iPhone will be issued a software update that introduces the iTunes Wi-Fi Store. Using the Wi-Fi ability of the iPhone you can now wirelessly buy tunes direct from your iPhone and synch them with iTunes when you get home. But where to use this new service? Try Starbucks. Apple and Starbucks are rolling out a special service (complete with a bottom row button on the iPhone) that allows you to see what the last ten songs played at a Starbucks location were and buy them directly via the Wi-Fi iTunes store. Pretty darned cool.

What to do with those tunes? How about make a ringtone. For an additional 99 cents you can now create a ringtone on your iPhone with many of the songs in your iTunes library. iTunes now has a new tool to enable you to select a portion of a song (up to thirty seconds long) and create your own custom ringtone.

So a price drop, Starbucks partnership, Wi-Fi iTunes store and dropping the low end phone model. Big news. Just in time for the holiday season ....

Labels: iPhone, iTunes, Starbucks, Wi-Fi