Could January bring with it a late Christmas present for developers?  Sources close to Apple have told BusinessWeek that early 2008 will see the company release a software development kit, which would allow third-parties to produce sanctioned applications that would not require Jailbreaking an iPhone to use.  So far no details of date are known, but Steve Jobs' predicted appearance at MacWorld on January 15th has been suggested.

The delay in such a toolkit has in recent weeks been laid at the feet of the latest upgrade to the Mac desktop OS, Leopard, which is set to launch on October 26th.  And despite rumors to the contrary, companies who have already partnered with Apple are denying they have had early access to the development kit, including a source at Google.

Apple's online software database, revealed earlier this month, could become a focal point for third-party software and add-ons; that would likely give the company some seemingly-demanded control over distribution and content.