Apple launch $100m iPhone Developers Fund
As a “one more thing” at the SDK Roadmap event today, Apple have announced a $100m developers fund for coders keen to try their hand at creating software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It’s a move likely to be seen as a direct snub to Google, who last year announced their own developer competition fund for their Android cellphone platform; Google’s is only for $10m, however. The fund is being managed with Venture Capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
In the Q&A session at the end of the event, Jobs was asked by the press what the purpose of the $100m fund is; he described it as a way to help young developers with funding and as helping the whole iPhone ecosystem.
Apple also introduced a membership scheme for developers, which they must join before being able to distribute apps through the new Apple Store. This has also be described as a method for the company to track down coders who are behind “bad apps” and shut off their distribution.