iLounge has a big fat heap of bad news for iPhone fans.  According to their trusted sources, the much ballyhooed, promised by Februrary iPhone Software Development Kit won't actually be shipping until June, and will be subject to all kinds of Apple-controlled limitations and possible distribution bottlenecks when it does hit the streets.

Of course we won't know anything for sure until next week's Apple media event, but if iLounge has its facts straight, it sounds like software access for iPhone and iPod Touch developers will be quite restricted and "the collective impact of Apple's decisions will be to control and stifle third-party development at a critical juncture in iPhone and iPod history, limiting what could be an open, thriving Mac-like collection of applications and accessories to a smaller, more stagnant iPod-like controlled environment."  Yikes.

Apple will decide what apps get approved for distribution via the iTunes store, and rejected apps won't have any other supported means of seeing the light of day.  Beyond that, access to iPhone's accessory dock will be cut off, meaning that creative possibilities like snap-on keyboards and Delphi's wacky car control system don't stand much of a chance.

Thank goodness for jailbreaking, huh?

Read the details in iLounge's report on the iPhone/iPod SDK.