Apple to ship iPhone/iPod touch SDK in February 08

According to Apple's "Hot News" page, the company will release in February 2008 an SDK that will allow 3rd parties to develop applications for both iPhone and iPod touch:

Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February

Apparently, Apple will have some sort of certification in place, so that applications will have to be digitaly signed in order to be installed on an iPhone or an iPod touch:

Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than “totally open,” we believe it is a step in the right direction.

So, this is what everybody has been waiting for, let's hope the "certification" process won't be as expensive and demanding as with console games...