Apple changes tack on iPhone

Apple has announced plans to allow software makers to create programs for its iPhone mobile handset.

Apple announced on Wednesday that it will provide a development kit to let independent programmers create new applications, a move that could eventually open the music player-phone to new games and link it to corporate e-mail systems.

Code writers will have to wait until February to get the software tools, chief executive Steve Jobs said in a statement posted on Apple’s Web site.

“We are excited about creating a vibrant third-party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users,” Jobs said. “We believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.”

Apple has sold more than one million iPhones since the handset was launched in June.