Macworld may be over, but for a group of developers the most important Apple news has yet to be unveiled: the much-anticipated iPhone software development kit (SDK).

Developers say they can't wait to get their hands on the SDK, which is expected to be released in late February and will allow third-party developers to create native applications for Apple's iPhone. But developers are also anxious about how Apple may monitor and distribute applications. So far, Apple has been characteristically mum about its SDK-related plans.

Though we've reviewed hundreds of iPhone-compatible accessories since last June, there has not been a complete, turnkey solution for in-car iPhone integration that average users can go out and purchase with ease. The reason is simple: though the iPhone is supposed to be Apple's "best iPod ever," it actually doesn't work properly with many of the iPod's best previous car accessories, and the iPhone accessory development process has proved unusually difficult for even the best engineers out there.

Today, the major problem is that there's no single accessory that charges, mounts, and performs all audio from an iPhone, so unless you want to hand-hold your iPhone while you drive—which is against the law in many places—you can't just connect one cable and expect to safely use both its music and phone features. This is largely due to Apple-imposed software limitations, but also certain technical hurdles developers need to overcome. So for now, in-car use of an iPhone requires a number of different parts, and we've created this Complete Guide to iPhone Car Integration to help you choose the ones that are best for your vehicle and personal needs.

They were hacked. There are a lot of people who use phones outside of AT&T, and the European carriers. But, are 1/3 of Apple's iPhones hacked? Probably.

For the people who say that they are in the "channel", we have to wonder what they are referring to. RoughlyDrafted points this out as well. iPhones are only sold by Apple's online store and retail and its telecom partners. Not by Best Buy or Target or Circuit City. Apple knows exactly what's in its inventory. It also knows what AT&T and the EU's got on their shelves.

Frankly, we think Apple wants us to say it. Yes, "one-third of iPhones are now hacked to work on non-sanctioned providers".

Calculations that claim Apple Inc. is "missing" 1.4 million iPhones may be missing the point, according to an analyst, who said today that talk of uncounted phones overlooks the fact that the mobile market is only a small part of Apple's overall business.

"Stock analysts have been paying lots of attention to the iPhone numbers," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research Inc., "and clearly the revenue [mobile service] providers give back to Apple affect profitability. But if you look at Apple, it's solidly profitable without the iPhone. The iPhone just takes it up to another level."

Having stirred up a hornet's nest with his first take in the so-called missing iPhones, Bernstein Research's Apple specialist Toni Sacconaghi has taken a second look at the discrepancy between the number of iPhones Apple sold (3.75 million through Dec. 29) and the number AT&T actually activated (just under 2 million through Dec. 31).

His conclusion: most of the devices he describes as "missing in action" are not sitting in warehouses, as he originally surmised, but were siphoned off into the gray market for unlocked iPhones. His best guess is that in 2007 as many as 1 million iPhones may have been hacked by resellers and activated by carriers that are not paying Apple a kickback on every monthly charge.

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