Apple to open iPhone to outside software

Apple Inc.will allow outside companies to create applications forits iPhone mobile device starting in February, CEO Steve Jobs announced Wednesday.

In a letter posted on Apple's website, Jobs said the company will release a software development kit in February to allow third-party companies to create new programs for the iPhone, which so far runs only Apple software.

The delay in opening up the iPhone has taken longer than expected because the company wants to ensure any new applications don't open the door for malicious programs to run on the device, Jobs said.

"There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network," he wrote. "As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous. And since the iPhone is the most advanced phone ever, it will be a highly visible target."

Jobs wrote that phone manufacturer Nokia's stance of allowing only trusted software developers to access their devices, while making the devices less than "totally open," is "a step in the right direction."

Apple has sold over one million iPhones in the United States since the product launched in June. It will hit store shelves in Britain and Germany in time for the holiday season, but no announcement has been made on the release of the device in Canada.