T-Mobile Dev Program: No Android or Sidekick at first

1:00 pm PDT • September 11, 2008

mocoNews.net had a chance to sit down with some T-Mobile brass and get some details about T-Mobile’s upcoming developer program.

Here’s the short version (you can read the whole thing here).

The program is currently a work in progress. “These are baby steps,” says T-Mo. Advertising won’t be allowed with the first run of apps.
Handset support is expected to eventually cover T-Mobile’s entire selection of phones. However, Android and Sidekick devices won’t be included at first.
Developers will be able to set their own prices and revenue splits will be between 50% and 70% to the development side. The split will be determined by the amount of bandwidth an app uses, how much support for the app is given by the developers, and how many of T-Mobile’s devices will run the app.
There will be a free loaner program so that developers can test out their stuff on actual devices. The only cost will be shipping.
Free apps will be allowed but they must not consume too much bandwidth. This seems kind of weird. So streaming audio and video programs can’t be free.
APIs won’t be available at first. So no leveraging of location-based services, contact list integration, MyFaves, or cameras at first. T-Mobile says it’s “looking at basic apps initially.” Baby steps, indeed.
Current software partners will be able to keep doing things the old way or switch to the new system. This program “will be an additional channel.”