• Los Angeles Times/Reuters, Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:45 AM

When it opened its platform to third-party developers in May, Facebook started a Web-wide trend. Today, both Apple and News Corp announced they would open their software development kits to outsiders: Apple for its iPhone handset and News Corp. for its Facebook competitor, MySpace. The latter's move was expected, but Apple was a surprise because the iPod maker is a notoriously closed-door company.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the developer tools would be released in February after the company had them as virus proof as possible. "We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third-party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones," Jobs wrote on Apple's Web site. The move is a win for consumers, who have complained that they weren't allowed to install software on the iPhone as they could on a computer.

Meanwhile, MySpace is also set to open its doors to outside developers over the next couple of months. CEO Chris DeWolfe said the News Corp site would offer a more lucrative environment for third-party software developers, due to the company's size (more than 110 million members) and available ad tools.

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