Less than a month after releasing an update that disabled all third party applications on the iPhone, Apple announced today that it will open up both the iPhone and the iPod Touch for outside software developers.

In a decision that marks a clear turnaround from Apple's previous desire to control the applications consumers have on their iPhones, [Apple chief executive Steve] Jobs said the company intends to release a software development kit in February that will let people outside the company to create iPhone and iPod touch applications.

"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 in the posting.

Developers will no longer be restricted to creating web applications designed to run solely in Apple's Safari web browser. In addition, this clears the way for Firefox to offer a version of its upcoming mobile browser to compete with Safari on the iPhone.

[New York Times] Apple to Open iPhone to Developers