JEDDAH, 21 November 2007 — Two months after unlocking Apple’s iPhone, four young Saudi software developers are putting the final touches on “Arabizing” the world’s most hyped mobile product.
The developers have not only integrated an Arabic-language keyboard and buttons but also created what is perhaps the first prayer-time software plug-in for the iPhone.
“Having the Arabic support system as a plug in, makes it more flexible and easier to integrate with any upcoming version of the iPhone,” said Yousuf Omar, one of the developers.
The ability to support so-called legacy software is an important element to any third-party software created for the iPhone, which is reportedly due to be released in the region some times in the first half of 2008.
The problem with past attempts at incorporating third-party software into the iPhone is that updating the phone’s software has hobbled these unofficial alterations. For example, a recent update to the phone’s operating system caused phones that were unlocked by independent developers to be re-locked, or even “bricked” (the term for when the phone stops working altogether).
Omar said that he and his friends (Mohammed Milyani and cousins Yousuf and Bandar Raffah) started working on localizing the phone immediately after it was cracked two months ago. Apple has restricted the iPhone to certain telecommunication service providers around the world. AT&T is the only official provider for the iPhone in the US. Orange became the only provider of the phone in France recently.
It’s unknown whether a similar arrangement will be made with either Mobily or STC in Saudi Arabia, or whether the iPhone will be made to work with both of the Kingdom’s telecom service providers.
Omar said that the localization plug-in took more effort than that it should have, because he and the developers started working on the software for the 1.0 version of the iPhone’s operating system. A 1.1 upgrade released by Apple since then put a chink in the developers’ project.
“The 1.1 model did not comply with the localizing method we used in the 1.0 model, so we had to start all over again,” Omar said adding that this upgrade caused them to shift the strategy toward making a plug-in rather than making direct alterations to the phone’s own software. As a plug-in, Omar says, the software should work with all future versions of the iPhone.
The plug-in localizes both reading and writing Arabic SMS, the phone’s interface and address book, he said adding that the group of developers is now working on “Arabizing” the phone’s calendar and iPod.
“We are currently in talks with an investor who would be responsible for selling the plug-ins around the Kingdom,” Omar said.
The plug-in bundle would include an application for prayer times, a popular mobile phone application that reminds Muslims of the five prayer times in their time zone.
So far, the group is putting the prayer-time application on hold until February 2008, when Apple is scheduled release a so-called SDK (Software Developer Kit) that will make the creation of third-party plug-ins easier.
