I'm sure you've all heard of it. It's called the iPhone. Today, Apple held a special event to release the iPhone SDK (software development kit). Basically what they demonstrated is that almost any developer can create a piece of software for the iPhone. This functionality existed previously, but it required "jailbreaking" the iPhone, making it so that a software update from Apple would break your iPhone/remove the "jailbreak." But now there is an official way to create software for the device.
So what does this mean for gaming? Well, Apple demonstrated, at the event, working versions of Spore and a new game called "Touch Fighter". And these won't be any crappy mobile games either. They demonstrated Spore, which, according to Kotaku is the full game ( http://kotaku.com/364753/eas-first-iphone-sdk-title-+-spore ) The iPhone can also make use of its multitouch technology (meaning that, unlike the DS two or more different places on the touch screen can be pressed at one time) and it has a three-axis accelometer (motion sensing) creating a number of unusual possibilities for gaming- sort of combining the motion sensing of the Wiimote with a more advanced version of the touch found on the DS.
As for the power of the system, I would not be surprised if the power of the system surprised us with how much it can do. I really don't know much about how powerful it is, but I would guess that's its much more advanced than the iPod, maybe even supporting 3D graphics (the "Touch Fighter" demo reportedly was in 3D) . Also, a hardware revision is expected sometime this year, which could possibly boost the system's power.
Apparently it's very easy to develop for, EA got the spore demo done in two weeks with the SDK. Also, the requirements for publishing games on the iTunes store are very lenient- the only real requirement is no "extreme content" (nudity) and a $99 a year fee for publishing. The SDK is very open, a free download for anyone with Mac OS X, creating huge potential for small developers to jump onboard. But small developers aren't the only one looking at the iPhone, EA has already pledged a number of games for it, along with Sega.
Of course, the iPhone isn't a dedicated gaming machine. I highly doubt we will see it being embraced for gaming anywhere near as much as the PSP or DS, but it has enormous potential and could be used by Apple as a segway into the game industry. We have to also remember that as a mobile phone, it won't be directly competing with the PSP and DS.
EDIT: I should probably mention that all of these features are available to the iPod Touch also, though the software update to enable use of SDK programs will cost a small amount.
