Acquiescing to user demands, Apple has announced it will release in February a development kit that will let coders create applications that work directly on the iPhone and the iPod touch, according to an Associated Press story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

It's apparently trying to smooth over the ill will it created with a Sept. 27 update that disabled unofficial programs installed on the handsets.

And The Register reports that when the iPhone launches in France, it will include an unlocked model because French law prohibits carriers from tying handsets exclusively to their networks. Its price has not been announced. While the phone is due to launch through O2 in the United Kingdom and T-Mobile in Germany on Nov. 9, it's taking longer to work out a deal with partner Orange in France. The Register suggests the unlocked model might cost twice as much, to dissuade buyers from other countries from popping into Paris to pick one up.