Apple makes iPhone dev deal -- with Microsoft? (Updated)

I just love the politics of these claims, if they (unlikely as it seems) turn out fact, not fiction.

A report this morning claims Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer will share the spotlight with Apple CEO Steve Jobs at Apple's forthcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) -- to announce a joint move on iPhone development...

On the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Apple has invited Microsoft to develop tools PC users can employ to build approved iPhone applications.

A Barron's report states that  Global Equities Research analyst, Trip Chowdhry, claims 7 minutes of the June 7 keynote by Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been blocked off for a presentation by Microsoft (MSFT) to talk about Visual Studio 2010.

The analyst says the new version of these tools will allow developers to write native applications for the iPhone, iPad -- and this is a huge kicker -- Mac OS. And the presentation could come from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Hell freezing over, indeed.

If true, in one move Apple has taken the wind out of the Adobe-driven Justice Department investigation into its iPhone development rules, at the same time as giving Google Android a huge slap.

Adobe has been furious about Apple forbidding use of Flash on the iPhone. Indeed, endless column inches have been written on the matter. Just like Flash crashing your Web browser, the matter has become tedious.

The fact that even now Flash just doesn't work very well on mobile devices is seemingly trivial to the Adobe execs who complained to the Justice Department about Apple's refusal to support the aging proprietary multimedia 'standard'.

Apple becomes King Kong

Apple's market capitalization yesterday also overtook that of Microsoft. Incredible as it may sound. We've come a long way since the $150 million Microsoft/Apple deal, as announced at Macworld Expo Boston in 1997.

This is the beauty of political intrigue, really. We all know Microsoft wants to be relevant to developers on mobile devices, and we know Microsoft wants to be relevant in the mobile space, with recent reshuffles in the relevant division for that strategy underlining just how much trouble the company is in.

Apple meanwhile has a big deal battle with Google to think about -- that company is emulating Microsoft's approach to mobile software, delivering the Android OS to all comers in an attempt to seize share in the smartphone industry.

That's a share Microsoft feels it owns.

True or false, you decide

All of this could be false. After all, it was only a month ago in his anti-Flash diatribe that Apple boss, Steve Jobs wrote:

"We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform."

He added, "This becomes even worse if the third party is supplying a cross platform development tool. The third party may not adopt enhancements from one platform unless they are available on all of their supported platforms. Hence developers only have access to the lowest common denominator set of features. Again, we cannot accept an outcome where developers are blocked from using our innovations and enhancements because they are not available on our competitor's platforms."

It is difficult to reconcile Jobs' stated position there with the notion that Visual Studio will be able to create iPhone apps.

Or is it? Consider this note from reader Reid, who wrote in comments below: "No it isn't. There is no layer of 3rd party API's involved. MS is just supplying a cross-compiler to create iPhone OS binaries."

But if anyone can convincingly say one thing while meaning another, Jobs is the man -- and in retrospect he always turns out to be telling the truth. Is this what he meant when he said "you won't be disappointed?"

If the Barron's report is true, here's the effect of the move:

1/ Say goodbye to the Adobe anti-trust complaint -- Apple can say, "Look -- We've opened up to the world's biggest software developer -- and we deny access to Flash on technical grounds, it is just not good enough."

2/ Massive increase in software availability for all Apple platforms as Windows devs throw out Mac and iPhone versions.

3/ Google then sees Windows developers in position to deliver apps for iPhone and for Windows Phone 7 -- Android then appears side-lined and has a full-on fight on its hands.

Can you think of any more impacts of this claimed move? Or are you one of the many who think the analyst's claims are flawed?

UPDATE: So here's news - Microsoft's official Twitter channel sends a fairly categorical denial of the analyst's original claim:

"Steve Ballmer not speaking at Apple Dev Conf. Nor appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Nor riding in the Belmont. Just FYI."