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Steve Jobs announced late last year that the company had reconsidered its attitude to third-party applications, promising the software developers' kit (SDK) early in 2008.

The invitation to the event on Thursday 6 March gives little away though it does hint at some "some exciting new enterprise features". Add that to the big blue "enterprise" box on

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the invitation's roadmap image and you have iPhone support for Microsoft Exchange email.

Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, told the Goldman Sachs Technology Investment Symposium that the SDK will "broaden the platform more, to the point where the only limit will be people's imagination".

He hinted that the SDK may not be restricted to select developers, as has been mooted by some commentators.

"We started by getting developers to focus on Web 2.0 apps," Cook said. "There's over a thousand of these today. But people also want to do more than that. As we got into the phone more and more, it became clear that we should release and SDK. This will make the product even more compelling."

Apple had originally scheduled the SDK release for February. Surely the fact that its unveiling a week later has nothing to do with the fact that it now coincides with - and will overshadow - Microsoft's annual Mix conference.