iPhone 2.2 SDK adds TV out

The latest version of the iPhone SDK has brought with it an unexpected guest: the ability to export video out to a connected TV screen.

Discovered by renowned iPhone hacker Erica Sadun over at Ars Technica, the undocumented MPTVOutWindow class – which is intended for use with movies – creates a live video feed sent out through the iPhone connector port, albeit disabling touch-screen interaction in the process.

Sadun then contacted developer Freeverse, who made a custom version of their Moto Chaser game in order to test the capabilities. The video stream is output at a higher resolution than on the iPhone screen, leading to frame-rate drops – but Freeverse said that developing an initial build took mere minutes, with a more polished version done in under two hours.

Speaking to Sadun, Freeverse producer Bruce Morrison explained that the company wouldn’t be offering a version on the App Store. "We only use approved Apple methods and approved frameworks in our programs," he said.

"Among other reasons, we don’t want our software to break, and we have been very happy with our relationship with Apple. We’re going to continue to follow Apple’s lead. It’s been great for us."