Briefly: Apple-Facebook deal, Pressure Sensitive Touch patent, iPhone third-party development

Here is a brief catch-up with the Apple gizmo-centric news we've missed this week.

An Apple-Facebook deal underway?

The rumours started when Facebook showed its interest in launching an artist platform similar to MySpace's and initial reports suggested Facebook could become an Apple competitor. But it appears a deal is actually in the works between the two companies.

According to PaidContent.org, Apple and Facebook may be in talks towards a deal allowing the Web 2.0 start-up to sell songs from iTunes on its web site.

Pressure Sensitive Touch patent filed by Apple

Apple has filed a patent application mad epublic on October the 4th, at the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office, relating pressure sensitive touch screens.

As noted by MacRumors, the patent is revealing the company has been working on this in their labs for a little while (or March 2006).

The patent describes the capability of a touch screen display to detect different levels of pressure on the display so as to operate differenlty, depending on how hard the user presses.

Apple to officially allow iPhone third-party development?

Although there are already several third party applications and hacks for the iPhone, it appeared clear when the 1.1.1 iPhone firmware update was released, that Apple doesn't want developers to create other than web-based applications for the iPhone.

But 9to5Mac believes that thinfs could change in the near future, as the site claims Electronic Arts, among other developers is already working on porting some of their games to the iPhone platform.

Some have also suggested that Apple prefers limiting third-party applications on the current iPhone because it plans to move to the Intel Moorestown chips.