We certainly weren’t very surprised when Apple’s iPhone relocking incited a consumer backlash last month. Hackers worked hard to outfit the iPhone with functionality that they felt should have been included in the first place and when Apple decided to brick hacked phones with the v1.1.1 firmware update, it sent out a clear signal that it frowned upon iPhone customization. Could Apple right this wrong, however, by providing third party developers with a legitimate platform for building and releasing apps that run natively on the iPhone OS? That may be exactly what the company is planning to do, if you believe the latest rumors about an iPhone version of OS X’s Dashboard. Apparently, the HTML and JavaScript-based Dashboard widgets would be sold via iTunes to anyone who wishes to buy add-on programs for their phone. This certainly seems like a step forward for Apple–if not an ideal solution–and could conceivably be announced sometime this month, if the company elects to hold a Leopard launch event.

For more on the rumor:
– check out this Cult of Mac post