Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, App Store, SDK

This Washington Post article, suggesting that a beta arrangement for App Store developers is right around the corner, just hit the Digg front page. TUAW wants to clarify a few points raised in that article:

The so-called "Beta Program" refers to ad-hoc distribution. This was announced at the SDK keynote and is not a secret. It's a method to distribute apps outside of App Store channels.

The "Beta Program" will not be released in the "next few days." Ad-hoc distribution is already available and working. Developers can create ad-hoc provisions through the iPhone Developer Program site today.

Developers and users need not use the App Store for testing. Ad Hoc distribution goes directly between the developer and the user. The user needs to supply their iPhone's unique device identifier. The developer then sends a specially compiled version of their app along with a mobile provisioning file. Users drop these into iTunes and they're good to sync.

There are several ways to recover UDIDs from iPhones or iPod touch handhe