A Java environment.... And they have to make sure it all compiles into a single executable [both libraries and app code], otherwise Apple won't let you load it onto the iPhone.

This has nothing to do with the iPhone. Eclipse is, ostensibly, a platform for building desktop applications, but most people think of it as an IDE (integrated development environment) for developing Java applications, and that's how it gets most of it's use. SWT (Standard Widget Toolkit) is a cross platform collection of "widgets," or UI elements, and a way to build GUIs.

On the Mac, SWT is implemented via Carbon. Porting it to Cocoa may bring several benefits, but running on the iPhone is not one of them. SWT applications still require Java, which the iPhone doesn't have. This is likely a way to keep up with the progress of Mac OS X, and Cocoa appears to be the preferred application framework there. If rumors are to believed, Snow Leopard will make this even clearer.

The man's name is Scott Kovatch, and unless something has changed since November, he employed by Apple, not Adobe.

http://inside-swt.blogspot.com/2007/11/hacking-at-apple.html

EDIT: Corrected my own spelling mistake, of Scott's last name.

Adobe are already using Eclipse for their Flex builder product, and it would make sense, given the popularity of the IDE, for it to also be the basis of their other developer, rather than designer, oriented tools.

Given that Apple have given clear signs that Carbon will eventually be deprecated (starting with lack of 64-bit support) someone in the Eclipse consortium is going to have to lead an effort to port SWT - SWT is not part of the standard Java platform but an alternative widget toolkit).

Scott's last name is indeed Kovatch according to his LinkedIn profile, and has been at Adobe since March of this year.

Oops, my intent was to correct the spelling of his first name, and when doing so, I misspelled his last name. My apologies!