so after my game is finished , now in terms of publishing it to app store or cydia

Q: I do not own a mac but using it for dev as a virtual machine on top of windows , so it shouldn't be a problem right? - (not aware of publishing process of iphone app)

Q do i need to have my own iphone for whatever reasons ?
(though i feel it will be required in longer run , but still wanted to hear from experience folks like you guys)

Q if Jail broken device , that means no to app store?

Q Is it required to own device and mac (apple h/w) , as the ONLY option for proper dev in longer run?

Q Cydia in comparison to app store?

what i do know for sure which is required

- dev account creation (99$ fee)

Looking to hear from you guys who already have gone through this process of submitting

Regards,

We don't talk about jailbreaking here, so we'll only be able to answer about half of your questions.

Testing on a real device is pretty crucial. The performance and memory environment are vastly different from the iPhone simulator. There's a chance you'll be lucky and what you're running on the simulator will just work on a device, but it's not a reasonable risk to take if you're publishing your app.

I'm not sure about the state of VM/cross-compilation tools, but if you can compile, codesign, and deploy your app to a device from Windows, I don't see any reason you'd need a Mac. Last I knew, though, those things weren't all possible without one.