The iPhone—retroactively labeled the original iPhone, iPhone 2G, or iPhone EDGE—was the first generation of iPhone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. and was succeeded by the iPhone 3G. It was announced on January 9, 2007 after months of rumors and speculation. It was introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007. It featured quad-band GSM with GPRS and EDGE.
The original iPhone no longer receives software updates from Apple; its final firmware version was iOS 3.1.3.
Release
The iPhone was released on June 29, 2007 in the United States where hundreds of people were reported to have queued outside Apple and AT&T retail stores days before the device’s launch; with many stores reporting stock shortages within an hour. To prevent a repeat of the PlayStation 3′s launch, which caused burglaries and even a shooting, off-duty police officers were hired to guard stores overnight.
It was later made available in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in November 2007, and the Republic of Ireland and Austria in the spring of 2008.
Six out of ten Americans surveyed said they knew the iPhone was coming prior to its release.
Design
The original iPhone’s design was centered on a 3.5 inches (89 mm) glass multi-touch touchscreen display. The original iPhone introduced five physical buttons that have remained consistent over newer generations of iPhone. The device featured a chrome plated metal frame. The back of which was made of brushed aluminum with a black plastic base, required because metal shields cellular and Wi-Fi signals. The camera was located in the upper-left corner of the iPhone’s rear. The headphone socket was recessed into the casing, making it incompatible with most headsets without the use of an adapter. Other models do not have this issue.
Software
During release, the iPhone was marketed as running “OS X”. The name of the operating system was revealed in the iPhone 2.0 SDK. Apple has released 4 major software versions for the iPhone and one major release in the beta period, including the one bundled with original iPhone units.
Currently, software updates for the original or “2G” and 3G iPhones have been discontinued. However, unlicensed third-parties are known for creating custom firmwares for the iPhone, as well as porting Android OS onto the iPhone.
Software History
The original release of the operating system included Visual Voicemail, multi-touch gestures, HTML email, Safari web browser, threaded text messaging, and YouTube. However, many features like MMS, third-party apps, and copy and paste were not supported at release. These missing features led to hackers “jailbreaking” their phones which added these missing features. Official software updates slowly added these features.
iPhone OS 2.0 (released July 11, 2008) introduced 3rd party applications, exchange support, push e-mail, and other enhancements.
iPhone OS 3.0 (released June 17, 2009) introduced copy and paste, and new YouTube features. Not all of the features of iPhone OS 3.0 were supported on the original iPhone.
The original iPhone did not receive the iOS 4 software upgrade, due to hardware constraints.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_(original)
