IPhone (1st generation)

The iPhone (retroactively labeled the original iPhone, iPhone 2G, or iPhone 1) 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 cellular connectivity with GPRS and EDGE support for data transfer.

The original iPhone no longer receives software updates from Apple; its final official firmware version was iPhone OS 3.1.3.

Development
Steve Jobs, CEO at Apple Inc., conceived an idea of using a multi-touch touchscreen to interact with a computer in a way in which he could type directly onto the display, essentially removing the physical keyboard and mouse, the same as a tablet computer. Jobs recruited a group of Apple engineers to investigate the idea as a side project. When Jobs reviewed the prototype and its user interface, he conceived a second idea of implementing the technology onto a mobile phone. The whole effort was called the Project Purple 2 and began in 2005.

Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented collaboration with AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless. The development cost of the collaboration was estimated to have been $150 million over a thirty-month period. Apple rejected the "design by committee" approach that had yielded the Motorola ROKR E1, a largely unsuccessful collaboration with Motorola. Instead, Cingular Wireless gave Apple the liberty to develop the iPhone's hardware and software in-house.

The original iPhone was introduced by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007 in a keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo held in Moscone West in San Francisco, California. In his address, Jobs said, "I have been looking forward to this for two and a half years", and that "today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone." Jobs introduced the iPhone as a combination of three devices: a "widescreen iPod with touch controls"; a "revolutionary mobile phone"; and a "breakthrough Internet communicator".

Release
The iPhone was released on June 29, 2007 in the United States where thousands of people were reported to have waited outside Apple and AT&T retail stores days before the device's launch; with many stores reporting stock shortages within an hour. To avoid repeating the problems of the PlayStation 3 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 before its release.

Post-release
The iPod Touch, a touchscreen device with the media and internet abilities and interface of the iPhone, but without the ability to connect to a cellular network for phone functions or internet access, was released on September 5, 2007. At the same time, Apple significantly dropped the price of the 8 GB model while discontinuing the 4 GB model. Apple sold the one millionth iPhone five days later, or 74 days after the release. After receiving "hundreds of emails...upset" about the price drop, Apple gave store credit to early adopters.

A 16 GB model was released on February 5, 2008. Apple released an SDK on March 6, 2008, allowing developers to create the apps that would be available starting in iPhone OS version 2.0, a free upgrade for iPhone users. On June 9, Apple announced the iPhone 3G, which began shipping July 11. The original iPhone was discontinued at that time; total sales volume came to 6,124,000 units.

While most Apple literature simply called the device "iPhone," the term "the original iPhone" appears in a press release from July 2010.

Design
The original iPhone's design was centered on a 3.5 in 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 aluminum with a black plastic base, required because metal blocks 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 as iOS in the iPhone 2.0 SDK. Apple has released 6 major software versions for the iPhone, including the one bundled with original iPhone units, but software updates for the original and 3G iPhones have been discontinued.

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, 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 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.

Unlike the iPhone 3G, the original iPhone did not receive the iOS4 update.