iPhone
Since 1982, Hartmut Esslinger and other designers at Apple Computer had been experimenting with various concepts incorporating telephone features before the advent of smartphones, though none of these ever reached the market.[1] The closest were 3rd party products based on Apple's Newton platform, such as the Siemens NotePhone and Digital Ocean Seahorse, which were released in 1993 and 1996, respectively.[2][3][4][5]
iPhone (1st generation)
With the increasing popularity of Apple's new iPod line in 2002, CEO Steve Jobs expressed concern about other product categories that may cannibalize its potential, such as mobile phones.[1] Though publicly denying it, Apple began work on a touch-sensitive tablet.[6][7][8]
Apple had been a longtime partner with Motorola for its processors and announced an agreement on July 26, 2004 to jointly develop an "iTunes phone" that would become the Motorola ROKR E1.[1][9] Jobs personally had low expectations for the Motorola phone and was concerned about the influence of mobile carriers at the time. In the meantime, Jobs was gathering information to eventually pursue a deal with Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Mobility).[10]
Michael Bell, VP of CPU software, stated that he sent Jobs an email on November 7, 2004 advocating for an Apple-developed phone. However, Scott Forstall, senior director at the time, said that Jobs was actually motivated after being annoyed by a Microsoft executive who claimed that their Windows tablet and stylus would "rule the world". Jobs then instructed Forstall to put the tablet on hold and redirect the effort towards the phone.[11][12]
At least two operating system candidates entered into development in 2004 and many user interfaces were prototyped, ranging from Multi-touch to variations of the Click Wheel interface. Jon Rubinstein led development on a lightweight Linux-based version (referred to as "Acorn") while Avie Tevanian and Scott Forstall worked to create a streamlined version of Mac OS X (codenamed "Purple") to run on the ARM chipset.[13][14] "Purple" was chosen in reference to other project codenames based on color.[15] Forstall stated that only engineers from within the company were permitted to be recruited for the project. Secrecy was so guarded that they were not told what they would be working on.[16] The team secured a building which was nicknamed the "Purple Dorm" with a Fight Club poster on the front door.[15] UI concepts were mocked up in Macromedia Director before being ported to run on prototype ARM hardware. Though Tony Fadell communicated that the Linux-based version may be a waste of time, CEO Steve Jobs insisted on prototyping all options for evaluation.[13] Two of the hardware prototypes that were assembled were identified as "P1" and "P2". P1 was based on the "Acorn OS" that used a software implementation of the Click Wheel on the touch screen; P2 used a simplified version of Mac OS X with touch-based buttons. Though the OS X version was limited and took longer to boot, it was selected for final development to become the first iPhone OS.[17]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Apple's Phone: From 1980s' Sketches to iPhone. Part 1 by Eldar Murtazin, Mobile-Review. 2010-06-16.
- ↑ Mark Johnson (2012-04-19). Siemens NotePhone. My Apple Newton.
- ↑ CTIA Presents the First Annual APPY Awards for Best Wireless Applications, Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. 1996-10-08. Archived 2007-12-30.
- ↑ Obscureware, Computerworld. 1996-08-09.
- ↑ Review: Digital Ocean Seahorse, InfoWorld. 1997-03-24.
- ↑ Apple's Phone: From 1980s' Sketches to iPhone. Part 3 by Eldar Murtazin, Mobile-Review. 2010-06-20.
- ↑ "Project Purple" and the pre-history of the iPhone by Rene Ritchie, iMore. 2012-08-04.
- ↑ Revealed: iPad prototype from 2002 that Steve Jobs denied existed by Charles Arthur, The Guardian. 2012-07-19.
- ↑ Apple's Phone: From 1980s' Sketches to iPhone. Part 2 by Eldar Murtazin, Mobile-Review. 2010-06-17.
- ↑ The secret origin story of the iPhone by Brian Merchant, The Verge. 2017-06-13.
- ↑ Steve Jobs was driven to create iPhone by obnoxious Microsoft guy with stylus by Liam Tung, ZDNet. 2017-06-22.
- ↑ Apple began "Project Purple" because Steve Jobs hated Microsoft exec, says Scott Forstall by Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider. 2017-06-21.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tony Fadell tells us the story of the iPod-based iPhone prototype by Nilay Patel, The Verge. 2017-01-11.
- ↑ 4 Real Secrets We've Learned So Far About Apple by Dan Rowinski, ReadWriteWeb. 2012-08. Archived 2012-08-08.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Scott Forstall testifies: live from the Apple v. Samsung courtroom by Bryan Bishop, The Verge.2012-08-03.
- ↑ Project Purple: Scott Forstall Tells All About the iPhone's Creation by Eric Limer, Gizmodo. 2012-08-03.
- ↑ Watch Apple's early, ugly iOS prototype in action by Rich McCormick, The Verge. 2017-01-11.