An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator...are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone.
Although Steve Jobs first announced it in January 2007 at MacWorld, today is the actual anniversary of the first iPhone.
In fact, it is a biggie.
Five years ago today, Apple’s first handset went on sale and along with it, forever changed the cell phone industry. Since then, four iPhones models have followed, with the next one expected to arrive later this year.
Still, if it weren’t for that first iPhone, we would have never seen the App Store, Siri, iTunes Match, and other Apple products that are so popular today.
Happy Fifth Birthday
Released on June 29, 2007, the first iPhone was pricey ($599 for a 8GB model) and available exclusively through AT&T/Cingular. It also arrived without support for third-party apps. At the time, however, no one cared about this omission since there was no App Store nor an API for developers. Nor did anyone complain that the iPhone ran only on AT&T’s very slow EDGE network.
It also included built-in support for Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth 2.0, as well as an integrated (and often criticized) 2.0-megapixel camera.
On the first day of its release, the iPhone included visual voice mail, multi-touch gestures, HTML email, mobile Safari, and threaded text messaging. Additionally, Google was well represented, having helped create the native Maps and YouTube apps.
However, many features like MMS and copy and paste were not supported at the time of the phone’s release.
When iPhone OS 2.0 was released in 2008, users received Exchange support, push email, and other enhancements.
In 2009, iPhone OS 3.0 offered original iPhone owners copy and paste and new YouTube features. By this point, however, many users had already moved on to the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
With the arrival of iOS 4.0 in 2010, the original iPhone's time in the spotlight officially ended. From that point forward, customers could no longer update the handset.
In total, 6.1 million iPhones were sold between June 2007 and June 2008.
Memory Lane
The first iPhone commercial ran during the Academy Awards in January 2007.
Take a look:
Who best to talk about the first iPhone, but Steve Jobs.
Happy Birthday, iPhone. What a ride it has been and continues to be!
What do you remember about the first iPhone? Do you still have one?
