Development

Development of the iPhone began when Steve Jobs, CEO at Apple Inc., conceived the 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 PC. Jobs recruited a party of Apple engineers to investigate the idea as a side project.[12] When Jobs reviewed the prototype and its user interface, he conceived a second idea of implementing the technology onto a mobile phone.[13]

Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented collaboration with AT&T, previously Cingular Wireless. The development cost of the collaboration was estimated to have been $150 million[14] 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.[15][16]

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 inSan Francisco, California.[17] 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."[18] 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".[19]

[edit]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;[20] 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.[21]

It was later made available in the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Germany in November 2007, and the Republic of Ireland and Austria in the spring of 2008.

In the United Kingdom, the original iPhone was released at 6.02pm to relate to the exclusive carrier 02 who were the only original carriers to supply the phone in the UK.

Six out of ten Americans surveyed said they knew the release date of the iPhone.[22]]

After release

The iPod Touch, a touchscreen device with the media and internet capabilities and interface of the iPhone, but no phone, was released on September 5, 2007. At the same time, Apple significantly dropped the price of the 8GB model while discontinuing the 4GB model entirely.[23] Apple sold the one millionth iPhone five days later, or 74 days after the release.[24] After receiving "hundreds of emails...upset" about the price drop, Apple gave store credit to early adopters.[25]

A 16GB model was released on February 5, 2008.[26] 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.[27]The original iPhone was discontinued at that time; total sales volume came to 6,124,000 units.[2]

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