First-generation Apple iPhone Sells at Auction in US for $190,000

THE GUARDIAN: Device launched by Steve Jobs in 2007 with promise to ‘reinvent the phone’ sells for 300 times original price

Steve Jobs demonstrating the new iPhone at the Macworld conference in 2007, where he said Apple was about to ‘reinvent the phone’. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP
A 2007 Apple iPhone has been sold at auction for $190,372.80 (£145,416) – 300 times its original sale price.

The 4GB model , originally bought for $599, was still in its factory wrapping and was in exceptional condition, the auction listing said. The auctioneer LCG Auctions described the device as a “popular high-end collectible” and “exceedingly rare”.

The auction attracted 28 bids in total after an initial bid of $10,000.

LCG Auctions sold another first-generation iPhone for $63,356 in February. Another firm, Wright Auctions, sold a first-generation iPhone for $40,320 in March. » | Hibaq Farah, UK technology correspondent | Monday, July 17, 2023

Is Apple Losing Its Touch?
THE INDEPENDENT: Crunch time for technology giant as public love affair with brand turns sour

Apple, the £150bn technology giant, is this morning preparing to confront the biggest public relations crisis in its history, amid technical problems afflicting its latest iPhone and a warning that "an emerging pattern of hubris" could wreck the public's love affair with the company.

It emerged yesterday that senior engineers warned early in the development of the new iPhone 4 that its choice of aerial could lead to dropped calls and poor reception. But the company ignored their concerns and when customers first complained about the fault wrongly blamed the problem on a software glitch.

Today the company will hold an emergency press conference in an attempt to reassure customers – and Wall Street – that it has the problem under control.

On Wall Street, where Apple has been the darling of investors for almost a decade since it unleashed the iPod music player on the world, its shares have tumbled, while the company faces a future of increased scrutiny by competition watchdogs and intense competition from newly-emboldened rivals.

Apple has summoned media and industry players to its headquarters in Cupertino, California, in a mood that is a far cry from the launch event with founder Steve Jobs last month. Then, with typical hyperbole, he declared it “the biggest leap forward” since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, and 1.7 million people snapped up the new device in just the first two days, making it the company’s most successful product launch ever.

But users immediately started complaining of dropped calls and independent consumer tests laid the blame at the door of the phone’s aerial, which is built into the case of the phone. Continue reading and comment >>> Stephen Foley in New York | Friday, July 16, 2010

The Cool, New, Revolutionary Apple iPhone

Photo of the new Apple iPhone courtesy of Google Images

BBC: Apple's much-hyped iPhone finally goes on sale in the US today.

Some people have been queuing for days outside Apple and AT&T stores across the US to ensure they get hold of one of the devices.

Hundreds more are expected to start queuing during the day because stores will not start selling the iPhone until 1800 local time (2300 BST).

Apple said buyers visiting its stores would not be able to walk out with more than two iPhones each. Apple's iPhone makes it to stores (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Queues begin for Apple iPhone

Demonstration: The New Apple iPhone

YAHOO NEWS (UK):
Europeans claim they’ll resist iPhone hysteria

Mark Alexander