Unopened first-gen iPhone appears on eBay for $10,000

After months of rumors and speculation, Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone on January 9, 2007 in front of a large Macworld audience at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The handset would later become available for purchase on June 29 of that year, and the rest, as they say, is history. And now you can own part of that great history for a mere $10,000…

That’s right, an unopened 8GB 1st-gen iPhone has surfaced on eBay this week with a Buy It Now price of 10 grand. The seller describes the device as a “rare collectors vintage box set.”

“Stunning rare collectors choice Apple iPhone 1st generation 8GB and factory sealed!! You are seeing a piece of history!! This is an incredible collectors show piece!! This would be a crown jewel for any collection!!… …The collectors dream Apple iPhone!!”

The seller, samsonbible, obviously believes the device is worth the money, although there have been no bids. But for what it’s worth, he is a Top-rated seller and has 100% feedback.

And as it turns out, he’s not the only one who thinks so highly of the smartphone. Phsledge is also selling a factory-sealed first-gen iPhone for $10,000. But it hasn’t seen any bids either.

It’ll be interesting to see if either handset sells, because despite the fact that the iPhone was/is one of the most disruptive and popular consumer devices of its era, it can’t be worth $10,000 (yet).

Can it?



Create disposable phone numbers for your iPhone with Burner

This is pretty interesting. Burner is a new service that provides you with disposable phone numbers for your iPhone. It’s like having a fake phone number that you can give out, except you can actually be reached at it.

Think about all of the situations in which you are asked to give out your phone number but don’t really want to — whether it be to an acquaintance, or a salesmen, or signing up for a new online service. Enter Burner…

TheNextWeb points to the service, which just launched a new iPhone app last month. The Burner app lets you purchase disposable phone numbers that you can use for phone or text, and then ‘burn’ after your done with them.

The software comes with one throwaway number and enough credits to try the service briefly. But after that, you’ll have to purchase additional phone numbers and service time. A block of 25 credits costs $11.99, which will get you about 8 Mini Burners. A Mini-Burner is a number that’s good for 7 days, 20 minutes of voice, or 60 text messages, whichever comes first. And there are additional options available at different prices.

Burner for the iPhone is $1.99, and can be found in the App Store.

What do you think of the Burner service?



New images try to prove that Samsung copied Apple’s icons

As we begin week two of the high-profile patent trial between Apple and Samsung, we’re starting to see a lot more evidence submitted by both companies. And this next bit, filed by Apple, is particularly interesting.

In court today, Apple’s legal team presented 6 images to the jury that it believes proves that Samsung intentionally copied its iOS icons for use in its TouchWiz interface it installs in all of its popular Android handsets…

Handset-makers put these layers over Android to separate their devices from the competition (HTC has its Sense UI). But Apple believes that Samsung’s TouchWiz interface doesn’t make it unique, it makes it a copycat.

From the green Phone icon, to the purple Music icon with the eighth note and CD graphic, Apple makes a pretty compelling case. Even if you argue that graphics like a person’s silhouette or a gear have become universal symbols for Address Books and Settings apps, there’s no denying that Samsung’s designers got some inspiration from iOS here. If you’re looking for more proof, CNET has obtained all 6 images.

Apple’s done a great job thus far, outlining the many different ways it feels that Samsung has copied its products. But the trial is far from over. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the jury interprets all of this evidence in the end.

What do you think? Did Samsung copy Apple’s icons?



Nokia, Samsung countering iPhone 5 with ‘iconic’ Windows Phone 8 devices

The next iPhone is upon us (think September 21-ish) and Apple’s rivals are scrambling to conveniently time their upcoming ‘hero’ device announcements around the same timeframe. That’s brave tactics, trying to divert spotlight away from the mother of all upgrades, as analyst Gene Munster dubbed the iPhone 5 release.

Both Samsung and Nokia are set to unveil new high-end devices built around Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 software. One of the devices is being described in court documents as an “iconic smartphone”. All phones should be on store shelves in time for the holiday shopping frenzy. Should Apple be worried?

As reported by The Verge, leaked documents reveal two Windows Phone 8 devices from Samsung: one called the Odyssey and the other dubbed the Marco. Both phones support 4G LTE and are built around Qualcomm’s speedy dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz.

The Odyssey is an “iconic smartphone” with a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display with HD resolution, NFC and an eight-megapixel rear camera. The Marco has a four-inch S-AMOLED display with WVGA resolution and a five-megapixel back camera.

NFC technology is said to drive Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 Wallet Hub and Tap + Send features. Apple, of course, is believed to be tapping NFC for the next iPhone. Both Samsung devices are set to launch in time for the holiday shopping season.

As for Nokia, Bloomberg repots on the company’s plans to launch a new Windows Phone 8 lineup at Nokia World, which runs from September 5 to September 6 in Helsinki, Finland. Nokia lost over 90 percent of its market value since the iPhone’s arrival five years ago.

It’s been reporting losses five quarters in a row now and its Lumia handsets (seen at the top: the Lumia 800) sold just 600,000 units in the U.S. last quarter. What is the company going to do to boost sales apart from launching new handsets in time for the holiday rush?

To boost Lumia sales, Nokia has gathered hundreds of volunteering U.S. employees — from such diverse departments as finance to human resources — to work alongside salesmen at carriers.

That group, dubbed the Nokia Army, has allowed the company to educate consumers as well as retail sales staff, with the aim that they are willing to mention Lumia as an alternative.

Carriers are reportedly welcoming these new non-Apple and non-Android devices.

It’s not surprising that carriers that offer the iPhone also want other platforms to strive to avoid becoming too dependent on Apple or Google. We here at iDB have grown tired of carriers constantly bickering over high iPhone subsidy.

See, in spite of criticism, these telcos continue to pay billions in upfront subsidy to Apple due to the benefits the iPhone offers, like its unmatched ability to sway more subscribers to the high-end and steal customers from competition.

How do you think the next iPhone will fare against those hero Windows Phone 8 devices from Samsung and Nokia?



Introducing Bladepad, the detachable iPhone gamepad

A few days ago we asked the question, “Should Apple build a game controller?” It was a pretty fair question, considering that the graphics in iOS titles are getting closer and closer to console-quality, but the gameplay isn’t.

We’ve seen several accessory-makers try to remedy this problem by building physical gamepads, but none of them have managed to gain consumer traction. The new Gamepad, however, is hoping to change that…

If you haven’t heard of the Bladepad, it’s a new iOS-compatible game controller that connects to your device via Bluetooth. It has two joysticks, a control pad, and four action buttons — very similar to most game controllers.

But Bladepad’s major selling point is that it’s extremely portable. It quickly attaches and reattaches to a special iPhone 4/4S case, so it’s available when you need it, and removable when you don’t. It’s also fairly thin for what it is.



BrowseInApp: open links in-app without switching to Safari

When the developer for BrowseInApp contacted us, asking us to do a review of the tweak, I was a bit skeptical. I hadn’t tried it before, and I feel like I’ve tried most of the jailbreak packages out there that are worth trying.

But boy was I wrong. After playing with BrowseInApp for a couple of days, the tweak has quickly become one of my favorites. It’s well-built, convenient, and integrates seamlessly into iOS. Keep reading for my full review…

BrowseInApp is a jailbreak tweak that installs an in-app browser into iOS. This enables you to open up URL links in an application without forcing you to switch to Safari or some other default browser. Why? Because while apps like Twitter and Facebook already have in-app browsers, apps like Messages and Mail don’t.

After installing the tweak, you can enable it by visiting its section in the Settings app. Once that’s done, anytime you see a link within an application that doesn’t already have a built-in browser, tapping on it will bring up a menu.

From here, you can choose to open the link in-app, open it in Safari, or simply copy it. Opening up the link in-app launches a lightweight web browser that loads over your current window. It’s surprisingly well done, with an editable URL bar, back and forward page buttons, and an option to open the website your on in Safari.



Apple reportedly looking to acquire The Fancy social commerce site

The ink hasn’t even dried on Apple’s agreement to buyout AuthenTec yet, and the company is already rumored to be looking to make another purchase. According to a new report, Apple is in talks to acquire The Fancy social network.

For those that haven’t heard of the site, The Fancy is essentially part store, blog, magazine and wish list. Similar to Pinterest, users can discover cool stuff, share it, and if they really like it, they can buy it. And apparently, Apple wants in…

BusinessInsider has the scoop:

“Apple is in talks to acquire The Fancy, a fast-growing social commerce site back by cofounders of Twitter and Facebook, Business Insider has learned.

The objective: to secure a role for Apple Apple in the growing e-commerce market, putting the 400 million-plus users with credit cards on file with Apple’s iTunes Store to work shopping — with Apple getting a cut of the action.”

As crazy as this all sounds, Tim Cook was spotted talking to The Fancy’s CEO Joe Einhorn at the Sun Valley conference a few weeks ago. And notably, Cook also recently started up his own Fancy account.

There’s no word yet on what Apple’s willing to pay for the social networking/e-commerce site, but according to The Fancy’s latest funding round, its valuation is sitting at just over $100 million dollars.

If true, it’ll be interesting to see how this thing unfolds. What could Apple possibly want with a social commerce site?

Thoughts?



Sprint heavily discounts the iPhone 4S ahead of iPhone 5 launch

We just got words that Sprint was currently selling the iPhone 4S 16GB at a $50 discount, for a total price of $149.99. According to a Sprint retailer who reached out to us, the company has been notifying stores that this new pricing would be in place until September 14th.

The timing seems very appropriate as the iPhone 5 next iPhone has been rumored to be announced at an event on September 12th, and will supposedly be available for sale on September 21st…

Although the rumor has been confirmed by several media outlets, nothing is official until Tim Cook gets on stage to unveil Apple’s latest addition to the iPhone family.

Sprint is America’s third largest carrier. It is also the last US carrier to haven entered into an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone, long after AT&T, and shortly after Verizon. Considered as the last carrier to offer true unlimited data plans, Sprint activated 1.5 million iPhones during the last quarter, far behind AT&T and Verizon.

From what we hear, this move is aimed at clearing up large inventories of iPhone 4S 16GB that Sprint committed to purchase from Apple, when it hoped it would generate sales as impressive as its competitors. Unfortunately for Sprint, this hasn’t really worked as planned so far.