Filed under: WWDC, Apple, iPhone
What first generation iPhone owners can expect
You may have heard that Apple released a minor update to their line of iPhones yesterday. No big deal, you weren't going to ditch your first generation iPhone and run for the 3G hill, were you? Oh, so you are going to upgrade? Oh well, this post might not be for you then. However, for those of you looking to keep your "old" iPhone, here is what you can expect in the coming months. Apple will be providing a free upgrade for all existing first generation iPhone owners. You will be upgraded to the exact same firmware that makes the 3G iPhone tick. Apple has posted a web page that details exactly what you can expect from the new 2.0 firmware.
Some of the main features we're looking forward to include:
- AppStore
- Full Exchange support
- MobileMe
- Mass e-mail move, delete and save images
- Contacts search
- Additional language support
- Full iWork and Microsoft Office viewer support
- Scientific Calculator
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Gar said 7:41AM on 6-10-2008
... and cut and paste? And cut and paste? Nah, didn't hear that. What a cool feature that would have been. My coworker with his Touch is grumbling now...
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Shawin said 7:49AM on 6-10-2008
On Apple's page, it's called the iPhone 3G. Sounds like the 3rd-gen iPhone while it's only the 2nd gen. They should just call it iPhone, just like they used to call the new iPods just 'iPod'.
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meh said 1:32PM on 6-10-2008
It's the 3rd gen phone if you recall the rumors that the first released iPhone was in fact the 2nd gen iPhone internally at Apple. Few people have seen the 1st gen of course, and details on the internet are scant. But it does exist, and some day we will see it!
Thayne said 12:38PM on 6-10-2008
technically it's about the 6th gen iPhone, but I am not allowed to talk more about that.
rei_vilo said 7:53AM on 6-10-2008
And synchronized notes ? And to-do list ? Any news ?
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B said 9:10AM on 6-10-2008
A2DP? Voice dialing? WTF.
Ding Sheng Tan said 7:56AM on 6-10-2008
iPod touch owners upgrade for $9.95, not $9.99. :P
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homagetogorto said 9:52AM on 6-10-2008
Phew! I can afford that trip to Hawaii now! :)
George Muenz said 7:59AM on 6-10-2008
I haven't seen anything about search in contacts, is this now available? Its an important requirement.
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DrWho said 8:08AM on 6-10-2008
Then you haven't looked at apple's web site...
"Have a lot of names in your address book? Type a name into the new Contacts search field and iPhone shows you matching names. If you use iPhone with Microsoft Exchange, you can even look up contacts in your company’s Global Address List (GAL)."
holo said 8:09AM on 6-10-2008
it's there. don't worry
:)
eric f. said 10:39AM on 6-10-2008
awesome... that's one thing I missed terribly from my treo.
Jonesy said 8:33AM on 6-10-2008
"Should I upgrade?" is completely moot if you're in the UK... O2 will swap your first gen for the 3G if you resign an 18 month deal. If they do that each time then why wouldn't you? Great idea.
For the record here's the UK tariffs etc...
£30 a month - iPhone is 8gb £99 / 16gb £159
£35 a month - iPhone is 8gb £99 / 16gb £159
£45 a month - iPhone is 8gb free / 16gb £59
£75 a month - iPhone is 8gb/16gb free
Pay & Go coming soon and here's another bit of info...
"Don't need 2 iPhones!
We want to make sure you find a good home for your existing iPhone once you upgrade. If you've a friend or family member already on an eligible O2 tariff, they'll be able to transfer to one of our new tariffs for iPhone. If they're not already with O2 or on an eligible O2 tariff, they could get one of our new iPhone Pay & Go SIM cards."
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P said 8:54AM on 6-10-2008
The way I read the O2 website they aren't going to upgrade you to the new iPhone for free - I think you'll have to pay full price for it and resign for another 18 months... not such a great deal.
I was very please to hear that they had introduced a £30 tariff... until I saw the details - 75 inclusive minutes?? WTF?!! That is a joke. Surely they could give you 200 minutes for that price, especially as the £35 tariff gives you 600 minutes.
I'll be sticking with my unlocked Edge iPhone and my £15 per month tariff thanks.
Fraser JK said 8:52AM on 6-10-2008
I haven't used an iPhone yet so I don't really understand why everyone wants cut and paste. I bet it'll be useful, but all the phones I've used never had it to begin with.
I'm planning to get an iPhone 3G but if that feature is so desired, Apple better bring out 2.1 before I buy one.
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Thayne said 12:41PM on 6-10-2008
I've been a long time iPhone user, and I've yet to find myself really wanting copy and paste. And I consider myself a power user. I guess I'm just not likely to need to splice complex text together on my iPhone or use it as a word processor.
Scott said 2:46PM on 6-10-2008
Copy & paste isn't a live or die thing, but it's very annoying not to have it sometimes. And if you haven't seen it on any other phone, it's more likely because most cell phone GUIs are so poorly designed that you never knew how to do it. My Moto V300 had cut/copy/paste, but I bet I was one of the few that figured it out!
Say you're reading an email and it contains a long business name, address, or whatever and you want to put that into a Google search or into Maps and locate it. You have to retype that whole string! And if it's something difficult to remember, you have to keep switching back and forth between the entry box and the email.
Cho said 9:10AM on 6-10-2008
O2 aren't going to swap your iPhone for the new model.
Existing owners have until 11 Oct to decide if they want to upgrade. If so, they will have to do the following...
a) If they choose the £30 or £35 tariff, they pay £99/£159
b) If they choose the £45 or £75 tariff, then it's free
c) Sign a new 18 month contract.
So having an iPhone already gives you no preference over O2 getting new customers. Rubbish, so I'll probably stick with my 'old' iPhone for now.
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vectr said 10:11AM on 6-10-2008
While that's all true... I'm thinking I can get a new 3G and then jailbreak my old one to use when I'm overseas.
Does anyone see anything wrong with that as a plan?
Mathieu Champagne said 8:54AM on 6-10-2008
Quick question. Say you have a first generation, Edge iPhone. Now say that a line of dead touchscreen pixels develops on the touchscreen. Now what if u bought it about september of last year. What happens if you take it into the apple store a few weeks after the 3G iPhone is released? Are they going to give you a new 3G? Or do they have a bunch of old refurb iPhones just for this kind of thing? The way I understood it, apple is trying to weed out the remaining first-gen iPhones. What do you guys think?
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