In August 2007, we first reported on an issue where certain spots on the iPhone’s MultiTouch screen — particularly a strip about 1/2 inch in height somewhere below the top of the screen — will not accept input. Hope held that this issue was restricted to a bad run of touchscreens and slowly disappear. Unfortunately, [...]

As previously reported, many accessories that were compatible with the first-generation are not compatible with the iPhone 3G, either failing to charge the device or losing functionality completely.

We’ve compiled a list of incompatible devices based on user reports. If you have any to add, please let us know.

Will not charge the iPhone 3G: The explanation [...]

Apple has released iTunes 7.7.1, which is accompanied by the usual dearth of change data, through Software Update. Release notes state only “iTunes 7.7.1 includes fixes to improve the stability and performance.” After spending about an hour with the update it’s not clear what if anything changed.

Here’s a quick rundown of initial observations:

The number of [...]

A poster to the Hackintosh forums has revealed images of what appears to be a diagnostic screen for the iPhone 3G.

The first screen displays “iPhone OS,” followed by the version number. It also displays “Drag to Unlock” and “Shut Down”.

Another screen simply displays a gear:

The third screen has 3 buttons: “Start Burnin”, “Restart Test Environment” [...]

We previously reported inordinately sluggish system performance from the iPhone 3G, particularly with regard to scrolling, text input, and return to the home screen. The issue appears to be endemic to iPhone OS 2.0, as users of first-generation phones who have updated to the new software are also experiencing lag.

Lag is especially apparent in the [...]

Alongside a few interesting tidbits that could indicate the addition of turn-by-turn directions in Google Maps, the beta release of iPhone OS 2.1 includes a potential reference to a forthcoming iPod touch model.

Analysis of the iPhone OS 2.1 file structure reveals various files that display the string “iPod2,1.” The current iPod touch is referenced with [...]

The first-generation iPhone generated unexpected, exorbitant data transfer bills for some overseas travelers — a result of automatically downloaded, non-user-triggered data and expensive rates (up to $20/MB in some countries). The issue was later resolved with the addition of a switchable “data roaming” option.

Now users are encountering a different international data transfer billing issue that [...]

Several AT&T users have reported an issue in which incoming text messages are never received by the iPhone 3G. The problem is most common with accounts that have been ported from other carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile.

As described by a poster to the AT&T discussion forums:

“Got the iPhone on July 11th, ported from T-Mobile on [...]

The modem firmware on the iPhone 3G has been successfully downgraded by the iPhone Dev Team: a clearing of the first hurdle in completely hacking the iPhone 3G modem baseband. A post to the team’s blog reads:

“This image is the ‘About’ screen from a 3G iPhone that was bought in a store last week. As [...]

Ted Landau
July 2008
The more time I spend with my new iPhone 3G and the new MobileMe software, the more I find that neither of these upgrades were worth the bother. Now, before you start sending me hate mail, let me be clear:
I still consider the iPhone to be one of the greatest technology inventions of [...]