Early Apple iPhone working prototype hits eBay

**Update – this has now been pulled offline by eBay, but the seller has posted a video of the beta OS in action. See it here.**

Not that there is enough people around the world who are in love with the iPhone, today I am sure eager investors will put their bid on eBay for an early iPhone prototype.

Seller “$$billions_of_money$$” is puttind the working prototype up for grabs. This comes complete with a rough beta version of iPhone OS and just for good measure a second non-functional prototype is includes.

The bidding closes Mar-11-09 20:00:00 PDT and the description says “Here is a quite rare and collectable example of iPhone prototypes, one even running a beta OS. Only one of the phones works however. Neither unit says “iPhone” on them anywhere, or list the storage capacity which is interesting. I did some research on the serial numbers, it appears they were both manufactured about 6 months before the release of the iPhone.

Phone #1:
-Powers on OK – GSM service works
-Plastic matte screen (see pics)
-Serial number YM649xxxxxx which corresponds to a factory in China, manufactured week 49 of the year 2006.
-Runs iPhone OS 03.06.01_G (iPhone Launch OS 1.0 was version 03.11.02_G)
-Good cosmetic condition

Phone #2:
-Doesn’t turn on (tried leaving on charger for awhile, along with various reset procedures)
-Glass screen
-Serial number YM650xxxxxx which corresponds to a factory in China, manufactured week 50 of the year 2006. (The iPhone was announced on Jan 6 2007 and release June 29 2007.)
-I replaced the battery and still doesn’t work. Currently apart right now, can leave as-is for buyer or reassemble.
-Has various scratches, it is in fair cosmetic condition at best

The phone that works is pretty neat to use. It does make calls(with my ATT sim), and I can surf the net. However when I did get to web pages they were the mobile versions, not the regular versions. I can’t figure out how to set a ringtone, it is just silent right now. I can receive SMS but not compose my own, other than 5 included test messages. It doesn’t sync to itunes. Camera seems to work. It has tons of testing options.

Also, the working phone has several interesting subtitles that alternate on the screens including:

[Skank is the new black]
[Nine parts perspiration]
[Say hello to the Newton MessagePad 3000]
[Skankphone]

The phones also comes with a really nice soft case for each. I can guarantee that the working phone will work when you get it, but nothing else beyond that. This auction includes the 2 phones, and the 2 cases, and that is it. Shipping via USPS Priority Insured. Paypal within 3 days. Please ask any questions before bidding.

Check it out and get you bid in over at eBay here

Via: Engadget Mobile