As we know, Apple takes security and privacy quite seriously to shield its products from prying eyes before their launch. Nevertheless, there have always been a string of rumours before the iPhone launch. Now, there’s a sudden buzz around the SkankPhone or iPhone prototype.
Those not in the know how, the original iPhone Project was known as Purple, and it involved a lot of people from Ive’s team. However, only a dummy version of the software was made available to ensure that it doesn’t leak. This resulted into two user interfaces for the device and eventually two teams were working on the iPhone without knowing what the other team is doing.
“For most developers involved, it wasn’t until Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the world in 2007 that they finally understood what the complete package would look like,” Fastcodesign.
Basically, one device was running the real iOS software but the hardware was fake (read Skankphone), while the other ran fake OS but the hardware was real. Though the device has been around for the past several years, TheNextWeb has now spotted that the device is put up on eBay for auction. Though it was quickly pulled out, the device is again up on the e-store. This device is known to be running the ‘skankphone’ version of the iOS.
It looks like a totally unfinished and ugly sibling of the plush and dainty iPhone. “Many of the phone’s functions were available via this interface — assumably so it could be fully tested by the user — but it gives no hints towards the final design of iOS at all,” adds the report.
The homepage has random codes as follows:
“Skank is the new black”
“Nine parts perspiration”
“Say hello to the Newton MessagePad 3000″
“Skankphone”
With the latest iPhone 6 models and the plush iOS version, Apple has come a long way from transforming from the Skankphone OS to iOS 8.
