"But there is a dark side to the iPhone: activation requires signing up for an expensive 18-month service plan with O2, the UK's largest mobile service provider. Unlike most mobile phone deals you need to pay £269 for the phone as well as a top-tier monthly contract, and there is no mention of an upgrade offer when the contract finishes. To add insult to injury the 18-month contract may well outlast the usefulness of the sealed-in battery."

1 July 2007: Apple buys iPhone.com for a million bucks

A million dollars is nothing compared to Apple's iPhone revenues, and in July 2007 it was reported that the company had happily shelled out a cool million on the iphone.com URL, which one Michael Kovatch had presciently - or luckily - registered in 1995. iPhone.com now redirects to Apple's iPhone page.

5 September 2007: iPod touch is launched

Targeting more budget-minded gadget fans and those who were wowed by the iPhone's apps, touchscreen display and interface without needing the phone functionality, Apple launched the iPod touch later that year. It would go on to become a vital element in the iOS ecosystem: a sort of gateway drug that would introduce dabblers to the many pleasures of iOS - still referred to in those days, and indeed until June 2010, as iPhone OS - and downloadable apps.