Mysterious pink iPhone 3G hits eBay, cue onslaught of rumors
By Jacob Schulman 
posted Jan 2nd 2009 3:11AM
posted Jan 2nd 2009 3:11AM
Update: Go ahead and put those horses back in the stables folks, folks: Cole commented to point us over to an eBay auction for a rather familiar looking and decidedly aftermarket pink back cover. So, don't go expecting a first-party pink iPhone at Macworld, but if you hurry up and bid now you can have yourself the most fabulous handset at the show.
[Thanks, Gav]
I'm sure this will be a hit on Valentine's Day?
NO WAY! Apple would never produce a product like...well that! It just looks to cheap and trashy. Not that I have anything against pink.
Problem is: a "cheap and trashy" product like that will sell in boatloads.
Mostly to the teen girl and younger audience.
Carriers will love that too, as that audience also tends to produce big phone bills and buy the premium plans.
Seems kinda likely when you look at it that way.
@Kevlar - Apple has left out countless opportunities to cash in on cheap / trashy stuff. Heck, they don't even sell Apple-themed accessories / t-shirts despite the fact that they could cash in on those, too. You know, the people who love to wear brand name stuff would just snap it up. But there was an order from the very top that Apple not engage in this kind of thing. Too cheap. The Apple t-shirts the store employees are wearing? Not for sale.
They seem to be doing pretty well with that in the long term ;)
Apple might well be doing a pink iPhone nano, but not if it looks cheap like that one above.
@nikster
My thoughts exactly! Products like that may fly off the shelf but that's not Apples style.
They know what you want!
(sorry for the double post)
Uhh... How about Colorware?
RTFA.
uhh...how about reading the article.
Yea I'm a dumbass :(
Hm...interesting
also interesting is the blindingly obvious photoshop-style pixelating around the iPhone logo on the back.
Yes, and everywhere else there is detail in the photo.
It's called JPEG compression artifacts, and it tends to happen on for-web photos due to increased usage of the JPEG compression algorithm for smaller file sizes. Also makes a lot of sense for an eBay photo...
Actually MrMarmite and Kevlar, if you click on the picture, it links to the ebay listing, and there are other pictures of the guy holding it so it isn't a shop...please flame me though if you think he's bothered to photoshop every single one....
I think it's just one of the many custom backplates sold on ebay and as others have said the box is a normal one too...
I'm not really a fan of colored electronics as I think it makes it look cheesy and draws attention to the fact that it's plastic. Anodized metal on the other hand...
Faraday cage. :(
@samboni
But that's not how it...the old ipho...oh nevermind.
Nah. I could see a (RED) one, but not this. Doesn't seem like Apple's deal. Unless they plan to offer the iPhone and the possible iPhone Nano in different colours. The pink looks awful.
I prefer the 7 Samurai... but its ok!
Look at the 3G symbol at the top of the box! It has a box around it. which is from an older firmware. This is not a new product!
I feel bad that I laughed at that.
Apple is a very girlieman machine so coloring their hardware pink does fits their image.
you did see the recent expose on how steve jobs and bill gates are gay lovers didn't you
so its the pink instinct vs pink iPhone...interesting!
btw the shots on ebay do look convincing but like people said it may be a colorware
Yeah I felt a little bad after I put that up. How ever it is very much in the spirit of rumors :-)
I will miss seeing jobs at macworld, and I'm not even a fanboy.
Well, Apple is selling out to Walmart.. and we all know how much the average Walmart shopper loves cheap, crappy, plastic-y, pink accessories.. I'm surprised it doesn't have the Pussycat Dolls insignia right underneath the Apple logo. Whats next? A yellow and brown P. Diddy version?
LONG LIVE STEVE
While I never actually seen a real picture of the Pink iPhone. I always see those pop-ups on my computer saying that you can win a free Pink iPhone, Pink MacBook Air, Lavender iPhone, I think even a Pink or Lavender iPod Touch.
It's true, popups never lie. Now excuse me while I go hook up with all of the lonely attractive women in my area.
the box is black so the iphone is black, as is the sim card port. two dead giveaways that the iphone is actually a black one. white iphones have white boxes, black iphones have black boxes.
no… Packaging ALWAYS lies!
Might it be some of those annoying plastic wraps that you get when opening something? Like you know, to protect from scratches?
iphones dont come with that kind of protective film, theres a piece of plastic that goes over the back and front, connected at the top. but it is one piece and clear.
Look at the text and the logo. They are two different colors. Apple never does that. It has to be custom
The logo is actually chrome on the iPhone, so it just looks white due to the flash. That said, the text looks too dark and obvious to me for it to be factory done. The text on my white 3G is in a grey font, and doesn't stand out.
This is definitely a colorware item. Colorware -does- reimprint the phone with all the information you would find on it before it's painted. There are close-up photos in the ebay auction that easily show it up to be just that. Painted, but very professionally.
How the FUNK does a PINK Ipod ends up on Engadget!? Is this really nems?!
Fail.
lets snub this flame right now
hit the link
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BACK-COVER-HOUSING-FASCIA-FOR-iPHONE-3G-8-16GB-SIM-TRAY_W0QQitemZ220330233883QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MobilePhones_MobilePhonesCasesPouches?hash=item220330233883&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
I've been looking for that for the past 15 Mins.
Yup you got it, i bet this guy makes a ton of cash off this because of the stupid replacement backing
Great searching skills! You'd think Engadget writers could do that..
it would seem that everybody whos commenting below this post, and its replys, are ignoring it and still trying to explain it away
engadget fix this, the farse is up
Cole you rule.
Did ayone notice that:
"Fitting instructions will not be included"
How very helpful of them.
lol
"Super Quality" & "Executive Feel"
these guys should give classes
I remember seeing a website a while ago with this picture. It was weird, and I'm surprised no one picked up on it before. The owner of the website was going on and on about how they have this pink iphone and they got this pink iphone 3G, it seemed like a fetish website. It was weird. I'll see if I can find it and post it up, I think the author is responsible for this.
1. SIM card tray is black
2. Box is black. Pink iPhone would be in a pink box like the white one would be in a white. Apple does not forget the details in patterns. Ever.
3. Silly Engadget
already said this. learn to read.
I think a simple anodizing job would do the trick too, if the seller really wanted something unique...
Oh lawd. There are multiple sites which sell custom replacement backings. No need to start baseless rumors. And as others have said, look at the box. It's just a regular black iPhone with a custom case. Of course we'll have the annoying 'omg JPEG artifacts!' kids thinking it's a shop, but no, just a regular photo.
here's what I wonder.
I have an iphone, i buy one of those cases and put it on my phone. in the process I hit something, have a static charge etc and damage my phone.
I just voided my warranty didn't I
he's not fronting this as a phone he put a new colored backplate on. he is claiming it came that way.
in other words, he is lying to folks to sell the phone.
I also felt bad that I laughed at that. But then, I felt good about feeling bad that I laughed at that. Balance restored.
Where'd Paul go?
Well, the item has been relisted and the original auction has ended, the buy it now price has gone down, and the rest of the info is the same. The listing clearly states that it is not just a cover, so if it is, he's going to lose that 100% positive feedback rating.
Did anyone else notice that the cover from the link posted above has a white Apple logo but the actual phone pictures clearly show a chrome logo? At least it looks that way to me.
Chrome = reflective. The logo could just be reflecting a white ceiling.
It's chrome, you can tell from the other pictures on the auction.
If apple had designed this, they would have made the text WHITE to match the APPLE.
FAKE!
@ karl.
youre an idiot.
why would a new release have a O2 simlock? if its pre production or something then it would not have a simlock...
No Serial Number = Fake.
LimitedEditioniPhone.com had these months ago.
who cares what colour the BACK of a phone is? i still see fake silver-trimmed blackness up front.
@ -nikster. There is a price to everything. I bet you pay enough money, one apple store (ex-)staff would love to sell you an apple t-shirt.
Back to the topic, Apple has iPod nano in all sort of crazy color. I won't be surprised to see a pink iPhone or iPhone nano on the street down the road.
its fake , just a back cover , if you see feedback as a buyer you will see he bought it from ebay on his items
what an idiot,LOL
i Saw that auction... i just didnt buy bc it was pink but i almost bought it for my girl friend ... thanks guys
didnt want the regular one, why the hell would i want a pink one? maybe to match my purple thong
It looks like it could possibly be a very thin film or skin that is on it.
I just found this whilst stumbling. I don't think that I can post a link, but it is only the back cover. There is a story on p2p. net
Here is the cover in question...
http://www.ecaseshop.com/full-housing-cover-shell-for-apple-iphone-3g-16gb-pink.html
I would think able would do (RED) before pink
iPhones should be made in RED - for AIDS and PINK - for Breast Cancer awerness.
Not that they need any help selling, but, for every phone sold they should donate some $ to research.
I heard Bone Marrow transplants cured one guy of AIDS.
Here is a colorware Pink iPhone on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=200293583201&Category=3312
so fake it is not even fun. the front is clearly an ipod touch, you can see the silver and the sticker lines.
the back apple and text would be the same color.
also, if apple were to do a pink phone for cancer and/or product red, they wouldn't release it unannounced.
as for the t-shirt comment. I asked at a store one time about buying one of the shirts and they said that it's a combination of not diluting the trademark (which i think is a tad bogus) and the fact that the shirts are meant to show that someone works for apple. so they can't have non apple employees running around with the uniform shirts being confused for employees cause those folks might say erroneous info about the company, the product, how to fix that problem your phone is having etc (which make a little more sense)
Is this really newsworthy?
I can tell this is a 'shop from some of the pixels and from having seen quite a few photoshops in my time
@nikster
My thoughts exactly! Products like that may fly off the shelf but that's not Apples style.
They know what you want!
This is hysterical! I can't believe that people are actually bidding up over 300 pounds for this! He has a reserve too! LOL! I wonder how high that is. Buy it now is over 600 pounds! :-O
This is an example of supreme laziness. Too lazy to use 2 screwdrivers to put on your own face plate costing 12 pounds, no spend over 25 times as much on a pre assembled one.
Ah.. I see FuzzyCat uncovered the reason... "Fitting instructions not included" !
Wow after looking at http://www.ecaseshop.com/article_info.php?articles_id=2
I see how one wrong move and bye bye iPhone. Still... patience (as the the instruction writer says) will have you all beautified in no time! Save the 600 pounds!
you can also get cases here >>> http://www.ecaseshop.com/apple_iphone-3g-2g-cases_iphone-replacement-housing.html
hi i am so sorry i am the guy selling the pink iphone ofcourse its aftermarket i tell everyone who ask by email i was horrified by the stir this caused i have relisted with the information ammended it was never my intention to lie to anyone and have emailed bidders to apoligize i just felt there was a market for a pre fitted case this is only phone number two but maybe i will retire now sorry again !
I have bought a pink Iphone from this man and i can guarantee you this is a a genuine apple phone just with a pink back he has added himself. The phone is just as good as one you would buy direct from apple just with a lovely pink back and looks exactly as it does in the photos. There is none of that photoshop rubbish, if you look on his items you will see he has bought the backs and the phone so this proves he is not trying to hide the fact he has done it himself.
All you sados clearly have nothing better to do, this may have not been bought directly from apple but it is the nearest your gonna get to a pink Iphone anytime soon. Give this guy a break.
Buy your own housing.. http://www.ecaseshop.com/apple_iphone-3g-2g-cases_iphone-replacement-housing.html
pink, green, silver, gold, red, blue, black, and white
HaHa, This is pretty funny, I am the one who sells them on eBay!!!!
The one pictured is from when I tried to show a friend how to make them, only his did not turn out as good. Instead, he went around my back and tried to sell it on ebay(his name is Anthony). I am Wek120, the one on ebay who sells them occasionally for some extra cash. I currently have one on ebay now, and plan on having a 16 gb up in some time.
As many of you have guessed, they are not apple parts, nor a colorware custom. They are custom housings ordered from out of the country. You may ask why people are not doing this much more? The answer is that the only pink parts currently made DO NOT FIT THE BEZEL nicely, and so everyone who tries to glue it together (Yes it must be carefully glued without any spills) fails miserably, leaving a terrible seam and glue all over the phone. I have come up with a way to get it glued together so that there is almost no edge. I even created a way to get a custom pink home button so it stands out in the front as well. This one is better than a colorware because it actually has the product information printed on the back, in addition to the colored button.
Now I'm sure you are probably thinking this guy is a scammer. Don't believe me? Go ahead and send me a message via ebay and ask if it is me. My ebay ID is Wek120 and my email is w_keeler@earthlink.net I only list them occasionally, but am working on increasing my output.
Check out my Auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=140302948057
Has a few good pictures on there.
If you are looking to buy one, and are not an ebay member, but HAVE A PAPAL ACCOUNT, I can sell one to you, but you must have a CONFIRMED shipping adress in order to be covered from scams. Any questions, let me know w_keeler@earthlink.net or send me a message through ebay : Wek120
Thanks!! Wes
Check it out, there's one up on ebay now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-iPhone-3G-AT-T-8GB-RARE-PINK-3G-IPHONE_W0QQitemZ140302948057QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCell_Phones?hash=item140302948057&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
Apple just needs to come out with this already, what do they have to lose? The colorware version looks decent, http://www.pinkiphone.me -- but damnit why can't Apple just throw some paint on their own products?