By Richard Morais, STAR Writer
FALMOUTH, Trelawny

Computer whiz Andrew Melbourne proprietor of Computers and High-Tech Gadgets at 11 George's Street, Falmouth is claiming to be the first person to programme the Apple iPhone to work on one of the local mobile platform.

Melbourne demonstrated to THE STAR the use of the phone in sending and receiving calls and email. He was even able to create an email bypassing all the major network providers.

Melbourne said it took him two sleepless nights to programme the phone which was completed around 3 o'clock the morning of the latter. He said that it was not about putting on a software or unlocking the phone, it was full programming including the dismantling and reassembling of sections of the phone as part of the programming process. He said his initial interest in the phone started from an Internet blog but he had to write a programme himself.

Melbourne admitted that he was not moved by the international hype the phone was getting, but now that he is able to use all its facilities it is probably the best phone of its kind on the market.

Already two more of these phones have come in for programming and it is believed that there may be some phone languishing in a cupboard or on a dresser because they were not able to work on any of the Jamaican mobile platforms. The thinking is that few persons have either bought them or received them as a gift and had taken them into Jamaica with the hope that by just putting in a SIM card or unlocking would have them working, but this was not so.

At under US$600($41,700) in America with an additional Jamaican $20,000 as dealers' mark-up, the iPhone would cost the Jamaican consumer about $60,000. It will not be a popular product for now, but to those who may need to invest in this as a business tool as well as the glamour of having the best phone on the market, using the popularity of the Razr as a benchmark, there may very well be a few out there.