Forget the Gold iPhone &#8212; Check Out This Red One

Amid the hubbub surrounding the rumored gold iPhone 5S, Mashable spied a slick red iPhone — fittingly on the red carpet at MTV's Video Music Awards.

Singer Austin Mahone, winner of the VMAs' Artist to Watch, flashed the custom-made iPhone when asked what gadgets and apps he uses (he likes the CNN news app).

The sighting raises the question: What color iPhone would you choose if you could pick one beyond the traditional black or white versions?

The iPhone with a gold-colored body is rumored to be revealed in September.

If you live by the phrase "It's what's on the inside that counts," then stroll down memory lane by flipping through the gallery, below, which details the history of the iOS platform.

iPhone OS

When Apple announced the iPhone in 2007, touchscreen operating systems for consumer phones were far from standard.

Apple described the interface as "entirely new," with "pioneering new software." In the offical press release, Steve Jobs was quoted as stating, "We are all born with the ultimate pointing device -- our fingers -- and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse."

The first-gen OS, called "iPhone OS," offered Google Maps, iTunes with CoverFlow, a Safari browser and "widgets," such as Weather, Stocks, Mail, Calendar, Camera and Photos, Clock, Notes and Calculator.

The beauty of the fairly basic OS was its icon-based interface, a good-looking and very simple system that consumers fell in love with right from the start. They enjoyed the ability to "control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers."

Image courtesy of Apple
iPhone OS 2.0

In July 2008, consumers got to experience iPhone 2.0, five months after Apple made the important decision to release an SDK to developers, allowing third parties to create apps for the platform.

Released as the iPhone 3G became available, the 2.0 software introduced the "App Store" to both first- and second-gen iPhone owners.

"We're excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community with potentially thousands of native applications for iPhone and iPod touch," Steve Jobs said in a press release.

In January 2013 Apple announced the developer community had created over 775,000 apps, which had been downloaded over 40 billion times, suggesting that back in 2008 the Cupertino company didn't yet realize its potential.

The speedier, multi-tasking 2.0 also brought support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for push email, contacts and calander syncing, real-time GPS, email improvements, contacts search and a new scientific calculator.

Image courtesy of Apple
iPhone OS 3.0

For the 3.0 update for the iOS platform, Apple focussed on under-the-hood improvements.

3.0 (available to older handsets, too) featured the much-requested copy, cut and paste capabilities, MMS messaging, a landscape keyboard, improved "Spotlight" search, video recording, a compass, voice recording and basic voice control capabilities.

In April 2010, Apple released 3.2 as the iPad hit stores.

Image courtesy of Apple
iOS 4

Previewed in April 2010, "iOS 4" got a beta release to developers the same month, but wasn't available to consumers until that summer.

A significant milestone in the iOS platform's history, 4.0 introduced FaceTime video calling, spell check, multitasking for third party apps, Folders to organize apps, the iAd mobile advertising platform and the debut of iBooks.

"iPhone OS 4 is the fourth major release of the world's most advanced mobile operating system," said Steve Jobs in an Apple press release. "We're delivering over 100 new features, including multitasking, folders, a unified inbox, deeper Enterprise support and an iPhone version of our iBooks reader and online iBookstore."

4.2 was released in November 2010, bringing the iPad up to date with 4.0's improvements. This update also introduced AirPlay and AirPrint. 4.3 came along in March 2011, with fixes, improvements and the "Personal Hotspot" feature for sharing an iPhone's mobile data connection over Wi-Fi.

Image courtesy of Apple
iOS 5

iOS 5 was all about the "post PC revolution," according to Steve Jobs. The "PC Free" iOS 5 offered users the ability to activate and set up their iOS devices with no computer, while "over the air" software refreshes changed the way both new and existing iOS users got updates.

Also added to the PC Free boast was iCloud, which wirelessly updated mail, contacts, calendars, photos, apps, books, music and more, across all devices.

The most headline-grabbing new feature in iOS 5 had to be Siri. At the time of release, Apple called Siri "an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking."

Elsewhere, iOS 5 boasted over 200 new features -- Notification Center, iMessage and Newsstand, for example -- while built-in Twitter integration and major improvements to photo editing proved popular with consumers.

Image courtesy of Apple
iOS 6

In September 2012, Apple gave iOS device owners another 200 new features with the release of 6.0.

The most talked about new addition was the all-new Maps app, which ditched Google's offering in favor of Apple-designed cartography. However, in many instances, the app was not an improvement.

iOS 6 also delivered much deeper Facebook integration, Passbook, new Siri functionality and LTE support.

Image courtesy of Apple
iOS 7

Introduced June 10, 2013, iOS 7 is the "biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone," according to CEO Tim Cook.

Perhaps most striking is iOS 7's radically new design. Apple's native apps received a fresh look, as the company moved away from arguably outdated skeuomorphism. Apple also embraced translucency across its new interface.

Also new is Control Center, a panel of important settings (like Wi-Fi, music and flashlight) that can be swiped in from any app.

With iOS 7, Apple improved multitasking by introducing a more intuitive app experience. The OS will recognize more commonly used apps for improved background processing. Furthermore, iOS will automatically update apps you've purchased, versus the manual downloading of previous systems.

iOS 7 also ports OS X's AirDrop product to mobile, allowing users to share peer-to-peer media with ease.

Image courtesy of Apple