An auction for the self dubbed “Newton MessagePad 3000″ beta iPhone is nearly over, with a high bid of $2,295.

For all that you get a phone that doesn’t have a ringtone, can’t send text messages, has a plastic screen and is an unforgettable piece of Apple history… I hope whoever buys this really likes beta software.

Plus, Newton MessagePad 3000 is a much better name than iPhone. Maybe Steven Seagal will use this incarnation to save another runaway train or other fast moving vehicle in Under Siege 3.

Update: Steven Seagal’s Newton scene here.

With the Let’s Rock event now over, new iPods released, iTunes 8 and iPhone 2.1 on Friday, it seems a fitting time to compile a list of bugs that Apple needs to fix in the new release.  The iPhone is still the best mobile platform even with these, they’re not show stoppers, but they were incredibly annoying.  Oh yeah, Steve Jobs is still not dead.

The following happen while downloading/installing an app on the home screen:

1. If you try to go to settings, the device locks up till the install is done.
2. Text input lags.  Badly.
3. Updated apps reset their position on the home screen to the last page.

General bugs:

1. After updating to 2.0.0, the mail application quit working for no apparent reason.
2. Text messages will sometimes scroll to the top, with no place to type, and the keyboard will appear halfway up the screen then push up and off it.  Not sure why this happens.
3. Text from SMS app will get “stuck” even when the app is closed and appear ghosted over the background on the home screen.
4. When the phone is woken up and unlocked it will sometimes take up to 5 seconds to adjust the screen brightness.
5. Entering text in the SMS app will occasionally lag, with each letter popping up for about 1 second, regardless of how fast the text is actually entered.

Let’s hope that Apple found someone to fill their “security expert” position.

Edit: It appears someone found the iPod Touch 2.1 software here.