1. The first mass-produced mobile phone
Nokia 1011
The first mass-produced phone was the Nokia 1011, which was launched in 1992. It features a monochrome LCD screen with enough memory for 99 contacts, including names and phone numbers. It is a "brick" form that weighs 1 pound and is 7.5 inches long, 2.3 inches wide, and 7.7 inches deep. It uses a nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery that provides 90 minutes of talk time or 12 hours of standby time.
This is Nokia's first phone to use the new GSM digital cellular frequency (European standard), so it can be used across the continent. In 1994, it was replaced by the Nokia 2110.
2. The first smartphone
IBM SPC
The term "smartphone" was not coined until 1995, but due to its functionality, it was retroactively applied to the IBM Simon Personal Communicator. The phone was first introduced in 1994 and was capable of sending and receiving emails, faxes, and paging. It also comes with a calendar, address book, calculator, world clock, electronic notepad, and appointment scheduler, and comes with a monochrome touchscreen with a stylus. It is now regarded as the world's first smartphone.
Between 1994 and 1995, it sold 50,000 units in the United States and was the first PDA capable of making phone calls. The price of the two-year contract is $900, which equates to around $1,755 today. The IBM Simon's battery only lasted an hour and was eventually phased out with the addition of ultra-thin flip phones that dominated the market in the 90s of the 20th century.
3. The first flip phone
Motorola StarTAC
While the Motorola MicroTAC used a flip-up microphone, the first true flip-top phone was its successor, the Motorola StarTAC, which was launched in 1996. It was the smallest and lightest phone of its time, weighing just 3.9 ounces and measuring 3.8 inches in length. Its size is so appealing that a pull-out cardboard copy of the phone has been included in magazine advertisements to show how slim and stylish the phone is. It was originally priced at $1,000, which would be about $1,842 at today's prices.
Earlier versions can receive text messages, but later versions can only send text messages. It is also the first phone to have a vibrate option instead of a ringtone. A standard NiMH battery provides 75 hours of standby time and 230 minutes of talk time. There's also the option to swap out the battery for a higher-capacity lithium-ion battery, which isn't yet standard for phones.
The Motorola StarTAC is very popular, with around 60 million units sold worldwide. It was eventually replaced by the iconic Motorola RAZR in 2003.
4. The first mobile phone without an external antenna
Launched in 1997, the Hagenuk GlobalHandy was the first mobile phone without an external antenna. It has an ergonomic design that fits comfortably in your ears and fits comfortably in your hand. It weighs 4.7 ounces and comes with a built-in user guide that helps people explore all of its features without the need for a separate manual.
At the time, the safety of mobile phones was a concern, but the Hagenuk GlobalHandy had one of the lowest emission levels of any mobile phone available. However, one disadvantage of this model is that there are only numbers on the keyboard, and no letters – which means that texting requires a complex menu system.
5. The first color screen mobile phone
Siemens S10
Launched in 1998, the Siemens S10 was the first mobile phone to feature a color screen. The 97 x 54 pixel screen consists of four colors: red, green, and blue, with a white background. While the color screen is a huge marketing attraction for Siemens, in reality, it can be difficult to read from certain angles and in too bright light. The screen can only display text, only a few symbols – quite different from the complex graphics that our smartphone screens support today.
The phone weighs 6.5 ounces and measures 5.79 inches long. It does offer extra features for a color screen, including a memo feature that records a 20-second voice, two phone books, and call screening. Sales of the S10 have been disappointing, with consumers preferring to use the lighter and more powerful competitors on the market.
6. The first mobile phone with a camera
Kyocera VP210
The world's first camera phone was the Kyocera VP-210, which was launched in Japan in 1999. It comes with a 0.11 megapixel front-facing camera that can only store 20 images. It can send two photos per second through Japan's telephone network, and it is also widely used as a video phone for video calls. It weighs about 5.5 ounces and retails for about $325, which is about $552 in today's currency.
Other less popular camera phones appeared before Sanyo launched the Sanyo SCP-5300, which Time magazine called one of the most influential products of 2002. It has a 0.3 megapixel camera for $400, which is the first time that a phone camera has really gone mainstream. It has a dual-color display, camera flash, self-timer, and digital zoom. It weighs 4.1 ounces, measures 3.7 inches long, and has a clamshell design. In addition to having one of the first functional cameras on a phone, it includes many other useful features, and the battery life provides 2.7 hours of talk time and 250 hours of standby time.
7. The first iPhone
iPhone 1
Apple's first iPhone was launched in 2007. Known as the iPhone 2G or the original iPhone, the 4GB model costs $499 and the 8GB model costs $599, both with two-year contracts. It weighs 4.8 ounces, measures 4.5 inches, and comes with a 3.5-inch touchscreen and a 2-megapixel camera. The first-generation iPhone offers 8 hours of talk time and 250 hours of standby time.
The iPhone is a game-changer for smartphones and is more appealing to the average consumer than the business-focused BlackBerry. It sold 6.1 million units before it was discontinued in 2008 and was a pioneer in accessible, efficient, and functional smartphones that raised the bar for the industry as a whole.
8. The first Android
HTC Dream
The first Android phone was the HTC Dream, also known as the T-Mobile G1, which was launched in 2008. It weighs 5.5 ounces, measures 4.63 inches long, and comes with a 3.2-inch touchscreen. It comes with a slide-out display, a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3-megapixel camera, and a battery that delivers 6 hours of talk time and 406 hours of standby time.
While the phone has been praised for its powerful hardware, it can't match the sleek design of contemporary iPhone or BlackBerry models. The Android operating system has also been criticized for its lack of features compared to other platforms. Even so, it sold 1 million units in its first year and was discontinued in 2010.