Article Index (11)
- •What was the first cell phone?
- •The first text message sent:
- •The first cell phone with a touchscreen:
- •The first smartphone:
- •The first cell phone with a color screen—or almost:
- •The cell phone with a real color screen:
- •Nokia 5110: the first to feature colorful cases
- •Ericsson T36: the first cell phone with Bluetooth
- •What was the first cell phone with a camera?
- •iPhone: The Cell Phone That Revolutionized
- •Infographic: The Evolution of Cell Phones
The history of the cell phone began with the goal of bringing greater mobility and speed to communication. Many of the features we use today on our smartphones were developed years ago, even before the concept of smartphones emerged.
Cell phones were very simple, but every new feature introduced was innovative and indispensable. We’ll start with the first commercially available cell phone and move on to the phone that set the standard for what a modern smartphone should be—and which competitors still use as a benchmark today. Check out the infographic at the end of the article.
What was the first cell phone?
Invented by Martin Cooper, the model Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, nicknamed “tijolão” (big brick) because of its size, was the first cell phone approved for sale. It was unveiled on March 6, 1983, and about 2,000 units were sold.
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Its battery life was about 40 minutes of talk time, or 8 hours of standby time. It took 10 hours to charge. Its only features were making and receiving calls.
Check it out: What was the world's first cell phone, Brazil's first cell phone, and why is it called a “cell phone”?
The first text message sent:
The first text message via SMS was sent on December 3, 1992, and read “Merry Christmas.” The message was sent from a computer to a mobile phone Orbitel 901 by Vodafone.
It took a few years for text messages to really catch on with the public.
The first cell phone with a touchscreen:
O IBM Simon It was the first cell phone with a monochrome touchscreen, released on November 23, 1992. Despite this achievement, it wasn't as good as today's screens, but it was already a milestone in the field's development.
The first smartphone:
O Nokia 9000 Communicator It was the first smartphone ever released, first unveiled in 1996. It could access the internet via a browser, connect to a computer, and featured a calculator, calendar, notepad, and a QWERTY keyboard. This model was clearly aimed at the corporate sector.
It also had a total memory capacity of 8 MB. The processor was an Intel i386 running at 24 MHz, and the LCD screen had a resolution of 640×200 pixels and weighed 397 grams.
The first cell phone with a color screen—or almost:
O Siemens S10 It is considered the first cell phone with a color screen. Released in 1998, it represented a major innovation for its time. The device had only four colors: red, green, blue, and white, so it wasn't all that revolutionary.
The cell phone with a real color screen:
Two years after the Siemens S10, a cell phone with a true color screen was released: the Nokia 9210. Released in 2000, the cell phone featured a 640×200-pixel LCD screen and functions such as internet access, simple games, and viewing images.
Nokia 5110: the first to feature colorful cases
O Nokia 5110 It was one of the first flip phones developed for the mass consumer market. It is the first Nokia phone to come with interchangeable “cases,” aimed at the young adult market, allowing users to personalize their device. It is also one of the first to feature the game Snake.
Ericsson T36: the first cell phone with Bluetooth
O Ericsson T36 It pioneered Bluetooth technology for cell phones, enabling wireless connectivity between its cell phones and computers. In addition, it introduced voice recognition technology and Aircalendar, a feature that allowed users to receive real-time updates to their calendar or contact list.
What was the first cell phone with a camera?
The first commercially available cell phone with a camera was the J-SH04, from Sharp. It didn't hit stores until 2001, when it was marketed by J-Phone. A few years ago, some companies argued over who was the first to achieve this feat—Kyocera and Samsung, for example—but in this post, we'll give the credit to Sharp and its J-Phone.
iPhone: The Cell Phone That Revolutionized
On June 29, 2007, Steve Jobs forever changed what a cell phone would be by introducing the first iPhone 2G. It replaced the physical keyboard with a multi-touch screen. It eliminated the need for styluses and introduced the first feature-rich platform for cell phones, which was beginning to make computers unnecessary for everyday tasks. If you look at releases before and after the iPhone, even competitors’ designs began to look more similar—a trend that continues to this day.
Infographic: The Evolution of Cell Phones
