Mobile phones have come a long way. When mobile phone tech entered the market in the '80s, they were large, heavy and required special cases to carry them around. Now, powerful computers can fit in our back pockets.
There were plenty of phone styles throughout the years as designers experimented with the ever-changing technology. Some cell phones rocketed to worldwide prominence and popularity, while others flopped as design failures.
Here's a look at some of the most popular, quirkiest and technologically important mobile phones, from 1984's Motorola DynaTAC to 2007's iPhone.
By Anne Nickoloff, cleveland.com
(Photo by Eric Risberg/AP, Fabian Bimmer/AP, Joerg Sarbach/AP, Paul Sakuma/AP)
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Motorola DynaTAC
Release: 1984
When Martin Cooper invented the Motorola DynaTAC, it was groundbreaking. The phone was at the time convenient, weighing "only 30 ounces!" (To put that in perspective, most modern iPhones weigh between 4 and 7 ounces.)
(Photo by Eric Risberg, AP)
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Motorola MicroTAC 9800X
Release: April 1989
It was seriously high-tech when Motorola put out the MicroTAC 9800X, an early flip phone. The phone was "designed with you in mind," to make it more comfortable for phone conversations. The flip phone folded down from below the keypad.
(Photo by Mark Elias, AP)
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Nokia 1011
Release: November 1992
The Nokia 1011 was one of the first cell phone models to become a normal sight in the early '90s. The phone was able to send and receive SMS text messages and had an extendable antenna.
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IBM Simon
Release: August 1994
Was the IBM Simon the first smart phone? Some people would argue it was. It had a touch screen and access to email, built into its cell phone base.
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Motorola StarTAC
Release: January 1996
The StarTAC built off of the MicroTAC's innovation, improving the flip phone design to fold up from above the cell phone's keypad instead of below it. This design was used in many cell phones following the StarTAC.
(Photo by Fabian Bimmer, AP)
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Toshiba TCP-6000
Released: 1996
The Toshiba TCP-6000 had its antenna built into the cell phone, and was known for its long battery life.
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Nokia 8110
Release: September 1996
Nokia continued to release updated versions of its cell phones in the 90s, and reached another milestone with the curvy Nokia 8110. The phone's shape was known as a "banana phone." It was an iconic piece in the 1999 film "The Matrix."
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Nokia 9000 Communicator
Release: August 1996
The Nokia 9000 Communicator is understood to be one of the very first smart phones to hit the market. The phone's applications included faxes, a web browser, email and digital camera connection.
(Photo by Fabian Bimmer, AP)
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The Q Phone
Release: 1997
The Q phone, released by Qualcomm, was known for its smart phone capabilities and silent vibration call alert.
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BlackBerry 950
Release: 1998
The BlackBerry became a well-known device when it was released in 1998. The cell phone was released with a full QWERTY keyboard and could connect to email.
(Photo by Justin Sullivan, AP)
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Nokia 5110
Release: March 1998
Nokia made a move towards young adult phone buyers with the Nokia 5110. The phone had interchangeable face plates meant to personalize the phone, and it also introduced phone games like "Snake."
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Nokia 3210
Release: March 1999
The Nokia 3210 was popular and cheaply priced. It was also one of the first phones to make the antenna an internal feature.
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Nokia 8210
Release: 1999
The Nokia 8210 improved older Nokia models, even smaller and more lightweight than ever before. The phone also had an infrared port that allowed it to connect to printers, and to enable games like "Snake" in two-player mode.
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Nokia 7110
Release: October 1999
The Nokia 7110 arrived in 1999, and it was the first mobile phone to come with the Wireless Application Browser. This allowed Nokia 7110 owners to access news sites and check their emails on their devices.
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Ericsson R380
Release: 2000
Another groundbreaking advancement in cell phone technology came with the Ericsson R380. The phone was the first to be marketed as a smart phone, and it incorporated normal cell phone abilities with PDA uses. The phone had a black-and-white touch screen.
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Nokia 6250
Release: 2000
Nokia is known for creating nearly indestructible cell phones, and that reputation might be in part due to the Nokia 6250. The phone is known for being waterproof and shock absorbent.
(Photo by Christof Stache, AP)
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Samsung SPH-M100 Uproar
Release: 2001
The Samsung Uproar was the first mobile phone that had MP3 music included in the cell phone, making it one of the standout cell phones on the market in the early 2000s.
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Nokia 5510
Release: October 2001
The Nokia 5510 had an unconventional cell phone design with a full QWERTY keyboard and a small digital display. The phone focused on its digital musical capabilities—it could store audio files and tune in to FM radio. The phone was known for its tagline: "Looks weird. Sounds great."
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Ericsson T39
Release: 2001
The Ericsson T39 was one of the first phones with a built-in Bluetooth feature, allowing callers to connect to hands-free systems.
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Nokia 5210
Release: 2002
The Nokia 5210 featured an orange back light and was easily customizable with various colored shells. The Nokia 5210 was known for its insane durability; you can see the cell phone (sort of) survive flames in the video above.
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Danger Hiptop/Sidekick
Released: 2002
The Danger Hiptop was later rebranded as the T-Mobile Sidekick and was popular for texting and connecting to the internet, helping to normalize mobile Internet access. The Sidekick was also popular with the deaf and hard of hearing community because of its full QWERTY keyboard and ability to make unassisted TTY calls.
(Photo by Beth A. Keiser, AP)
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Ericsson T68
Release: 2001
One of the early full-color display screens appeared in the Ericsson T68. The cell phone's display showed 256 colors, and it appeared in 2002 James Bond film "Die Another Day."
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Siemens S45
Release: 2001
The S45 was Siemens' first GPRS mobile phone. The new data service was quick and enabled phone owners to send multimedia messages and instant messages.
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Nokia 3510
Release: 2002
The Nokia 3510 improved on data services with GPRS and updated Java programs. Users could download Java apps, ringtones and images. The updated Nokia ringtone used polyphony, giving it a more textured sound that was used on all subsequent Nokia phones.
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Nokia 6310i
Release: March 2002
The Nokia 6310i had great battery life and was simple to use, making it a favorite even after it was discontinued in 2005. It's even still used today.
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Nokia 7650
June 2002
Photo-taking capabilities arrived on Nokia phones with the Nokia 7650—it was the first Nokia phone with a built-in camera. The smart phone was also the first to run on the Symbian operating system and the first to use the S60 platform.
(Photo by Lehtikuva, Kimmo Mantyla, AP)
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Nokia 1100
Release: 2003
If you had a cell phone in the early 2000s, it might have been a Nokia 1100. The cell phone is the world's best-selling phone handset ever. The phone was not the most technologically advanced for its time, but it was mostly sold to developing countries and users who wanted a basic phone design.
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Nokia 6600
Release: June 2003
The Nokia 6600 was seriously high-tech when it was released in 2003, with a music player, video player, VGA camera and memory card storage. It became one of Nokia's best-selling products with 150 million phones sold.
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Nokia N-Gage
Release: October 2003
The Nokia N-Gage was a commercial failure. The N-Gage was meant to compete with gaming consoles like the Gameboy Advance, but the cell phone's buttons weren't well-made for phone games. When used as a cell phone, the N-Gage was called a "taco phone" because of its odd shape.
(Photo by Eckehard Schulz)
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PalmOne Treo 650
Release: November 2004
The Palm Treo 650 built off of the original 600 model, but had a few well-known bugs. The phone would reset itself at random and audio quality was low. Phone updates eventually helped solve these issues.
(Photo by Elise Amendola, AP)
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Nokia 7600
Release: 2003
The Nokia 7600 is one of the strangest-looking cell phones that came out in the early 2000s. Its teardrop shape was awkward to use unless using both hands, and it wasn't as technologically savvy as other products released at the time.
(Photo by Joerg Sarbach, AP)
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Motorola Razor V3
Release: 2004
If someone had a Razr phone, you knew they were cool. The phone, released in 2003, was fashionably sleek and became massively popular around the world. Several updates followed the original V3 version, but they all stuck to the same thin design.
(Photo by Ben Margot, AP)
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Sony Ericsson P910
Release: 2004
The P910 improved its texting function with multiple text methods available. This included the T9 text input with number keys, hand-writing recognition on the touch screen, a touch screen keyboard and a QWERTY keyboard.
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Nokia 7610
Release: 2004
The Nokia 7610 was all about fashion. The phone had a unique shape and striking colors, and featured a one-megapixel camera.
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Nokia 3220
Release: 2004
The Nokia 3220 was pretty funky for a cell phone. Edge lights would flash different colors and patterns for different ring tones, making the phone light up like a rave every time someone called.
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Nokia 6630
Release: June 2004
Video calling became possible with the Nokia 6630. The phone was Nokia's first 3G cell phone to enter the market. Later models of the phone featured a forward-facing or "selfie" camera.
(Photo by Ed Wray, AP)
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Nokia 7280
Release: 2004
The Nokia 7280 looks like a strange mobile phone by today's standards, but when it was released in 2004, it was very high-tech. Instead of a keypad, the phone had a navi-spinner and a slider end. When the phone was inactive, the screen faded to a mirror. The Nokia 7280 is featured in the music video for The puss*cat Dolls' "Beep."
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Nokia 6680
Release: February 2005
The selfie became a possibility on Nokia phones with the Nokia 6680—it was the first Nokia phone to include a front camera.
(Photo by Lionel Cironneau)
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HTC Universal
Release: 2005
The HTC Universal had a nifty screen swivel that allowed it to open up for a full QWERTY keyboard, or to flip shut as a touchscreen slate phone.
(Photo by Ted S. Warren, AP)
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Nokia N73
Release: April 2006
The Nokia N73 packed in tech to its features, but one of the phone's standout features was its 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera.
(Photo by Mark Lennihan, AP)
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Motorola Q
Release: May 2006
As a response to phones continuously getting smaller and thinner, the Motorola Q was created, at just 11.5 millimeters thick.
(Photo by Damian Dovargane, AP)
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HTC TyTN
Release: June 2006
The TyTN incorporated lots of emerging mobile phone technology, with WiFi connectivity, email, media player, instant messaging and a camera. It featured a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen front.
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Nokia N90
Release: April 2005
The Nokia N90 added lots of movement to its screen. With multiple moving components, the screen could swivel 270 degrees to operate like a camcorder, then return to its normal flip-phone design.
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Sony Ericsson P990
Release: August 2006
The P990 had better resolution on its touchscreen than earlier smartphones and also incorporated a full QWERTY keyboard. The phone could also connect to Wi-Fi.
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LG Chocolate
Release: August 2006
The sleek LG Chocolate phones were released all around the world, and included mp3 players, an internet browser and games.
(Photo by Gurinder Osan, AP)
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BlackBerry Pearl
Release: September 2006
One problem with early BlackBerry models was its open-face design. The BlackBerry Pearl improved the classic phone with a special flip design, to avoid "butt dials."
(Photo by Mark Lennihan, AP)
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Samsung BlackJack
Release: 2006
The BlackJack was released by Samsung, potentially to compete with BlackBerry phones. The brand was sued because of the name's similarity to "BlackBerry," and was released in Canada as "Jack" instead.
(Photo by Mark Lennihan, AP)
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iPhone
Release: June 2007
The first iPhone was released by Apple just over a decade ago in 2007, and it set off a chain of successful phones that are owned by millions of people around the world. The original iPhone was slower and had a smaller screen from modern models.
(Photo by Paul Sakuma, AP)
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Read more: Apple's 2018 iPhones
The iPhone itself has come a long way--here's a look at what the next iPhone might look like.
(Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast)
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Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
Introduction
I am an expert in mobile phone technology and its evolution over the years. My knowledge is backed by extensive research and a deep understanding of the historical and technological aspects of mobile phones. I can provide detailed insights into the development of mobile phone technology, including key milestones, popular models, and technological advancements.
Mobile Phone Evolution
The evolution of mobile phones has been remarkable, from the large and heavy devices of the '80s to the powerful computers that can now fit in our back pockets. Let's explore the significant concepts and key models that have shaped the mobile phone industry.
Motorola DynaTAC
The Motorola DynaTAC, released in 1984, was a groundbreaking invention by Martin Cooper. It was one of the first mobile phones and weighed "only 30 ounces," which was considered convenient at the time [[1]].
Nokia 1011
The Nokia 1011, released in November 1992, was one of the first cell phone models to become a normal sight in the early '90s. It was capable of sending and receiving SMS text messages and had an extendable antenna [[2]].
IBM Simon
The IBM Simon, released in August 1994, is considered by some as the first smartphone. It had a touch screen and access to email, built into its cell phone base [[3]].
Nokia 9000 Communicator
The Nokia 9000 Communicator, released in August 1996, is understood to be one of the very first smartphones to hit the market. It had applications including faxes, a web browser, email, and digital camera connection [[4]].
BlackBerry 950
The BlackBerry 950, released in 1998, became well-known for its full QWERTY keyboard and email connectivity [[5]].
Nokia 1100
The Nokia 1100, released in 2003, holds the title of the world's best-selling phone handset ever. It was not the most technologically advanced for its time, but it was mostly sold to developing countries and users who wanted a basic phone design [[6]].
iPhone
The first iPhone was released by Apple in June 2007, setting off a chain of successful phones that are owned by millions of people around the world. The original iPhone was slower and had a smaller screen compared to modern models [[7]].
This overview provides a glimpse into the evolution of mobile phones, from the early groundbreaking inventions to the modern smartphones that have become an integral part of our daily lives. If you have any specific questions about individual models or technological advancements, feel free to ask!