Throughout the past 30 years or so, cell phones have dramatically evolved. Many early cell phones were considered “car phones” since they were too large to carry around in a pocket or purse. It was back in 1983 when the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x first made its appearance on the market, becoming the first true cell phone, as it was small enough to carry. Fast forward to modern times, and we have quick-thinking mobile phones loaded with apps and features that can eliminate the use of a computer, and innovation is showing no signs of slowing down. To appreciate how much technology has grown, let’s take a look back at the trends of the mobile era.
Motorola DynaTAC 8000x (1983)
Here we have the first handheld cell phone that went on sale more than 30 years ago for $4,000. It measured 13 x 1.75 x 3.5 inches and weighed 28 ounces. It was so large and heavy that its creators nicknamed it “The Brick.”
Motorola MicroTAC 9800x (1989)
The MicroTAC was designed to fit into a shirt pocket. These rare phones featured a black plastic housing and a red 8-character dot-matrix LED display, which was able to show more information than the display of its predecessor, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x.
Nokia 101 (1992)
The Nokia 101 was designed to put the mouth and earpieces at a comfortable distance. This design later inspired the look of the famous Matrix phone, the Nokia 8110. The Nokia 101 also had a large screen, a feature Nokia built upon in the ‘90s as mobiles increased in their sophistication with more information to display.
MessagePad (1993)
The MessagePad is the first series of personal digital assistant devices developed by Apple Computer for the Newton Platform in 1993. They were based on the ARM 610 RISC processor, featured handwriting recognition software, and were developed and marketed by Apple. The devices ran the Newton OS.
Nokia 1610 (1996)
This phone had a monochromatic display which could show two rows of text at a time. It used an external rigid antenna, but had a groove on the inside of the battery to accommodate a pull-out type antenna. The 1610 used a credit card sized SIM-card, and was powered by a NiMH-type battery with a capacity of 600 mAh.
Nokia 8210 (1999)
At the time of its release, the Nokia 8210 was the smallest, lightest Nokia mobile phone on the market. Its selling point was based on its design and customization, which included removable Xpress-on covers.
Ericsson T68 (2001)
This candy-bar sized phone was the first Ericcson mobile phone to have a color screen, which was a passive LCD-STN with a resolution of 101 x 80 and 256 colors.
BlackBerry Quark 6210 (2003)
RIM introduced the first BlackBerry, the Quark 6210 in 2003. It was the first of its kind to offer integrated voice calling.
Razr V3 (2004)
With its striking appearance and thin profile, the Razr V3 was initially marketed as an exclusive fashion phone,but within a year, its price was lowered and it was wildly successful, selling over 50 million units by July 2006.
BlackBerry Pearl (2006)
Developed by RIM, the BlackBerry Pearl was the first BlackBerry device with a camera and media player.
Apple iPhone (2007)
This classic is the first generation of iPhone and was introduced in the United States on June 29, 2007. It featured quad-band GSM cellular connectivity with GPRS and EDGE support for data transfer.
Apple iPhone 3G (2008)
As the second generation of iPhone, the Apple iPhone 3G smartphone was designed and marketed by Apple in 2008. Internally similar to its predecessor, it included several new hardware features, such as GPS, 3G data and tri-band UMTS/HSDPA.
Motorola Droid (2009)
The Motorola Droid came with a sharp display and the benefits of Android 2.0, including a faster Web browser, the Google Maps Navigation app, and better messaging and contact management.
Samsung Galaxy S (2010)
The Samsung Galaxy S is a touchscreen-enabled Android smartphone that was designed, developed, and marketed by Samsung in 2010. It’s the first device of the third Android smartphone series produced by Samsung.
HTC Evo (2011)
The HTC Evo was a topnotch smart phone in 2011. It possessed a large 4.3-inch screen, a 32 Gbyte MicroSD card slot, dual cameras, and fast Internet speed. It also had a mobile hotspot for up to eight Wi-Fi devices.
Apple iPhone 5 (2012)
Apple introduced the beloved iPhone 5 in 2012, sending Apple aficionados in a craze. 5,000,000 units were sold in the first weekend it was available. It includes a 4-inch retina display, 4G LTE high-speed data, and a faster A6 processor.
Samsung Galaxy S4 (2013)
The Samsung Galaxy S4 has Android 4.2.2, a fantastic camera, a powerful quad-core processor, and it could work as a TV/DVR remote.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (2014)
With its 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 boasts a tremendous viewing experience optimized for web-browsing and e-reading.
After so much mobile phone evolution, and so quickly too, we’re left waiting to see what kind of phones 2015 will be tempting us with.
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