Thinkerr's Fun Blog

Cell phones are now part of our everyday lives. From Motorola DynaTAC, that power symbol that Michael Douglas wielded so forcefully in the movie “Wall Street”, to the iPhone 3G, which can take a picture, play a video, or run one of the thousands applications available from the Apple Store, cell phones have evolved immensely both in design and function since 1983. There have been thousands of cell phone models hitting the market between 1983 and 2006. It’s impossible to list all of them. We’ve picked the most representative cell phones that were once popular to take you through the history of this communication device. For reviews on current cell phone models, click here.

If you believe other cell phones are more memorable, please post your favorites in the comments section.

1. Martin Cooper and the First Cell Phone. You might not recognize Martin Cooper’s name but you’ve probably seen his picture because he was photographed excessively when he made the first call on the world’s first cell phone back in 1973. The phone call was placed to a rival working at Bell who was also attempting to make a mobile phone. It happened on the streets of New York City and people were apparently struck dumb by the site. It’s funny to think about today since you’d be hard pressed to find someone walking New York City’s streets today without a cell phone in their hand or pocket. This phone may be clunky and impossible to use today but it’s the one that set the stage for all that came after it.

2. Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. This was the first handheld cell phone made available to the market in the United States. From the time that Cooper made that first phone until the time that this one finally made its way to the shelves, a number of prototypes were created. The FCC approved this phone for use in 1983 and it went down in history as the first real mobile phone for the average user. Of course, the average person couldn’t afford the hefty price of almost $4000back then, so it was really only for a limited group of people. Sales of the phone were also limited by the fact that the battery would only last one hour and would then need to charge for ten hours before it could be used again.

3. The Block Cell Phone. The first cell phone that most of us remember is the one that’s now called “the block” or “the brick”. The name comes from the fact that it was about the shape and size of a traditional brick. It wasn’t quite as heavy as a brick, of course, although it might feel like it today to those of us that are used to using the thinnest and lightest cell phones available on the market. These were the phones that were available to people in the 1980’s, the phones that were based on the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X design. They came with huge battery charging stands that were significantly larger than mobile phones themselves are today.

4. Motorola MicroTAC -1989. This cell phone was first made in the late 1980’s and it was introduced as an innovative new design that included a flip-open mouthpiece. Believe it or not, this cell phone was the smallest and lightest mobile phone available at the time. That was the first cell phone offered to make people really interested in getting it. However, the prohibitive $3000 price tag caused sales to be low. Nevertheless, this particular cell phone remains important to the history of mobile phone development.

5. Nokia 1010 cell phone – 1992. The Nokia 1011 cell phone was the first mass-produced GSM phone. The cell phone’s model refers to its launch date, November 10, 1992. The black handset measured 195 x 60 x 45mm and featured a monochrome display and an extendable antenna. The memory could hold 99 phone numbers. It did not yet employ Nokia’s characteristic ringtone that was only introduced in 1994. The phone operated in the 900 MHz band. The Nokia 1011 continued production until 1994, when it introduced the Nokia 2100 model as successor.

6. IBM Simon Personal Communicator, 1993. This cell phone was the first attempt to market a commercially viable smartphone and was a joint venture between IBM and BellSouth. Simon was first shown as a product concept in 1992 at COMDEX, the communications industry trade show held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Launched in 1993, it combined the features of a mobile phone, a pager, a PDA, and a fax machine. After some delays it was sold by BellSouth in 1994 in 190 U.S. cities in 15 states and was originally priced at $899. Besides a cell phone, the major applications were a calendar, address book, world clock, calculator, note pad, e-mail, and games. It had no physical buttons to dial with. Instead customers used a touch-screen to select phone numbers with a finger or create facsimiles and memos with an optional stylus. Text was entered with either a unique on-screen “predictive” keyboard or QWERTY keyboard.

7. Motorola StarTAC, 1996. This cell phone was a clamshell mobile phone manufactured by Motorola. It was released on January 3, 1996 and is noted for being the first clamshell mobile phone. The StarTAC is the successor of the MicroTAC, a semi-clamshell design that had been launched in 1989. Whereas the MicroTAC’s shell folded down from below the keypad, the StarTAC folded up from above the LED / LCD display screen. In 2005, PC World put StarTAC at No.6 in The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years.

8. Nokia 9110i Communicator, 1999. This model of mobile cell phone is compatible with European providers only. It operates on the frequencies of GSM 900. The Nokia 9110i Communicator is capable of surfing the Internet with the built in browser of the phone. Unfortunately, there is no MMS capability. On top of sending messages, the Nokia 9110i Communicator is equipped with intelligent t9 typing, which allows you to easily type text messages without pressing each key up to 4 times for the correct letter. The Nokia 9110i Communicator comes fully equipped with a WAP browser, and additionally an HTML browser for normal web page surfing.. including support for java.

9. Nokia 5210 cell phone, 1999. This mobile phone features rubber Xpress-On shells, WAP over CSD and a built in thermometer. The thermometer is actually the internal temperature of the phone’s battery, this feature is also present on other phones that have “net monitor” enabled. The 5210 is nicknamed “The Builder’s Phone” or “The Diver” because of its rubber splash/impact proof casing. Like most of Nokia’s mobile phones you can change the casings easily from the original colors: blue or orange mixed with silver and black. The screens LED color is orange. The firmware contains a bug with the Arabic language text (when you try to type a SMS message) the space between words in Arabic became a small rectangle instead of a space. The cell phone has a built in infra red interface which allows it to talk to a PC equipped with an infra red USB device. Nokia supply free software to allow the phone book to be edited and text messages to be typed, sent and read from the PC, a lot easier than using the phone key pad.

10. Sony Ericsson T68i Cell phone, 2001. Launched in time for the 2001 Christmas season, the candy bar-style Ericsson T68m was the first mobile phone made by Ericsson to have a color screen, a passive LCD-STN with a resolution of 101×80 and 256 colors. Despite its diminute size, it was one of the most feature-rich mobile phones at the time, with Bluetooth, IrDA port, GPRS 3+1, tri-band compatibility, SMS with T9 , EMS, WAP, and customizable monophonic ring tones. In 2002, after a slight cosmetic redesign and a software upgrade, the T68m was re-released as the Sony Ericsson T68i, as by then Ericsson had joined forces with Sony Corporation to produce mobile phones as Sony Ericsson. The upgrade, also available to owners of the T68, provided a built-in e-mail client, and, for the first time ever, two-way MMS. The T68i is known for being a highly effective example of stealth marketing. Before being released Sony Ericsson paid actors to pretend to be tourists and asked people to take pictures of them with the T68i.

11. Nokia 7650, 2002. This mobile phone is a smartphone belonging to the fashion and experimental series. The phone was released on the second quarter of 2002 for around $800. It was notable for a number of firsts: first Nokia smartphone with the Symbian OS; first Series 60 platform device; first Nokia with built-in camera. The handset’s release was promoted in conjunction with the film Minority Report.

12. Nokia 1100 cell phone, 2003. This mobile phone is a durable yet simple GSM mobile. It targeted developing countries and users who do not require advanced features beyond making calls and text message. The 1100 cell phone was one of the most popular cell phones in the world for a few years, with over 200 million units been sold. It was also the best selling consumer electronics device in the world, beating Sony’s Playstation 2, Apple’s iPod and Motorola’s RAZR. In early 2009, it has been in the news that due to a firmware flaw,  a batch of phones produced in a plant in Bochum, Germany can be programmed to receive messages directed to a different phone number. This flaw was brought to authorities’ attention after some phones were sold for over $32,000.

13. PalmOne Treo 600, 2003. This mobile phone was one of the “it” gadgets from 2003-2004 until BlackBerries overtook them in popularity. Three or four days between charges and a successful merger of phone, PDA, and camera made this cell phone the business tool of choice.

14. BlackBerry 7210 Wireless Handheld, 2003. This mobile device was BlackBerry’s first color screen. The device includes phone, email, SMS, browser and organizer applications in a single wireless device. It features a Java development platform and a high-resolution display supporting over 65,000 colors. The drawbacks of this mobile device include Lacks speakerphone and memory-expansion slot.

15. Motorola Razr V3, 2004. This is one of the most popular mobile phone in history. When this was introduced it set the standard for sleek design in the industry. The good: The Motorola Razr V3 has a striking design and comes with a worthy list of features including Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and world phone support. The bad: Unfortunately, the Motorola Razr V3 supports only video playback, the controls take acclimation, and the call volume is a bit low. The bottom line: The original thin phone, the Motorola Razr V3 has a sexy design and useful features, but its performance isn’t always up to par. Specifications: Carrier: Cingular Wireless ;Talk time: Up to 430 min.

16. Sony Ericsson P910i, 2004. This mobile phone once was the top of the line phone from Sony Ericsson, but it’s not available from any carriers in the US. There was an unlocked model that worked without problems after putting in a other USA carrier’s SIM card. The P910i is a phone for business users not concerned with price, remember this as you read the review. Read on for the full piece, including a short video review that highlights some of the P910i’s major features.

17. Nokia 6680, 2005. This cell phone was one of the first 3G phones. Nokia 6680 was also considered to be high end at the time of its release. The 6680 is armed with dual cameras: a 1.3 megapixel camera on the back, and a VGA camera up front. It is a Dual Mode phone, featuring UMTS and tri-band GSM operation . The 6680 is capable of switching automatically between bands and modes. Unlike the pear-shaped 6630, the 6680 takes on a more traditional candy bar form, making it look more professional. Although some might think of it as boring and unfashionable, I think the shape is just great, with a slightly curved back, which makes it really comfortable to hold in your hand.

18. Nokia N73, 2005. Millions of this immensely popular smartphone model has sold worldwide. Nokia N73 is still in wide use as of 2009. Being the best equipped handset ever Nokia N73 has managed to overrun the king of all mobiles – the slider Nokia N80. It features Symbian OS, 3 megapixels backed up by the label of Carl Zeiss, USB Mass Storage, and works with office documents. Nokia N73 has a brilliant phonebook and a good time organizer as well as an exceptional Internet browser. The interest in this new Nokia phone is overwhelming worldwide.

19. LG Chocolate KG800, 2006. This is one of the first well-designed phones made for mass market use. It’s certainly a case of style over substance with the LG Chocolate phone, although there are some average mid-range features onboard. Multimedia highlights are a 1.3-megapixel camera, video recorder, MP3 player and a reasonably bright 2-inch 256K-color TFT display. MP3 files can be set as ring tones and LG pre-installs a range of polyphonic tones. Travelers will benefit from the Chocolates tri-bad connectivity, but real globetrotters will benefit more from the Motorola RAZR V3i’s quad-band. The KG800 is limited by its 128MB of internal memory, with no expansion slot for external memory cards. Still, with Bluetooth onboard and LG bundling a USB cable in the box, it’s easy to download your photos and video clips before running out of memory.