Print
Motorola designed its bag phone with a shoulder strap so that high power execs could chat while on the go, but because it was so heavy, most people who owned one usually left it in the car.
Image Credit: Motorola
The phone itself wasn't very heavy, and the bulk came from the transreceiver and battery, both of which were stored in the bag. The phone was surprisingly capable, and owners could expect up to two hours of talk time and 48 hours of standby time.
Invented: 1992
Picking up where the MicroTAC left off, Motorola's StarTAC took the flip phone concept to a new level. It was the first cell phone to sport a clamshell design, a concept that would remain popular for over two decades.
Image Credit: puremobile.ca
At the time of its release, the StarTAC was the smallest cell phone available, but it was still expensive, checking in at about $1,000. The StarTAC was able to receive SMS messages, and a later version would allow users to send texts as well. It had a vibrating ring, weighed 3.1 ounces, and used an optional lithium-ion battery.
Invented: 1996
Everybody's familiar with the BlackBerry, the creation of Canadian company Research in Motion (RIM), which successfully meshed PDA functionality with a cell phone in a single unit. And let's not forget the QWERTY keyboard, which has become a staple of BlackBerry devices.
Image Credit: Gizmodo
But what you might not know is that the BlackBerry started off as a glorified pager, not a smartphone. In 1998, RIM created a wireless handheld device called the RIM 850/950. The two-way pager included a thumb-keyboard and was capable of handling email, contacts, and calendaring.
A year later, the BlackBerry 5790 was born, kicking off the transition from a pager-like device to more of a PDA. Several models would follow, and the BlackBerry became so popular that it was dubbed the "CrackBerry." Now a dominant player in the smartphone market, RIM trails only Symbian in smartphone OS market share.
Invented: 1998
Surprisingly modern for its time, the Nokia 3210 was a smashing success, though not for any single reason. All tallied, Nokia sold about 160 million units of the 3210, earning it a spot on our list.
Image Credit: quangcaosanpham.com
The Nokia 3210 was one of the first cell phones to sport an internal antennae. It also included a backlit monochrome screne, 40 ringtones, predicative text (T9), picture text messaging, and even a bit of gaming capabilities. Three games came preinstalled, including Snake, Memory, and Rotation.
Another popular feature, the Nokia 3210 also supported user exchangeable front and back covers.
Invented: 1999
You probably never owned Sharp's J-SH04, and neither did anyone you know (it was only released in Japan). You've never even seen it, and we're willing to bet this is the first you've heard of this cell phone. So what the frack is it doing on our list?
Image Credit: Sharp
Well, the J-SH04 was the first mobile phone ever to include a built-in camera, a feature now commonplace on even the lowliest of cell phones. It included an atrocious 110,000 pixel CMOS image sensor for taking awful pictures that could be viewed on the device's 256-color STN display.
Cell phone camera quality has improved significantly in the past decade to the point of rivaling some standalone point-n-shoot digital cameras. And yet one of the most popular uses is still for snapping sultry shots of uncovered body parts and then regretting it later, isn't that right Greg Oden?
Invented: 2000
If you don't remember "Hiptop," maybe you'll recognize the name "Danger," which was associated with a massive data outage that affected about 800,000 smartphone users in 2009 (and is Austin Powers' middle name). Sidekick owners lost all kinds of personal data, including emails, contacts, photos, and more, all the result of a server failure. So how does Danger fit into all this?
Image Credit: Engadget
The data center that failed belonged to Microsoft, but had been purchased from Danger in 2008. As Microsoft explains it, "Sidekick runs on Danger's proprietary service that Microsoft inherited when it acqjuired Danger in 2008. The Danger service is built on a mix of Danger created tecnologies and third party technologies," which was Redmond's way of passing the buck.
The still popular Sidekick began life as the Danger Hiptop in 2002 before being rebranded under T-Mobile. A trademark characteristic of the Sidekick is its slide-out screen (which flipped up in earlier models) revealing a physical QWERTY keyboard underneath. As unlimited text messaging plans started to emerge, the Sidekick became extremely popular among teenagers and young adults.
Invented: 2002
Comments are closed on this article
loondawg
June 16, 2010 at 2:22pm
This was probably a lot of people's first phone. (Plus it's got life in that it's a fun project to hack an old one into a working phone)
gbucknell
April 30, 2010 at 8:59am
You forgot one of the most important phones in TV History. More important than Batman's, Get Smart's, Fred Flinstone's, and Mike Brady's phone was the phone use by Captain Kirk on Star Trek. That communicator directly predicted AND influenced the creation of the cell phone universe that we all now live in.
gooberp
April 07, 2010 at 2:56pm
You'd think that since 1948, AT&T's cell network would have been upgraded at least a little since the days of it's first radio car phone. Based on my experience, it's not any different.
Queenof1
March 28, 2010 at 7:44pm
this was a great article! Brought back memories of my Strawberry Shortcake intercom phones :)
The Relic
March 28, 2010 at 5:00pm
Heh, I remember we had one of the Model 500 rotary phones back when I was a kid (this was the 60s and 70s). I still have one here (though unused; my desk phone is a replica Nick and Nora Charles phone).
Bizarre
March 27, 2010 at 8:42pm
wow, some hatin' for the RAZR! In my opinion a black V3 is still one of the cooler phones out there, and if you don't count spart phones, among the coolest. It hasn't aged much, and is still one of the thinnest phones out there, probably because it was the first to reach the reasonable limit of thin-ness in a non-flexible mobile device.
Slugbait
March 27, 2010 at 3:40pm
Personally, I was looking forward to seeing what would be written about the Nokia 8110...
kevintanner800
March 26, 2010 at 12:44pm
Why is the Iphone in there twice? the Iphone was/is not game changing, the only thing it did is prove how many retards are alive in the world.
festiva_man
March 26, 2010 at 10:46am
Good article but the see transparent telephone was always my favorite. I loved seeing the inner workings of things like that.
jbelkin
March 26, 2010 at 9:48am
That ubiquitous infomercial started people realizing that a phone did not need to be square or rectangularly shaped AND that a phone could be cheap - so cheap it's a free giveaway ...
Did the 1990's Nokia you showed had the changing faceplate?, I think that was a game changer also ... the Nokia candybar phone?
tri8gman
March 26, 2010 at 9:12am
I don't really see Apple slogans and "power user" being appropriate in the same paragraph.
Apple doesn't market to Power Users. :P
ushim6
March 26, 2010 at 7:49am
It's perfect for me. I'm in a family plan, still have 1.5 years of contract left, so I just bought the danged thing. No need for a data plan since I'm on campus all the time, blanketed in wifi, and AT&T can't make me since it's unsubsidised.
I may get data sometime in the future, but honestly it's only on the road I miss the data connection, but I always do have SMS to make me feel more connected.
JoetheMobster
March 26, 2010 at 7:42am
creepy, when I was a child the family phone was just like that Western 500 rotary phone...and my mother had it on a doiley that looked exactly like the one in the photo!
SpazzAttack
March 26, 2010 at 4:10am
Still using my Motorola V3M. I very rarely text, so I don't need a full keyboard. Mine has the extended battery, so I don't need to charge it often. And it still makes phone calls, too!!!
Pball1224
March 25, 2010 at 11:33pm
First Car phone at $15, a bargain by today's standards? Uh, did inflation cross your mind? $15
in 1948 is equivalant to $135 today. I don't call that a bargain.Oh, and the Western Electric 1500 (touchtone) is nearly IDENTICAL to the phone on my desk at work, except mine is black, and includes a volume knob on the handset. The whole office of ~2800 employees uses them. I can hear the gasp as this is read. But it does exactly what I need it to do... make phone calls.
davisman123
March 25, 2010 at 11:17pm
I was surprised that the NGAGE wasn't on this list. While it wasn't the greatest phone or game system, it was way ahead of its time in terms of combining both worlds. It deserves a place on this list.
deadsolid
March 25, 2010 at 10:17pm
Where is the fucking Banana phone???
Why are there two iPhones on the list? Apple didn't do shit with the 3Gs.
Danthrax66
March 25, 2010 at 9:14pm
the iphone is a useless piece of crap just like all apple products.
greencpu
March 25, 2010 at 6:36pm
no football phone?!?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWtx9JwNzmY
FOR SHAME
excelguru
March 25, 2010 at 8:02pm
Damn, you beat me to it on the football phone.
And what about E.T.'s wind-powered, saw-blade phone with the umbrella antenna? I mean, that damned thing could reach OUTER SPACE, for crying out loud! How cool was THAT!?
Paul_Lilly
March 25, 2010 at 8:47pm
Damn, can't believe I overlooked E.T.'s homebrewed phone. Very nice suggestion.
-Paul Lilly
