1983- The first ever handset came out 50 years ago today - the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, which weighed a whopping 1.75 lbs (784g). The behemoth - affectionately dubbed the ‘brick phone’ - required 10 hours to charge with a standard charger, and with that you could make a call of up to an hour.
1989- Flip phones- The Motorola MicroTAC 9800X is regarded as the first ever ‘flip phone’, as its mouthpiece folded over the keypad.
1992- Mass produced consumer phones- The world’s first GSM, or digital, phone was launched in 1991 by a British firm called Orbitel. The Nokia 1011 was the first mass-produced GSM phone. The Orbitel TPU 900 weighed more than 4lbs, and its sister model, the TPU 901, was the first phone to receive a text message in 1992.
1997- First colour dsiplay- The Siemens S10 was a mobile phone that was released in 1997 and was notable for being one of the first phones to feature a colour display.
Most phones before it had monochrome displays, but the S10 could display four colours; red, green, blue and white.That same year the mobile phone world finally did away with external aerials, with the release of the GlobalHandy, from German manufacturer Hagenuk.
1999- Phones access internet- The Nokia 7110 was the first mobile phone to come with a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) browser. It went on sale in October 1999.
2000 - Camera phones- The J-Phone J-SH04 from manufacturer Sharp is widely regarded as the first mobile camera phone. The device featured a 0.11 megapixel built-in camera and allowed users to email their pictures.
2003 - Access to 3G and front-facing camera- The first phone with a front-facing camera was released that year, the Sony Ericsson Z1010. 2003 was also the year that Canadian firm BlackBerry released its phone, the 6210, , that was able to utilise 3G to send emails.
2006- Touchscreens- In 2006, arguably the first capacitive touchscreen phone was released, the LG Prada, created in collaboration with the luxury Italian designer of the same name.
2007 - First iPhone- The first iPhone, Iphone 1/Iphone 2G, was introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in January 2007 at MacWorld San Francisco, with the slogan ‘Apple reinvents the phone’. Its iconic touchscreen and layout of apps forever changed the smartphone industry, and was named the Time Magazine Invention of the Year in 2007.
