The transformation of the first mobile phones into smartphones is an evolution akin to the transformation of a monkey into a human.

According to Darwin, it took a monkey several million years to become a human. And, between you and me, not much has changed. Smartphones are another matter: the iPhone4S differs from its predecessors of ten years ago in the same way as a Nobel laureate in physics differs from a Neanderthal. Although many landmark smartphone models today seem prehistoric, they determined the appearance and capabilities of future generations.

The very first: Motorola DynaTAC

Today, Motorola's smartphone division is part of Google, and it may turn out that we will soon no longer see gadgets under the Motorola brand. But it was this company that gave the world cellular communications. On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper, head of Motorola's mobile communications division, called Joel Engel (head of research at AT&T Bell Labs) from the street in Manhattan. 10 years later, on March 6, 1983, Motorola finally began commercial exploitation of this technology: on that day, the first full-fledged cell phone, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, appeared on the market. It weighed about a kilogram, the memory was only enough for 30 phone numbers, and the battery died after about 50 minutes of conversation. But, despite the high price (about $4000), the model became very popular and gave birth to the cellular communications market.

First mobile: Nokia Cityman

The modern cellular communications market is simply impossible to imagine without Nokia. It was the Finns who released the first full-fledged mobile phone, Nokia Cityman, in 1987. It was similar in appearance to the Motorola DynaTAC, but weighed "only" 800g and had more memory. Using the Nokia Cityman, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev made the first mobile call to the USSR Ministry of Communications on April 9, 1987.

Apple Newton - PDA with handwriting recognition

In the same 1993, Apple launched the first PDA on the market, that is, the first communicator - a device with a large screen, a stylus, support for an organizer, mail, and most importantly - with handwriting recognition function. Unfortunately, the device, originally conceived as a revolution, as a reinvention of the computer, turned out to be too large in size and did not fit into a shirt or trouser pocket. This is partly why the revolution did not happen: many users simply could not see and appreciate its potential. But it was the Apple Newton that gave birth to a whole class of devices - communicators. By the way, today the difference between the terms “smartphone” and “communicator” has been reduced to nothing. Previously, a “smartphone” was primarily a phone that could do something other than calls, and a “communicator” was a mini-computer that could make calls. Even experts about five years ago began to get confused with the classification of this or that device. Today, all modern gadgets that have a touch screen, operating system, software and the ability to make calls are called smartphones.

iPhone ancestor: Simon Personal Communicator

In 1993, the first full-fledged communicator went on sale - a telephone combined with a computer. Simon Personal Communicator weighed 600 g and was an unprecedented symbiosis of a pager, an address book, a fax machine, a calculator, an e-mail client (!) and a cell phone itself, which was unprecedented by the standards of those years. At the same time, the device’s screen was touch-sensitive, which allowed the user to control part of the functionality by pressing their fingers directly on the display icons. iPhone and modern analogues work on the same principle.

QWERTY on smartphones: Nokia 9000

One blogger I know just last year exchanged his Nokia 9000 for a Nokia E7. The device, which was born in 1996, is the first case of successful use of a computer QWERTY keyboard in a mobile device. The device turned out to be chic - convenient, practical, versatile. For the first time, it was possible to comfortably conduct business correspondence on it away from the computer, edit office documents and access the Internet via the built-in browser. This model became the prototype of all modern business smartphones and inspired future creators of BlackBerry. Fun fact: the battery life of the device was 33 hours. That is, little has changed since 1996: “a little more than a day” is the normal operating time for a modern smartphone.

Not a phone, but an expensive accessory: Vertu Signature Boucheron Cobra

Vertu is the first company to realize that the phone is turning from a work tool into an attribute of style, confirmation of status, and a way of self-expression. The Vertu Signature Boucheron Cobra phone still remains the most expensive model in history - a total of 8 copies went on sale at a price of €217,000 each. Thanks in part to Vertu, today the price of a smartphone is determined not based on its cost, but on the basis of marketing research that answers the question “how much user X is willing to pay for device Y.” Today, it is not only Vertu that strives to produce so-called elite models. Phones from the Swiss watch company TAG Heuer or from the Canadian Mobiado, focused on unusual materials and design, have entered the market. Moreover, unlike Vertu, these luxury smartphones run on Android OS.

Motorola StarTAC - the first thin clamshell

At one time, the Motorola StarTAC was as popular as the iPhone is today: everyone dreamed of getting a thin and stylish “clamshell” with a retractable antenna. StarTAC turned the idea of what a phone should be like - against the backdrop of bulky and brick-built competitors, it looked like a work of art. After StarTAC, many manufacturing companies radically reconsidered their attitude to the design of devices and their ergonomics.

Indestructible: Siemens S10 Active

In 1998, Siemens released the first smartphone that could not be damaged by accidental dropping, splashing with water or falling asleep with dust. By modern standards, the protection of the device was absolutely ridiculous - in fact, its case only saved the filling from accidental splashes of water and falls on the floor. Today there are models on sale that can withstand a fall from a height of a 9-story building directly into water, for example, Nokia 6250 and Samsung B2100. But they owe their reliability to Siemens S10 Active.

Ericsson R520m — Bluetooth!

Bluetooth technology, with which all wireless headsets are connected to smartphones today, appeared on phones a little over 11 years ago. Bluetooth began to be implemented immediately and everywhere, but it is Ericsson that should be thanked for the first step.

Our life is a game: Nokia N-Gage

For a long time, phones and smartphones were viewed primarily as a business tool, used for business correspondence, internet browsing, meeting and contact management, document processing, etc. Nokia N-Gage was the first phone created for the needs of gamers. Competition with the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS game consoles did not work out, but the market received N-Gage with great enthusiasm, in fact, as a signal flare that launched an entire industry - the development of games for mobile platforms. Today it is a multi-billion dollar business, a prominent example of which is the game Angry Birds, installed on almost every smartphone on the planet.

Benefon Twin: two SIM cards

At the beginning of 2001, the first phone capable of working with two SIM cards appeared. By that time, cellular communications were already more or less accessible to the mass consumer, so many had one or two cell numbers and the appearance of the new product was received with a bang. One problem: Benefon Twin could not provide simultaneous work with two cards - the user had to select the active card and constantly switch between them. But, one way or another, Benefon Twin marked the beginning of a completely new class of devices - dual-SIM phones. Today this is a fairly popular niche, representatives of which are Samsung DUOS GT-S5222, Philips Xenium X622, LG P698 Dual Sim, etc.

iPhone 3G: changed everything forever

We can talk about iPhone for hours. This is a unique, never-before-seen example of how a competent marketing model can completely reshape the market in a matter of years. The first iPhone model went on sale in the summer of 2007 - a little more than 4 years ago. Today Apple ranks first in this market with a share of 23.5% (according to IDC). The iPhone forever changed the idea of what a smartphone should be: today, almost all models from Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony-Ericsson look like an iPhone, and the internal system of applications and content copies the approach of Apple iTunes and the Apple Apps Store.

The phones that changed everything