The first ever smartphone — a $900 clunky IBM Simon mobile phone —turned 20 on Saturday.
The
phone with a battery life of one hour was developed by IBM and the
American cellular company BelSelf and went on sale in 1994.
At
around 23 cm long and weighing half a kg, it was about half the size of
a house brick. “It was called Simon because it was simple and could do
almost anything you wanted,” the Irish Times reported.
With
its green LCD screen, Simon had touch screen technology. Its software
allowed users to write notes, draw, update their calendar and contacts
and send and receive faxes, as well as allowing calls.
“It
has all the components of a smartphone, including a slot in the bottom
to insert different applications such as mapping ones, spreadsheets and
games. So it was really a forerunner to the iPhone,” Charlotte Connelly
from the London’s Science Museum was quoted as saying. Around 50,000
handsets were sold.
In October, the relic phone will
go on display as part of a permanent exhibition on the history of
communication and information technology at London’s Science Museum.
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