A brief history of the emergence of touch screens (6 photos)

Convenient mobile gadgets with touch technologies have quickly gained popularity in the modern world. Looking at the variety of such technology, it is difficult to imagine that the very first touchscreen phone appeared only a few decades ago. Of course, the first “smart phone” was somewhat different from the smartphones and iPhones that abound in the current market, but it paved the way for the creation of such gadgets.

IBM Simon - the first touch screen phone

You can often hear the opinion that the first touchscreen phone was the iPhone 1, manufactured by the world famous brand Apple. In fact, the innovator in this area was the American company IBM. Since the early 80s, its engineers have been attempting to create a phone in which the conventional push-button keyboard would be replaced by a touch one. Only by 1992 were their attempts crowned with success. It was at this time that at the World Exhibition of Communication Technologies held in Las Vegas, the company presented a prototype of the new IBM Simon touch phone.

A wireless gadget that had a touch keyboard aroused everyone's interest. But it took IBM another 2 years to make improvements to its creation. It wasn't until 1994 that the IBM Simon touch phone hit the market. It could only be purchased in major US cities. At that time, you had to pay about $900 for a new product if an agreement was concluded with an operator, otherwise you had to pay 1,100 US currency for the gadget.

What was the name of the first iPhone?

The iPhone (colloquially known as the first generation iPhone, iPhone 2G, and iPhone 1 after 2008 to distinguish it from later models) is the first smartphone developed and marketed by Apple Inc. ...iPhone (1st generation)

Design by IBM Simon

The appearance of the first IBM Simon touchscreen phone was dictated by fashion trends of the time. The gadget had a rectangular shape, which was very reminiscent of a brick. It was made in black. On the front side there was a screen measuring 160x293 inches. It had a keyboard, the keys of which could be pressed with the stylus supplied with the phone or with your fingers. The top of the phone had a large speaker and a miniature antenna. The manufacturer placed a microphone at the bottom of the front side of the first smartphone. The design was also complemented by the name of the phone, printed in a contrasting color. Control keys were placed on the side panel of the IBM Simon.

The first phone with a touch screen had a fairly significant weight: about 500 g. The charger for this gadget was connected to the network and, like the device itself, was large, which limited the mobility of the device.

What is the difference between an iPhone and a smartphone?

So, a smartphone is a mobile communication device that organically combines the functionality of a personal computer and the appearance of a mobile phone with a mandatory Internet connection. ... iPhone is a smartphone created by Apple that runs exclusively on their own iOS (or iPhone OS).

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IBM Simon functionality

The creators of the first phone with a touch screen tried to equip their brainchild with the maximum number of useful functions. The gadget included the following applications:

• Fax;
• calendar;
• Notebook;
• watch;
• calculator;
• notebook;
• Email;
• games.

In addition, it was possible to draw on the phone screen, for which it was advisable to use a stylus. The model could also be used as a pager.

The IBM Simon phone came with a battery that lasted approximately 60 minutes of continuous talk time. In standby mode, the gadget could go without recharging for no more than 12 hours.

Future

Industry pioneer Leonid Reiman, who went down in the history of the industry as a competent manager and enthusiast, commented on the future of mobile communications in the country to Lenta.ru. According to him, the fifth generation of mobile communications 5G is a new standard for high-bandwidth communications. 5G, according to Reiman, is being developed and implemented in Russia, has its own significant potential, its spread will allow the use of communication modes from “device to device”, will accelerate the development and implementation of the Internet of Things, smart technologies, simplify access to various platforms and improve quality services.

In particular, 5G technologies will be able to give impetus to the development of public services - increase their accessibility and convenience, simplify the procedures for electronic interaction between departments, as well as citizens and the state. Today, the 5G mobile communication standard in Russia is being implemented point-by-point, however, Leonid Reiman is sure that more than 60 percent of the Russian population will switch to using this technology by 2025.

The introduction of the 5G standard and the next generation of communications - 6G, according to Leonid Reiman, will make it possible to globally cover the entire planet with the Internet, all its hard-to-reach regions. At the same time, further development of the Internet will go into space technologies. Already today, a number of countries, including the USA and Great Britain, have begun to work with satellite Internet, which, thanks to the transfer of base stations into space, makes it possible to provide access to the global network even from the most remote territories, as well as create integrated services for the development of all sectors of the country’s economy.

History of use of IBM Simon

The first telephone with a touch screen, created by IBM, was initially enthusiastically received by the public, although its high price caused disapproval among potential buyers. Soon the device upset users with a new problem: it broke down very often, and its repair required a significant amount of money. Due to this, the demand for the gadget quickly fell. Even the advertising of IBM Simon in the film The NET, where the new phone was used by hackers for negotiations, did not help. After falling sales, IBM discontinued the smartphone.

Such an unsuccessful attempt did not have the best impact on the activities of the IBM brand. The company, which failed in the mobile phone market, decided to permanently abandon the production of such equipment.

Symbian era

It cannot be said that the Ericsson product is the first touchscreen smartphone. Similar devices existed before him. However, it quickly became clear to everyone that touch screens are still far from ideal, and therefore they decided to abandon them for some time. The sixth, seventh and eighth versions of Symbian supported them only in theory, but in practice only devices from Sony Ericsson took advantage of this feature (the mobile divisions of the Japanese and Swedish companies merged at that time). The heyday of the Symbian operating system occurred in the first half of the 2000s. the Nokia 9210 communicator was born . The sixth version of Symbian was used here. Nokia 7650 smartphone was presented . Outwardly, it was quite simple, but it had the Symbian OS 6.1 operating system on board. It finally allowed you to install third-party programs! However, the device had a drawback in the absence of a slot for a memory card. This imposed serious restrictions.

Well, then, as they say, off we go. Gradually, the first smartphones that could be called mass-produced began to roll off the assembly line. People began to understand that these devices could well replace their regular mobile phone - now to use a smartphone they did not need to work as a manager or own some serious company. Also, the spread of Symbian-based devices was facilitated by lower prices. If earlier you could buy a PDA or communicator for $600-$700, then smartphones with the Symbian operating system were sometimes sold for $250-$300. Nokia 6600 , Nokia 3230 were very affordable at one time . The Symbian operating system was also installed on smartphones from Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung, but for various reasons they did not become particularly popular.

Nokia also has the first gaming smartphone. We are, of course, talking about Nokia N-Gage . The device was based on Symbian 6.1, and this can be considered the main reason for its failure. The fact is that the operating system in those years was developing at an unprecedented pace. As a result, this version very quickly became outdated - it was replaced by the “seven”, and then the “eight”. The device quickly became irrelevant. Some technical problems also contributed to low sales - for example, no one liked to make calls using such a smartphone, since for this it was necessary to put it to the ear. However, this problem has been eradicated in N-Gage QD .

Remembering the first smartphones, one cannot help but mention the E-Series and N-Series . Nokia has realized that four-digit model names are extremely difficult to remember. Therefore, subsequently all smartphones were divided into two series. The E-series includes devices that may be needed by an office worker, a bank employee and other serious people. Such devices could boast a pre-installed ability to open office documents, and they could also be used to make group calls. As for the N-series, it includes so-called multimedia devices. They sounded better, they had a better camera, and on their body you could often find buttons associated with controlling the music player.

the Windows Mobile operating system were also popular in those days . Some of them had a touch screen and a stylus, while others had an interface adapted for button control. HTC was more active than others in producing such devices . Its first smartphones were created for other companies, which then sold them under their own brand. Later, the Taiwanese began to use the Qtek brand. And only then did they switch to the HTC brand. Most of all, this manufacturer is remembered for its proprietary shell HTC Sense . It made the interface much more beautiful, and the clock widget didn’t let you take your eyes off it. The first smartphone with this shell was HTC Touch Diamond2 . It was based on Windows Mobile. The proprietary shell made it possible to abandon the stylus, since all the icons and menu items here turned out to be quite large. Later, the company from Taiwan began to preinstall its interface on smartphones with the Android operating system. It must be said that, not least of all, this is what contributed to their popularization. And it was the HTC Sense shell that made live wallpapers popular.

New from Ericsson

The Swedish brand Ericsson was not slow to come up with the idea of ​​​​creating a touch phone. In 2000, the company launched the first smartphone, called a “smart phone,” into the market. The Ericsson R380 model was distinguished by its small dimensions:

• width – 50 mm;
• length – 130 mm;
• thickness – 26 mm;
• weight – 169 g.

On the front side of the Ericsson R380 there was a large black and white display on which you could use a touch keyboard and other buttons for selecting functions. For the convenience of users, the hinged lid had regular keys that could also be used to control the gadget. At that time, the Ericsson R380 phone could be purchased for $700.

Touch phones

We cannot imagine modern life without the use of a cell phone; it has become an integral part of it.
But just ten years ago, not everyone could afford to buy a cell phone; it was mostly considered a luxury item. Currently, the mobile technology industry is developing dynamically, with more and more new models being created every year. However, the real revolution in this was touchscreen phones, which gained wide popularity among users and practically replaced regular “push-button” phones from sales.

Apple's first smartphone

Apple also contributed to the development of touchscreen phones. Its world-famous leader Steve Jobs set out to create a phone with a touch screen back in 2004. It took about 3 years and 150 million dollars to develop the first iPhone, which was presented to the public in early 2007. To introduce the innovation, Steve Jobs organized a conference in San Francisco and personally demonstrated all the capabilities of the new phone. It is worth noting that the functionality of the device was quite great when compared with its predecessors. The main advantage of the model was a convenient screen that could be controlled with two fingers at once. The spread of the iPhone 1 was also facilitated by aggressive advertising, which cost the company tens of millions of dollars.

Users were pleased with the opportunity to buy a smartphone in various configurations. The cheaper option was a model that had 4 GB of internal memory. At that time you had to pay about $500 for it. The iPhone 1 with 8 gigabytes of memory cost $100 more.

Today, many companies manufacture various models of smartphones. But still, the manufacturers who were the first to decide to create such technology will forever remain in the history of telephone development.

Development of phones based on Symbian OS

Before getting to perhaps the most interesting part of the material with a review of iPhone and Android devices, it is necessary to devote some time to the Symbian era.

This operating system was considered to have no alternative and was completely superior to Java in its capabilities. It seemed that the operating system had no competitors and no competitors were expected, because for almost 10 years it was considered to have no alternative for solving business problems.

Nowadays, few people know that Symbian was founded by mobile technology giants Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Psion in 1998. The OS first appeared in Psion devices, and already at the beginning of the 2000s it was on every smartphone.

Devices such as the Siemens SX45 and Philips 550 were based on it. A little later, Symbian began to be directly associated with Nokia phones, since they became the most popular by 2005.

Symbian could hardly be called an operating system without flaws, but at that time no one could offer at least slightly comparable functionality. True, with the advent of the first Apple iPhone, the development of the OS went downhill. The last smartphones based on the operating system appeared in 2012, after which the era of Android and iOS began.

Nokia has long stated that Symbian is not in danger. But in the end, the department responsible for the OS disintegrated, and Nokia itself was absorbed by the Chinese company Lenovo.

Several historical points about cellular communications in Russia

The first cellular communication company, Delta Telecom, appeared in 1991 in St. Petersburg. Anatoly Sobchak made his first cell phone call. It was a call to the mayor of New York City. Nokia was the first phone to provide cellular communications at that time. The mobile phone was large, weighing three kilograms, and they carried it with them like a suitcase. At that time, only wealthy people could own such a curiosity, since the phone was very expensive - two thousand dollars. A minute of conversation cost one dollar.

The services that cell phone companies provided were only the ability to talk on the phone. There was no mention of SMS, photos or other additional services. Mobile communications at that time were used by large businessmen and the elite of society, who made up 0.5% of the country's population. This continued until the global crisis of 1998, which also affected Russia. It has long been noted that revolutions and crises are the engines of progress. The 1998 crisis was no exception. Many Russian cellular companies simply went bankrupt due to customer outflow. Foreign businessmen wound up their businesses and went home. To survive, domestic cellular communication companies had no choice but to start working for the mass consumer market. The first company that began to serve subscribers with low incomes was. No one even expected that at a time when household incomes were falling sharply, the number of subscribers would double in just a year. Cellular companies, in order to attract customers, began to introduce innovations beneficial to their subscribers. Since 1999, service packages and various bonuses have appeared:

• express payment cards appeared;
• Pay per second began to be introduced. This made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of negotiations;
• charges for incoming calls have been cancelled. First Fr.

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