The very first time that I saw it, it was love at first sight. Gadget lust waxed strong within me and I told myself that I was getting one. But it wasn’t just my first smartphone, it was the first smartphone ever! Well, more accurately, it was the first device to be marketed as a “smartphone”.
The “First” Smartphone Dilemma
Nokia had the 9000 Communicator out in the market in 1996 long before the R380 arrived, but Nokia never marketed it as a smartphone (the term “smartphone” was not coined until 1997). There was also the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, a handheld, touchscreen phone and PDA combined released in 1994. Because of its features and capabilities, it can also arguably be referred to as the first smartphone. So, which of the three – R380, 9000, and Simon – you pick as the first smartphone is arguable. But it certainly wasn’t the iPhone! Not by a long, long shot. But the first device to be marketed as a “smartphone” was certainly the Ericsson R380, though it wasn’t the first to have smartphone capabilities.
Meet The Great Grandfather Smartphone
Released in 2000AD, two years after Psion became Symbian, I didn’t get my hands on one until December 2002. The R380 was PDA and phone wrapped into one, and in a nice catchy form factor. The R380 looked and worked like any other mobile phone of its day when closed up. But you could open the front flip to reveal the large landscape display. It weighed only 164g. The R380’s main specs:
WAP 1.1 browser (an improved version later shipped with WAP 1.2.1)Large 3.5-inch backlit monochrome STN touchscreen display (120 x 360 pixels)Flip cover with regular alpha-numeric keyboard for use as a regular phoneStylus for use with the resistive touchscreenPOP3/IMAP EmailCalendar & notesSynchronization with Microsoft® Outlook and Lotus® Notes and OrganizerSymbian OS version 5Infrared portGSM 900/1800 dual band phone2MB RAM1.2 MB user-accessible storageHandwriting recognitionVoice notesSpeakerphone functionalityDial-up (CSD) internet connectivity1 -chord (monophonic) ringtonesBuilt-in Games:Built-in modemRS-232 cable for PC connectivity
Though running an early version of Symbian, the OS was “closed” at the time, as no 3rd party apps could be installed on it. But it came with pretty much what everyone used then. Here are some screenshots: The R380 was a delight to use back then. I subscribed to CSD (circuit Switched Data AKA dial-up internet) with MTN back then, with which I browsed and managed my emails. At that time, this was magic to almost everyone I met here in Nigeria then. Very few of us used mobile internet on mobile back then. There were no expansion slots yet, and Bluetooth wasn’t on the table either. But infrared was king of the day for wireless connectivity. I wish I had details of the processor (if someone can help me out with that, I’d be delighted), but the R380 performed admirably. It wasn’t a perfect smartphone. I also remember some occasional freezing up, especially when using internet connectivity (which in retrospect may have been network issues). It is such a privilege to have been around early enough to use the very “first” smartphone on the planet as my first smartphone. Ladies and gentlemen, a hat tip to the stately Ericsson R380.
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title: “Ericsson R380 The First Smartphone Mobilityarena” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-25” author: “David Roundtree”
The very first time that I saw it, it was love at first sight. Gadget lust waxed strong within me and I told myself that I was getting one. But it wasn’t just my first smartphone, it was the first smartphone ever! Well, more accurately, it was the first device to be marketed as a “smartphone”.
The “First” Smartphone Dilemma
Nokia had the 9000 Communicator out in the market in 1996 long before the R380 arrived, but Nokia never marketed it as a smartphone (the term “smartphone” was not coined until 1997). There was also the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, a handheld, touchscreen phone and PDA combined released in 1994. Because of its features and capabilities, it can also arguably be referred to as the first smartphone. So, which of the three – R380, 9000, and Simon – you pick as the first smartphone is arguable. But it certainly wasn’t the iPhone! Not by a long, long shot. But the first device to be marketed as a “smartphone” was certainly the Ericsson R380, though it wasn’t the first to have smartphone capabilities.
Meet The Great Grandfather Smartphone
Released in 2000AD, two years after Psion became Symbian, I didn’t get my hands on one until December 2002. The R380 was PDA and phone wrapped into one, and in a nice catchy form factor. The R380 looked and worked like any other mobile phone of its day when closed up. But you could open the front flip to reveal the large landscape display. It weighed only 164g. The R380’s main specs:
WAP 1.1 browser (an improved version later shipped with WAP 1.2.1)Large 3.5-inch backlit monochrome STN touchscreen display (120 x 360 pixels)Flip cover with regular alpha-numeric keyboard for use as a regular phoneStylus for use with the resistive touchscreenPOP3/IMAP EmailCalendar & notesSynchronization with Microsoft® Outlook and Lotus® Notes and OrganizerSymbian OS version 5Infrared portGSM 900/1800 dual band phone2MB RAM1.2 MB user-accessible storageHandwriting recognitionVoice notesSpeakerphone functionalityDial-up (CSD) internet connectivity1 -chord (monophonic) ringtonesBuilt-in Games:Built-in modemRS-232 cable for PC connectivity
Though running an early version of Symbian, the OS was “closed” at the time, as no 3rd party apps could be installed on it. But it came with pretty much what everyone used then. Here are some screenshots: The R380 was a delight to use back then. I subscribed to CSD (circuit Switched Data AKA dial-up internet) with MTN back then, with which I browsed and managed my emails. At that time, this was magic to almost everyone I met here in Nigeria then. Very few of us used mobile internet on mobile back then. There were no expansion slots yet, and Bluetooth wasn’t on the table either. But infrared was king of the day for wireless connectivity. I wish I had details of the processor (if someone can help me out with that, I’d be delighted), but the R380 performed admirably. It wasn’t a perfect smartphone. I also remember some occasional freezing up, especially when using internet connectivity (which in retrospect may have been network issues). It is such a privilege to have been around early enough to use the very “first” smartphone on the planet as my first smartphone. Ladies and gentlemen, a hat tip to the stately Ericsson R380.
Don’t miss our mobile phone reviews.Follow our news on Google News.Join our WhatsApp Group, to be notified of the most important articles and deals,Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
