A closer look at the clamshell phone that changed the world, through the most colorful variant you've ever seen. This rainbow version of the legendary Motorola StarTAC may look like a child's toy, but it represents one of the most famous phones of its day. On Jan. Motorola even called the StarTAC a "wearable" phone.
This Rainbow version differs from the original, model, but the nuts and bolts are about the same. Yep, this is what phone chargers used to look like, and each brand more often than not used a proprietary connector. The StarTAC was one of the first phones to use a vibration motor so you could silently accept calls. Pull-out antennas were common in the mid- to late s, and even persisted into the early s. Motorola was exceedingly proud of the StarTAC's height.
Launched in , the quirky-looking Nokia was one of the earliest smartphones from Nokia. Having 6MB of internal memory expandable externally , the phone had a 5-way joystick and a 2. It was unveiled in and had a colour screen. It was one of the few mobile phones that can send and receive fax. From internet access to email and from unit converter to a fold-out antenna, the had it all.
Image credit: Youtube. It boasted of an aluminium body and an external glass screen. Released in , the Ericsson T28 was the slimmest mobile phone during its time, weighing mere 83 grams.
The phone was dual-band GSM compatible and had a phonebook for storing up to contacts. Classic games like Tetris and Solitaire were also on-board. Apart from its own collection of monophonic ringtones, the phone allowed users to compose their own. Image credit: GSM arena. And the launched Pearl is an embodiment of that.
Having a SureType keyboard, the smartphone came with a trackball for precise navigation. It was also the first Blackberry handset to offer a 1.
Samsung is a name that has become almost synonymous with leading Android smartphones. And even though the recently launched Note 7 is a beast of a device, the first Galaxy Note, launched in , started it all. With the Note, Samsung played a risky hand at a large-screen smartphone. HTC might be going through troubled times now, but it holds the distinction of being the manufacturer that launched the first commercially available smartphone to run Android.
HTC Dream had a horizontal slide-out touchscreen that hid a full keyboard underneath. Running Android 1. Launched by none other than the late Steve Jobs in , the Apple iPhone ushered in a new era in the realm of mobile phones.
The all-touch device vowed the world with its futuristic for that time features like on-screen keyboard, quad-band GSM support and a gamut of sensors like accelerometer, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. And even though it lacked the App Store when it launched, the iPhone paved the way for modern-day smartphones.
The rest, is history. When Motorola launched the StarTAC in , it was the smallest and lightest mobile phone on the planet. Not only that, it redefined the whole idea of what a mobile phone should look like. Its neat, clam shell design was a taste of things to come.
Two of the most desirable objects of the era, side by side. It was an old adman's trick to make you think of the two in the same breath, as small as the Gold Card and just as desirable. The StarTAC, probably like no other phone, had that indefinable feeling of quality that could set it alongside some of the most desirable possessions money can buy.
In such a fast moving world though, the StarTAC's value could not last. Unlike such design classics as the the Mont Blanc Pen or the American Express card, rival products from Sony and Ericsson pushed the price down. Although at these prices, it was still one of the most expensive phones of its time. Cellphone called the MR 'the ideal phone for posers on a budget'. It looked like the StarTAC, but was lacking in quality and features. With gold lettering set against a matt black background, the StarTAC looked every bit as expensive as it was.
A specially branded version of this phone was fitted to top of the range Jaguar cars. The StarTAC's appeal lasted into the new century. It also made it to Time Magazine's list of the greatest gadgets of all time. Motorola Startac phones on eBay.
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