| The first mobile phone networks to open in the UK were Vodafone on 1st January 1985 and Cellnet on 7th January 1985. Whilst the popularity of the mobile was slow to grow, reaching only 7% of the population during the first ten years, the year 1999 was to prove a tipping point when onwership rose sharply to 46%. By 2004 official figures showed that there were, statistically, more mobile phones than people in the UK. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the mobile phone in January 2010 we decided to run an online poll to determine what have been the top ten iconic mobile phone designs. Visitors to our website were presented with a long list from which they could vote for all of the mobiles that they believed deserved to be in the top ten. A total of 560 people cast in excess of 2,000 votes. From these votes we have been able to compile our top ten list of iconic mobiles and here are the results. You can see the top ten revealed by watching the video below or by scrolling further down the page.
and here is the top ten list. |
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Number 10 - Nokia 7110With 4.5% of the total votes cast, we have the Nokia 7110. This was actually the first mobile to have a WAP browser to provide Internet access. It also had this rather useful Navi Wheel for easy access of menu items. The design was also greatly influenced by the success of the Matrix feature film that had used a Nokia 8110, but this one included the spring loaded slide as used in the film. Introduced in 2000 Battery standby = 170 hours and talk time = 3 hours |
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Number 9 - Motorola MicroTACWith 4.7% of the total votes cast, we have the Motorola MicroTAC. Launched in 1989 this phone was truly revolutionary not only because of its size but also because of its flip design. Mobiles could now be genuinely carried with you. The Motorola MicroTAC was the world's first flip mobile. Here a moveable plate opens to reveal the keypad and provide a mouthpiece to talk into. However, although people though that the flip plate contained the microphone, in fact it didn't. Equally, the extendable aerial was also fake, being simple a piece of aerial shaped plastic. This latter feature was included because market research had told the Motorola designers that users expected mobiles to have external aerials! The MicroTAC had both an internal microphone and aerial. Introduced in 1989 ETACS (analogue) Weight = 340g Dimensions = 172 x 57 x 32 mm Battery standby = 30 hours and talk time = 1.5 hours |
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Number 8 - Nokia 9000 CommunicatorWith 5.0% of the total votes cast, we have the Nokia 9000 Communicator. The Nokia 9000 was announced at the CeBIT exhibition in 1996 as the first in their communicator range and the world's first all-in-one mobile communications tool. It combined a mobile phone, messaging device, access terminal and personal organiser. Its clam shell design means that when it is closed, it looks and operates like a conventional mobile phone. However, when opened, the phone turns into a handheld computer with full QWERTY keyboard and large screen area. Internally it had 8MB of memory of which 4 MB was used for its GEOSTM 3.0 operating system, 2 MB for programs and 2 MB for user data. It is powered by an Intel 24MHz 386 microprocessor. The Nokia 9000 Communicator provided a vision of the future when the mobile phone would evolve from being a humble telephone and become a hand-held computer; the smartphone had arrived! Introduced 1996 GSM 900 MHz Weight = 397g |
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Number 7 - Motorola 8000 DynaTAC rangeWith 5.1% of the total votes cast, we have the Motorola 8000 DynaTAC range of mobiles. This is surely the mobile that, for many, optimised the early days of the mobile . Whether it was Michael Douglas in Wall Street or Dell Boy in Only Fools and Horses, the Motorola 8000 range was the classic yuppie brick mobile. The Motorola Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage (DynaTAC) 8000X series of mobiles was the culmination of fifteen years research by Dr Martin Cooper and Rudy Krolopp. It was the world’s first truly hand-held cellular phone which was licensed by the FCC in September 1983 and made available to customers in 1984. The Motorola 8500X was introduced in 1987 becoming extremely popular in Europe and the most commonly found handset in the UK at that time. Introduced 1987 ETACS (analogue) Weight = 600g Battery standby = 10hours and talk time = 1 hour |
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Number 6 - Blackberry 8300 CurveWith 5.7% of the total votes, we have the Blackberry 8300 Curve. Canadian Company, Research In Motion (RIM) developed a range of mobiles within the USA that soon became the essential business tool optimised for accessing email. Known as the Blackberry, they were first introduced into the UK on the mmO2 network in September 2001. Since then the Blackberry range has expanded and evolved into examples such as the 8300 Curve which provides all of the features expected of a modenr day smartphone. Introduced September 2007 GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 / GSM 850 Weight = 111.0 g Battery standby = 408 hours and talk time = 4 hours |
The Top Five. . . and now for the top five iconic mobiles! |
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Number 5 - Motorola Razr V3With 6.5% of the total votes, we have the Motorola V3 Razr. The Motorola V3 Razr was launched in 2004 and re-juvenated Motorola as a leading mobile manufacturer. It featured a VGA digital camera (640x480, 0.3Mega- pixels), MP3 ringtones and Bluetooth. Its ultra-slim clamshell design was made possible by its revolutionary precision-cut key board design in which the numbers and letters were chemically-etched to minimise its overall depth. Internet access was provided using WAP 2.0 over GPRS. Introduced 2004 GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 Weight = 95g
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Number 4 - Nokia 5100 seriesWith 7.8% of the total votes cast, we have the Nokia 5100 series of mobiles. Nokia introduced the 5100 series of handportable phones at the CeBIT 1998 exhibition in Hannover, Germany. These phones featured Nokia's NaviTM Key concept provided an ease of use through an intelligent menu system. The 5100 series comprised the 5110 for GSM 900 and the Nokia 5130 for GSM 1800. Nokia had recognised that the mobile phone had become a fashion item and so the 5100 series was the first to feature "Xpress-on" interchangeable covers which allowed people to personalise their phone. Introduced 1998 |
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Number 3 - Nokia 6310With 8.4% of the total votes cast, we have the Nokia 6310. The Nokia 6310 mobile was their first to include Bluetooth communications. It also provided Internet access through WAP and GPRS and quickly established a reputation for robustness and reliability. The Nokia 6310 became the ultimate business phone and is held in high regard to this day by those that owned it or still do! Introduced in 2001 |
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Number 2 - Nokia 3210With 8.5% of the total votes cast, we have the Nokia 3210. The Nokia 3210 was the first Nokia to feature an internal aerial. Whilst many mobiles had previously featured internal aerials, the trend had been to fit those models with fake external aerial like devices to meet customer expectations of what a mobile phone should look like. The Nokia 3210 became hugely popular in Europe with a marketing campaign particularly targeted towards young people. Therefore for many, the Nokia 3210 was their firts mobile which might explain why it has made it to number 2 in our poll. Introduced in 1999 |
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Number 1 - Apple iPhoneAnd so to number 1! With 13.5% of the total votes cast, the Apple iPhone was a clear winner. Steve Jobs announced in January 2007 that Apple were entering the mobile phone market with the launch of their iPhone. It became available within the UK from November 2007 and instantly became a design classic, being voted the best invention of 2007 by Time Magazine. The Apple iPhone with its touch screen interface, WiFi interface, 2 Megapixel digital camera and support for 'apps' had a major impact not only on customers but also the other mobile phone manufacturers. From its launch it had in effect become a design classic and caused a step change in mobile design. Introduced 2007 |
See more about mobile phone evolution by watching this interview with Professor Nigel Linge on Channel M television discussing the iconic mobile phone survey broadcast on the 19th January 2010.
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