The first smartphone of the world, Simon has turned 20 today, the handset was manufactured by the prominent America based Multinational Technology and Consulting Corporation, IBM with a price tag of $900. However, it was the first ever gadget, which combined the functions of a phone and a Personal Digital Assistant. Apparently, after the release of this device, the term smartphone was coined out.
As per the reports, there were several characteristics and specs in this mobile, whereby it has assumed as the first member of the smartphone family, as we know it today. Here, it seems little imperative to state that it was the Personal Communicator of the firm, which was fabricated by Mitsubishi Electric Corp and IBM had dispatched it 20 years ago on the 16th of August, 1994.
The device was integrated with x86-compatible 16-bit Vadem processor that was clocked at a mere 16MHz operating frequency. Though, that time the handset was not known as a smartphone, but it was used to send emails and it had a touch support stylus that was meant for taking notes.
The mobile was clubbed with 1MB of RAM and 1MB of internal storage that was rather less. It was power packed with the Zaurus operating system. The device was procurable with a base station for charging, RS232 cable for computer connectivity and protective leather cover. The company had introduced the phone with a black and white outlet along with LCD display.
In the pursuance of the sources, the handset was 8-inches tall and 2.5-inches wide along with a whopping 38mm in thickness and also had a dimension of 4.5-inch×1.4-inch. It used to deliver the pixels resolution of 293x160p. The customers of this mobile could also insert the different applications such as mapping ones, spreadsheets and games through a slot, which was equipped at the bottom of the device.
Here, we can aver that the IBM Simon had modest specs compared to modern-day smartphones, which allowed users to draw, update their calendar and contacts as well as it was used to send and receive faxes apart from the allowing calls, of course.
According to the reports of the Irish Times, the smartphone was simple and enough to do nearly anything you desired. Its little interesting to know that was exclusively available in united states and IBM had sold 50,000 units of its.