Simon was the world’s first smartphone
The “Simon Personal Communicator” was essentially the first smartphone. The Simon was first presented at Comdex on November 23, 1992. It is worth noting that visitors to the exhibition had an opportunity to see Apple’s Newton.
The Simon is a device made by IBM in partnership with BellSouth Cellular. It was a first attempt to try and fit all the capabilities of a cell phone, pager, computer and fax device into one small “box”. This device had a touch screen and special stylus. Additionally, it allowed users to send email messages and view their planner. It also included a games!. This device was a first attempt to use apps on smartphones and It featured text prediction when typing. They weren’t exactly in the form we know them today – these were memory cards that could be connected to your device and give you additional features such as a camera, maps and music.
It weighed 510 grams and its battery offered a few hours of autonomy. In areas with low signal, the battery life was only 30 minutes or 60 minutes in other areas. 50,000 people bought the Simon product within six months, which is an impressive feat considering its high price point.
When Simon hit the shelves, mobile networks were built for voice transport, not data use. There were no fast networks, nor was the Internet what we know today. During the presentation of the device at Comdex,there were maps on the screen. That time, however, there was no internet site to download all that data. So the creators passed it in from a hard-copy map just before the presentation.
First release
The Simon was released on August 16, 1994 due to some software glitches. IBM tried to improve the battery life of the devise. The best solution seemed to be to provide one extra battery with the purchase of each device. It was on the market for 6 months only. IBM decided to withdraw the devise and BellSouth concentrated on improving its telecommunications infrastructure.
The truth is that there were also plans to unveil the Simon’s successor, a device called Neon. This handheld-sized device would have been thinner, and come with a form factor more in line with today’s smartphones. Unfortunately, it was never to reach market.
The people who worked on Simon’s creation have said that it was worth it, and that this technology is the reason companies should start thinking about how they can use such technologies in their products. Paul C. Mugge, who was in charge of the Florida Research Lab and the team that worked on the product that was the original idea of Frank J. Canova Jr, an IBM engineer, says now that he learned an important lesson from Simon “don’t invent one of these before they invent the Internet or fiber optics with its enormous bandwidth.”
If you liked this article on the first smartphone to note, then you may also enjoy this one.
Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
