The first phone (or one of the firsts) you and I used was probably a Nokia phone. With its green, blue, orange, yellow and fluorescent lights, long lasting battery and Snake Xenza game, Nokia phones rocked our worlds way back then. Sadly, less than two years after the company was bought over by Microsoft, production of Nokia phones has been discontinued.
Nokia dominated the mobile market in the late ’90s, its glory days dwindled not too long after Nokia phones operated the Windows OS. Nevertheless, Nokia has been a big part of many generations – especially here in Nigeria where power supply is epileptic and we need phones with long lasting batteries.
We will have you go through the evolution of Nokia phones back in time and check out some of the signature phones from the one time biggest name in the mobile phone industry.
Nokia Mobira Senator
Manufactured in 1982, this phone became the world’s first car phone. Although very heavy (22 pounds) it was paired with the Nordic Mobile Telephone analog standard.
Mobira Cityman
Nokia’s first handheld mobile phone was the Mobira Cityman. The phone grew popular after Soviet Union president, Mikhail Gorbachev, was spotted using it. It weighed about 1.8.
Nokia 1011
Nokia released the 1011 in 1992 as its first GSM digital phone. The device had 90 minutes talk time and maximum phone book capacity of 99 phone numbers. Without a colored screen, memory card, Bluetooth, camera or mp3 player, this phone was a wonder in its days.
Nokia 2110
In 1994, Nokia 2110 was released with an address book, multiple ringtones and the classic game Snake. It was the first phone to feature the classic Nokia ringtone which was inspired by Francisco Tarrega’s “Gran Vals.”
Nokia 9000 Communicator
If your father used this phone in 1996 ehn, he was a boss. The Nokia 9000 Communicator was the first step in the evolution of smartphone features. It had email, web browsing, fax, word processing and spreadsheet capabilities. By 1998, Nokia was the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world.
There is definitely no way we can leave out the famous, unforgettable, rock solid Nokia 3310! (Featured Image at the top). I can imagine how excited we all would get when we see that phone again. If they were handing out awards to the best Nokia phone, the 3310 would win it. Its specs would not look like much in today’s world but way back then that phone was the in thing! If you didn’t use the 3310 – whether you owned it or borrowed it from a friend – you have missed a great experience in life.
The Nokia 3210 was the first Nokia phone to come in different colours. Years later, the Nokia 6650 was released in 2002 and became the world’s first 3G phone! Its successor, the N-Gage was released in 2003 and looked very much like a portable gaming console rather than a phone. The 5800 Xpress Music hit the scene in 2008 as Nokia’s first all touch smartphone before the Lumia series took over and flooded the market.
Regardless of all the ups and downs the Nokia brand has been through, it would go down in history as one of the legends of the mobile phone industry.
