The Nokia 9000 Communicator, the first smartphone in history, turns 30

Thirty years ago, on August 15, 1996, Nokia launched the 9000 Communicator, a revolutionary device that many consider the world's first smartphone. Introduced at the CeBIT technology fair in Hannover, Germany, five months prior, this high-end mobile phone was released eleven years before Apple's iconic iPhone transformed the market.

Marketed with the slogan "the office in your back pocket," the Communicator was designed for executives. It was a substantial device, measuring four centimeters thick and weighing nearly 400 grams. Its price was comparable to a mid-range personal computer, approximately 10,000 Finnish marks (about $2,550 USD today). The phone allowed users to send faxes and emails, connect to the internet using an integrated modem, and run applications like spreadsheets, an electronic diary, and a word processor.

Its innovative clamshell design unfolded to reveal a mini-computer with a full keyboard and a 4.5-inch monochrome screen. Subsequent updates introduced color screens, reduced weight, and improved processing power, including the first version of the Symbian operating system. Although sales were limited by its cost, the Nokia 9000 Communicator significantly boosted Nokia's global prestige as a leading innovator in mobile technology, paving the way for its dominance in the mobile phone market in the years that followed.

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The Nokia 9000 Communicator was the first 'smartphone' on the market before the term 'smartphone' had even been coined.