Feature Articles

A Call from the Past - 10 Years of Mobile Phone Development

By Seow Tein Hee - 11 May 2009

Timeline: 2003

2003


  • This was the year when mobile phones bade farewell to its monochrome days and got an internal makeover in a 'big way' with the introduction of colored displays. The typical thought of more is better will once more be another focus for many years to come, and devices such as the Blackberry 7230 and of course, there are the offerings from Nokia, such as the Nokia 3530 as reviewed during that period.

Our life was actually colored back in 2002 with the Nokia 6610. Yes, technically, color phones were in existence before 2003, but its popularity in the European and subsequently Asia Pacific region prompted Nokia to take the next logical step to provide colored display mobile sets.

  • 2003 is considered by some to be the start of the multimedia age for mobile phones as the popularity of colored displays and integrated camera phones allowed one to share their media via an online network. Strictly speaking, camera phones have been making its rounds on the market way back in the early 90s, but what triggered open the floodgate for camera phones was Philippe Kahn who has been credited for creating the first camera phone solution sharing pictures instantly on public networks.

    The infinite possibilities of shared experiences with a few taps of your fingers drove the high demand and supply of camera phones as seen by 2003. The Samsung SGH-V200 showcased a series of features that set itself as the forerunner when it comes with a 65K-color TFT LCD screen. More importantly, the V200 presented a very immediate accurate prediction of things to come for the mobile phone division with its integrated camera and polyphonic ring tone that will become another yardstick for future devices.

The Samsung SGH-V200 came at a time when the discerning consumers have seen the evolution of the mobile phone and raised their expectations of future devices. And Samsung didn't disappoint on this aspect with the V200's colored display, integrated rotating camera and ringtone options to spruce up your device.

  • Product placement is nothing new, but for the gadget lovers and geek fanbase, the Samsung SPH-n270 was a pretty exciting device even though it never did hit our retail outlets due to the nature of its network band support (PCS CDMA frequency). The reason? It's the "Matrix Reloaded" phone. Forget about features and functions. This was THE phone used by Neo in his fight to save humankind from the machines.

We believe a picture paints a thousand words, and with the Samsung SPH-n270 (or affectionately known as the Matrix phone), gadget lovers of the region could only read and admire those who got it in the States.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.