The Nokia Mobile - Hall of Fame
For many of us, the humble Nokia mobile phone has a significant place in our heart: The Finnish Company offered the models that kick-started our love affair with texting and chatting on the go.
From the 1987 origins of the Mobira Cityman to the latest Nokia Lumia, the company has had a long and varied history when it comes to weird and wonderful mobile phones. Let’s take a look at some of the very best:
Where it all began, The Mobira Cityman really started it all for the former paper and rubber manufacturers, launching a new era of mobile phone technologies that would prove to eventually take the world by storm.
The Mobira Cityman was a classic of early design, coming in the form of a shape we would soon affectionately refer to as “the brick”. It was big and cumbersome and would definitely not fit in your pocket.
Famously, former Soviet statesmen Mikhail Gorbachev was pictured using one in 1987, with the phone soon to be nicknamed the “Gorba” as a result. However, the image solidified the rise of mobile phone technology, but only as something that high-powered or rich individuals could own at the particular time.
Some 11 years later, the Nokia 3210 hit the market. It had continued brand’s progression of producing smaller, lighter and more compact phones since the late 80s, but this was the model that announced Nokia’s presence as a world-leader in mobile phone technology. The 3210 is still one of the most popular and successful mobile phones in history. If a simple and easy to use mobile is something you desire, you might struggle to find a working 3210. However, the Nokia 106 phone is a more up-to-date device that provides similar practical functionality. A classic in the true sense of the word, the descendants of this sought after device are still available to buy. Retailers such as O2, Mobile by Sainsbury’s and Tesco mobile report steady sales and continue to stock the now retro little design.
Many of us will remember it as our first phone. It was stylish, it would fit in your pocket and it had a comparatively large screen compared to the earlier 8110 and NHK-1XA. It was perfect for text messaging (the first phone to use T9 predictive text) and featured the instantly popular game Snake, where a little black line moved around the screen eating up apples and growing its tail! Every teenager had one, and if you didn’t, you simply weren’t cool. It was the first in a line of phones that made Nokia the definitive mobile provider in the late 90s and early 00s.
However, for those who desperately wanted the phone, it was a long and distant dream, as a hefty price tag put many parents off. The dream was to compete with the Gameboy Advance, but in its first weeks of trading in the US, the Nintendo portable console outsold the N-Gage 100 to one.
It has user-friendly features, meaning the home screen can be customised to feature your favourite apps and services, such as weather updates, social media and music player. The Lumia is the model that is making Nokia one of the most desirable phone providers on the planet once more.
From the 1987 origins of the Mobira Cityman to the latest Nokia Lumia, the company has had a long and varied history when it comes to weird and wonderful mobile phones. Let’s take a look at some of the very best:
Mobira Cityman (1987)
Where it all began, The Mobira Cityman really started it all for the former paper and rubber manufacturers, launching a new era of mobile phone technologies that would prove to eventually take the world by storm.The Mobira Cityman was a classic of early design, coming in the form of a shape we would soon affectionately refer to as “the brick”. It was big and cumbersome and would definitely not fit in your pocket.
Famously, former Soviet statesmen Mikhail Gorbachev was pictured using one in 1987, with the phone soon to be nicknamed the “Gorba” as a result. However, the image solidified the rise of mobile phone technology, but only as something that high-powered or rich individuals could own at the particular time.
Nokia 3210 (1998)
Many of us will remember it as our first phone. It was stylish, it would fit in your pocket and it had a comparatively large screen compared to the earlier 8110 and NHK-1XA. It was perfect for text messaging (the first phone to use T9 predictive text) and featured the instantly popular game Snake, where a little black line moved around the screen eating up apples and growing its tail! Every teenager had one, and if you didn’t, you simply weren’t cool. It was the first in a line of phones that made Nokia the definitive mobile provider in the late 90s and early 00s.
Nokia N-Gage (2003)
This was the dream phone for young, self-proclaimed nerds: A mobile phone that was also a portable gaming device. How could you not want that as a teenager?However, for those who desperately wanted the phone, it was a long and distant dream, as a hefty price tag put many parents off. The dream was to compete with the Gameboy Advance, but in its first weeks of trading in the US, the Nintendo portable console outsold the N-Gage 100 to one.
Nokia Lumia (2012)
The latest Nokia mobile phone is the Lumia, trying to compete in the highly competitive smartphone market. It features a Window’s operating system and the top-of-the-range 930 comes with a 20-megapixel camera.It has user-friendly features, meaning the home screen can be customised to feature your favourite apps and services, such as weather updates, social media and music player. The Lumia is the model that is making Nokia one of the most desirable phone providers on the planet once more.
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