What was the first ever smartphone? Ask most people and they'll understandably say the original Apple iPhone, which launched in 2007. But if the definition is a practical device that can send emails and browse the web as well as make calls and send text messages, then there's a strong case for the Nokia 9000 Communicator — which launched 30 years ago today on August 15, 1996.
The first Communicator looked like a chunky 1990s mobile phone, but open it up, and there was a keyboard and grayscale LCD screen inside. You could get some actual work done on the go with this phone, as the ads of the time (see below) were keen to stress, and it could even send faxes.
