By Raza Mehdi
Oct 06, 2022
Invented in 1992 and released for sale in 1994, IBM's Simon is believed to be the world's first smartphone. This device featured a touchscreen, email capabilities and built-in apps, like Calculator and a sketch pad.
iPhone: not the first smartphone
The first iPhone was created by InfoGear Technology Corporation in 1998 and was named The InfoGear iPhone. But Cisco Systems bought the company in 2000 to extend their own telecommunications market.
Not the first phone called iPhone
The iPhone was released in 2007, but Apple has been working on this project since 2005. It was a very secret project, and its codename was 'Purple'. Only a few engineers and employees knew about this project.
Apple's secret code name
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When Steve Jobs introduced the iMac to the world in 1998, he explained that the letter 'I' stands for 'internet' seen in the names of every Apple device.
What is the meaning of "i"
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In 2007, Steve Jobs gave a 42 minutes keynote speech and announced the very first iPhone in the morning hours, setting it as a standard display. However, Apple changed the time to 9:41 a.m. in 2010 during the launch of the first iPad.
Time Was Always Set to 9:42 in Apple Ads
During the introduction of the first iPhone to the audience, Steve Jobs pranked a nearby Starbucks and ordered 4,000 lattes when he made his first iPhone call in 2007. It was also the first ever public call made on an iPhone.
Steve Jobs prank called Starbucks
During the launch of the iPhone, it had a plastic display. After the announcement, Jobs noticed that the new iPhone had accumulated a few scratches. So, a switch from plastic to glass was made just 11 days before the original iPhone went on sale.
iPhone with a Plastic Screen
Every smartphone nowadays comes with an application store. Apple was the pioneer of this trend. They were the first to allow users to download and install apps legally from the 'App Store.'
Apple pioneered the "App Store" concept
Despite being competitors, there is a good relationship between Samsung and Apple. In fact, Samsung used to manufacture processors for Apple's iPhones back in the day. Now, Apple's iPhone processors are made by TSMC.
Samsung Made iPhone's Processors
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Among all the different products in Apple's collection, the iPhone has brought the most profit for Apple. In reality, the iPhone is responsible for about 55% of Apple's total revenue.
Apple's Golden Goose
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