Nokia 7110
The World's first internet phone
- Date launched: 1999
- Network: GSM 900Mhz/1800Mhz (Dual band)
- Form: Slide
- Size: 53(w)x125(h)x24(d) mm
- Weight: 141g
- Cost new: £130 (1)
- Can you use it today: Yes
Nokia changed the game with the 7110, the World's first mobile that could access information from the internet.
Nokia's chief designer, Frank Nuovo, formerly a jazz drummer from Monterey, created the Nokia 7110. He took the idea of the slider used in the original 'Matrix' phone, the 8110, and added a button to operate the slide, a modification already made to the 8110s used in the Matrix film. The phone had an oversized screen and when closed has a very different appearance to other phones. The two controls resemble eyes and give it a modern edgy look.
The feature of this phone that everyone was talking about in early 1999, though, was WAP or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), a technology that allowed mobile phone users to access content from the internet. WAP was a standard agreed between Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola, although, Nokia took the lead with the first phone to use it, which they announced in early 1999.
Customers in the UK had to wait until the end of 1999, when Orange offered the first Nokia 7110s on contract, to use this new feature.
The new phone had a wheel mouse, the first ever on a mobile phone and screen about 80% larger than that on Nokia's, business phone, the 6110. However, both the weight and external dimensions were modest. It was a little bit wider than the 6110, but no taller or deeper.
For the first time the mobile phone became a true global communication device. Users could, at a price, check weather reports and flight times, as well as email. It was not, however, true internet browsing. WAP was text only. Sites needed to be WAP enabled. Orange originally provided ITN News, traffic and travel information, business directories and last minute deals through lastminute.com.
Other manufacturers quickly caught up with own WAP phones. The Ericsson R320 came out the following year, as did the Motorola Timeport P7389e, which had as slot for banker's cards to allow easy internet commerce.
Nokia's 7110, though, had set the standard and was for a time the most desirable phone on the planet.
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