Mobile systems earlier than Symbian



Mobile systems earlier than Symbian: born in 1996, died in 2011
The so-called "fat friends" are Palm enthusiasts, representing the earliest form of smartphones, which gave birth to many classic models, such as the Palm Treo 650. In the era when Nokia Symbian phones were all the rage, only a few people were into "Benmai" phones. They started with the launch of their first product, the Pilot 1000, in March 1996, and continued until the release of their last product, the Palm Pre 2, in April 2011, spanning a glorious 15-year journey for the brand.

Undoubtedly, Palm is the pioneer of PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). Broadly speaking, Palm is a type of PDA invented by the American Palm company. Narrowly, Palm refers to the PDA products produced by Palm Inc. Compared to the contemporary Nokia S60 V2 phones, the Palm Treo 650 boasted superior multitasking capabilities.

The Palm Treo 650, as the most iconic model of Benmai, had a highly recognizable appearance, particularly the antenna design in the top left corner, and its square screen with a 320x320 resolution was quite rare. The physical full keyboard below and the four-way navigation button provided an excellent tactile experience.

Later, with the arrival of the first iPhone in 2007, the entire smartphone industry entered the "touchscreen era." Physical full keyboard phones represented by the Palm Treo 650, and physical T9 keyboard phones represented by the Nokia S60 V3, became bygones in the mobile industry.

In 2010, Palm was acquired by HP for $1.2 billion, marking the departure of a classic from the stage. I remember there was a phone with wireless charging technology at the time; whether it was the technology or the accessory called "Touchstone," I can't recall, but it was quite advanced.

Of course, the contemporary "mobile phone giant" Nokia was also nearly ruined by Microsoft. The Android era had already arrived after 2008, and by 2011, cost-effective models like those from Xiaomi left HTC and Motorola struggling to find their direction. Sony Ericsson also announced their split that year and completed the transition in 2012.

Subsection: IT Knowledge
Section: Student Zone

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Last edited Zaheer - 20 Jun 2025, 19:25
Latest Activity: 20 Jun 2025, 19:25