History of the iPhone

Did Apple invent a touchscreen mobile? The war she started against the cops implies that. However, this is not so certain!

For a long time, Apple spared no effort to prevent access to documents related to the creation of the iPhone. The Sony designer moved to Apple, which allegedly created the design, was still "on vacation" and it was after numerous legal actions by Samsung that the opponent in the lawsuit that Apple is filing against him was able to get his testimony. Let's see what he reveals next.

When you compare smartphones over time, the question arises. Who copied whom?

These three devices are similar to each other. When were they launched on the market?

By 2000, Nokia had already introduced partners to an experimental mobile and tablet with a color touch screen and one physical button. But these ideas did not translate into commercial products .

1994

IBM launches IBM Simon Personal Communicator. This is a touchscreen mobile phone with icons, capable of exchanging e-mail and considered the ancestor of smartphones. He sold 50 thousand units.

2004

Scott Forstall assembles a team to work on a secret project. It was about creating a mobile one that Apple employees would like to use.

August 2005

According to Apple, the firm designed a prototype named Purple, which foreshadowed the current iPhone, and therefore existed before the model created by Sony. Sony's model would be the decoration of this concept.
Before delaying one of them, Apple probably had to have a bunch of possible designs in the boxes, we even saw their orthogonal shape...

September 2005

Steve Jobs presents the iTunes Phone at the presentation. Manufactured by Motorola under the name ROKR, it incorporates technology developed by Apple to play music. It is not unlike the Blackberry 8100 series.

February 2006

The San Jose trial reveals that Apple worked on a prototype called the P2 that was similar to the iPod before taking inspiration from a model developed by Sony.
Before designing the iPhone, Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive met with a Sony designer who described to them the concept of a touchscreen mobile device without buttons. As a result, designer Shin Nisibori was tasked with drawing a prototype for Apple named Extrudo. This is who we see at the bottom right. Then Richard Howarth, an Apple designer, advises this new "Sony" design to Jonathan Ive (the email produced during the trial) rather than the P2 on the left.

However, Apple claims the Sony model is based on a concept it itself drew in 2005, called Purple. This does not explain the September 2005 conference. And that doesn't detract from the fact that she chose to hold onto the Sony (rather than Purple) design.




P2 prototype face to face with Sony prototype. Rounded corners...

April 20, 2006

Apple files patents D 618 677 describing a rectangular device with rounded corners and D 583 087, black with a glazed side. However, the latter patent is questionable, as the design is similar to that of the already Japanese patented Sharp device (JPN No. 1241638).

September 2006

LG presents Prada at the design competition, IF Design Award and wins the competition .

December 12, 2006

LG presents Prada KE850 to the press. This is stated in an Engadget article published on December 15, 2006.
It was a sensor device that was announced on December 12, 2006 and images of which appeared on December 15, 2006.

December 2006

Samsung is filing a patent describing the F700.

January 9, 2007

The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then head of Apple, at the San Francisco Moscow Center in California. The device was sold on June 29, 2007.

February 8, 2007

Samsung F700 is presented, according to the Samsung website. It has a touchscreen .

29 Jun 2007

iPhone sales start.

Contrary to what the campaign allows itself on the Web, F700 was not preceded by an iPhone, but this is so with Prada .
However, neither Apple had time to copy Prada nor Samsung to copy the iPhone, all of these devices were invented at the same time. But the special design of the iPhone is not characteristic of Apple, it comes from Sony.

Another thing is known about iPhone pregnancy. It did not precede the iPad, as the tablet was designed before the iPhone (but sold after). The iPhone is actually a miniature tablet, which is why it's so different from other mobiles. It is also clear why competitors have developed the same ideas: they have been in the air for a long time.

See also...

iPhone 7 vs Nexus 6. Comparison of specifications .