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Smartphone
June 29, 2007 (iPhone); Android 2008· Invention or discovery· Communication & computing
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A pocket computer with a touch screen, internet access and apps that also makes phone calls.
See it on the Technology & Medicine map →How it works
IBM's Simon (1994), BlackBerry email phones and Nokia models came first, but Apple's iPhone, released June 29, 2007, set the pattern: a large multi-touch glass screen, a full web browser and, from 2008, an app store. Google's Android followed in 2008 and now runs about seven in ten of the world's smartphones, led by Samsung. More than 1 billion smartphones are sold each year.
Why it mattered
It put the Internet, camera, maps, music and banking in most adults' pockets, created the app economy, ride-hailing and mobile payments, and reshaped how people spend attention.
Think of it like
Like a Swiss Army knife that replaced a dozen separate devices: camera, map, music player, flashlight and wallet.
How we know
Steve Jobs's January 2007 launch keynote; sales figures from Apple, Samsung and analysts such as IDC; GSMA and ITU estimates of over 4 billion smartphone users.
Still unknown or debated
Who invented the smartphone depends on the definition. The effects of constant phone use on attention, sleep and youth mental health are debated.
Inside this (1)
Connections (6)
▸Graphical user interface and mouse led, via touch screens, to the SmartphoneMostly agreed
The connection
Engelbart's mouse and Xerox's windows and icons let people work by pointing at pictures instead of typing commands; Apple's Macintosh made that mainstream in 1984. The iPhone took the next step: fingers on a multi-touch glass screen replaced the mouse, with icons, pinch-to-zoom and swiping. Touch is now the most common way people use computers.
When and how
Engelbart at Stanford Research Institute, 1968; Xerox PARC, 1973; Apple in Cupertino, 1984 and 2007, after buying multi-touch firm FingerWorks in 2005.
How sure are we?
Apple's patents trace the iPhone interface to the Mac and FingerWorks' multi-touch work; Steve Jobs's 2007 keynote explicitly pitched fingers as the successor to the mouse.
Debates and open questions
Who invented multi-touch is disputed; researchers such as Bill Buxton in the 1980s and Jeff Han in 2006 showed versions before the iPhone.
▸Mobile phone evolved into the SmartphoneWell documented
The connection
Cell phones began as brick-sized radios for calls only. Through the 1990s they shrank and added text messages, and by the early 2000s cameras, email and basic web access, on models from Nokia, BlackBerry and Palm. With faster 3G networks, the smartphone turned the phone into a general-purpose pocket computer that also makes calls.
When and how
Martin Cooper's Motorola call, New York, 1973; Japan's first cellular network, 1979; Nokia in Finland and BlackBerry's maker in Canada, then Apple and Google, 2007–08.
How we know
Device histories and sales data show a continuous line; smartphones overtook basic phones in global sales around 2013.
Debates and open questions
Which device was the first true smartphone depends on definition: IBM Simon (1994), Nokia Communicator (1996), BlackBerry or iPhone.
▸GPS satellite navigation was built into nearly every SmartphoneWell documented
The connection
GPS receivers listen to timing signals from several of about 30 satellites and work out position from tiny delays. Once bulky and military, receivers shrank to a fraction of a chip. Phones gained them partly because US rules required locating 911 callers; the 2008 iPhone 3G added GPS, enabling turn-by-turn maps, ride-hailing and delivery apps.
When and how
US Air Force GPS, fully working 1995; deliberate degrading of civilian signals ended May 2000; first GPS phones 1999; iPhone 3G, July 2008.
How we know
FCC 911-location rules, phone specifications and app histories document the link; Google Maps navigation and Uber, both from 2009, relied on phone GPS.
Debates and open questions
Heavy reliance on GPS worries security experts, since signals can be jammed or faked, as seen in recent conflicts.
▸Lithium-ion battery powers the SmartphoneWell documented
The connection
A smartphone's screen, radios and processor need lots of power from a thin, light package. Lithium-ion cells, often in flat lithium-polymer pouches, store two or more times the energy per gram of older nickel batteries. That density, plus falling prices, made all-day battery life possible in a slim glass slab.
When and how
Sony's first lithium-ion cells, 1991, went into camcorders and then 1990s mobile phones; every major smartphone since 2007 has used them.
How we know
Phone teardowns and specifications show lithium-ion or lithium-polymer cells in essentially all smartphones.
Debates and open questions
The battery remains the phone's weak point; occasional fires, such as those behind Samsung's 2016 Galaxy Note 7 recall, show the limits of packing in more energy.
▸Smartphone made ubiquitous Social mediaWell documented
The connection
Social media began on desktop computers, but smartphones, with built-in cameras and constant connection, made it something people check dozens of times a day. Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011) and TikTok were built for phones first. Facebook, which shifted to mobile from 2012, now earns the vast majority of its ad revenue on phones.
When and how
iPhone 2007 and its App Store 2008; Instagram launched October 2010 as an iPhone-only app; Facebook's mobile pivot under Mark Zuckerberg from 2012.
How we know
Company filings report mobile's share of users and ad revenue; Pew surveys track rising phone-based use, especially among teenagers.
Debates and open questions
Whether smartphones plus social media caused the rise in teenage anxiety and depression after about 2012 is hotly debated among researchers.
▸Photography went digital and universal in the SmartphoneWell documented
The connection
Film photography required chemistry, developing and printing. Digital image sensors, starting with Bell Labs' CCD chip (1969) and later cheaper CMOS chips, captured pictures as data. Camera phones appeared around 2000 in Japan and Korea, and smartphones made the camera universal, with photos shared instantly.
When and how
Bell Labs, 1969 (Boyle and Smith's CCD); Kodak engineer Steven Sasson's digital camera, 1975; Sharp and Samsung camera phones, 2000; iPhone, 2007.
How we know
Industry estimates put photos taken at over a trillion a year by the late 2010s, nearly all on phones; Kodak's 2012 bankruptcy marked film's decline.
Debates and open questions
Photo-count estimates vary widely; how this flood of images changes memory, privacy and trust in photos, now that AI can fake them, is open.