Nokia 1100

1 October 2003 phonehome 0

It is late 2003, and while the tech-elite are preening over their colour screens and camera lenses that take photos of what appear to be smudged ghosts, Nokia has quietly released the 1100. If you walked into a Carphone Warehouse today, you might overlook it in favour of the shiny Samsung flips, but…

Samsung E700

1 September 2003 phonehome 0

It is late 2003, and Samsung has officially decided that the external antenna is a fashion crime that must be abolished. The E700 is a design-led masterpiece that has turned the heads of every mobile user in Britain, finally providing a clamshell that doesn’t look like a walkie-talkie from a 1970s p…

Sony Ericsson T610

1 June 2003 phonehome 0

If the Samsung T100 was the flashy newcomer, the Sony Ericsson T610 is the sophisticated graduate who’s just walked in and taken over the room. Released in the UK in mid-2003, the T610 is the phone that finally validated the marriage of Sony and Ericsson. After a few “getting to know you” handsets l…

BlackBerry 6210

1 March 2003 phonehome 0

The ‘Quark’ has arrived, and for the professionals of the City, life will never be the same. Released in 2003, the BlackBerry 6210 is a pivotal moment in telecommunications history; it is the first BlackBerry that actually functions as a phone without requiring you to plug in a clunky external heads…

Nokia 3510i

1 December 2002 phonehome 0

While the 7650 is for the tech elite, the 3510i is the phone that’s bringing colour and “the internet” to the rest of us. Launched in late 2002, it’s a brilliant mid-range worker that replaces the monochrome 3510. It’s got a 4,096-colour display that makes the menus look vibrant, even if the 96 x 65…

Orange SPV

1 November 2002 phonehome 0

The Orange SPV (Sound, Pictures, Video) is a bit of a historical moment: it’s the world’s first Windows-powered smartphone. Produced by HTC but branded by Orange, it launched in late 2002 as a direct challenge to Nokia’s Symbian dominance. It looks and feels more like a PDA than a phone, featuring a…

Nokia 7650

26 June 2002 phonehome 0

It is June 2002, and Nokia has just released a device that feels like it fell off the back of a spaceship. The 7650 is a landmark for three reasons: it’s the first Nokia with a built-in camera, the first with a colour screen, and the first to run the Symbian OS (Series 60), making it a “smartphone” …

Nokia 6310i

1 May 2002 phonehome 0

While everyone else is chasing colour screens and cameras that take photos resembling a bag of flour, Nokia has quietly released the 6310i, a phone so fundamentally perfect that some people will still be using it in 2026. Launched in early 2002, it is the refined “i” version of the 6310, and it is t…

Samsung T100

1 April 2002 phonehome 0

It is April 2002, and if you walk into any high-street mobile shop in the UK, you’re likely to see a crowd of people huddled around a small, silver, egg-shaped device. That device is the Samsung SGH-T100, and it is currently making every Nokia on the shelf look like it belongs in a black-and-white f…

Sony Ericsson T68i

1 March 2002 phonehome 0

Following the marriage of Sony and Ericsson, the T68i arrived in early 2002 as the first fruit of their union, though it’s essentially a refined, re-badged version of the original T68. The sleek, “Arctic Blue” finish is a significant aesthetic upgrade over the original’s gold-and-grey look, making i…