Slashdot Mirror

• LG introduced the first touchscreen-only phone, beating the iPhone by a half year. But most people mistakenly believe Apple did it first.
• Gesture controls like pinch to zoom have been around since the 1980s. But most people mistakenly believe Apple invented them.
• Motorola had fingerprint unlock on one of its earlier phones, but it was dismissed. Until Apple copied it about 5 years later, and suddenly it was the best thing since sliced bread.
• The original iPad had 1024x768 resolution. When Android tablets came out with 1536x1024 and even 1920x1080 screens, they were dismissed because 1024x768 was "good enough." Until the Retina iPad was released, and suddenly having a high resolution screen became important.
• Google had a voice assistant on Android a year before Siri (they just didn't think of anthropomorphizing it with a spiffy name), but it was ignored. Until Siri came out and suddenly it was the best thing since sliced bread.
• Samsung has had OLED screens on its flagship phones since the original Galaxy S, but it's mostly become an afterthought with most people not even noticing the different display technology. How much you want to bet when the iPhone (finally) gets OLED screens it'll suddenly become the single greatest improvement in screen technology, making LCDs obsolete?
• Heck, the appearance of the front face of Samsung's tablets was based on their digital picture frame which they released two years before the iPad. Apple came up with pretty much the same thing, then turned around and claimed Samsung copied them. It doesn't matter that it obviously wasn't true and Apple eventually lost in court - legions of Apple faithful still believe Samsung copied Apple when if anything it was the other way around.

Who needs a case?
A block of wood does fine.
If done right, it's a thing of beauty.

Here are several scruffy (and one neck-bearded) Apple associates, and here is one with what looks like dreds, and here are several with arm ink.

Agreed 100%. "Something as trivial as a phone" is said earlier in the thread. But it is not a phone. It is a computer!
This is a trivial phone.
This is also a phone.
This is a computer that can make phone calls. Also can send e-mails, play games, provide navigation and mapping, record video, play video, play music etc etc etc

Motorola had the first QWERTY data phone.. the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X.

QWERTY?Where?
No mention of QWERTY on the wiki page either.
And where do you see data capabilities?

Nokia was next with their Mobira Senator.

Also not QWERTY

Then IBM had the personal communicator.

Bingo, looks like you got one right. (even though it cost $900)

I had the first real smartphone the QCP6035 from kyerocera. It predated the first blackberry by 2 years.

The Nokia 9000 beat you to it (1996 vs 2001).
RIM had their Inter@ctive Pager in 1995, even though it didn't have a phone.
They added a phone with the Blackberry 5810 in 2002 (only a year after your Kyocera).

Why all the RIM hate? Did a Blackberry kill your dog or something?

How much you wanna bet that military scientists are not yet evaluating this thing?

http://www.techfresh.net/six-legged-logging-machine-prototype/

i'd have thought gold vending machines would've hit japan first

http://images.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=japan+vending+machine&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=gZ05Stf8MMaGtgeApsjVDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

they sell everything in vending machines in japan.

http://www.techfresh.net/japanese-vending-machine/

http://www.techfresh.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/2-26-08-usb-brick.jpg
*confused*

Well there is a plasma TV with bluetooth capability.

They want to release an LG KE850. It's a good lesson in marketing how Apple can be hailed as innovative for taking an LG phone that won design awards and making some modifications.