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Ericsson R380

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In closed keypad form

The Ericsson R380 is a GSM cellular phone developed by Ericsson Mobile Communications,[1] combining the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA).[2] It was introduced at CEBIT on 19 February 1999[3] and began shipping around September 2000,[4][5] being the first mobile device to be marketed as a 'Smartphone'.[6]

It was a groundbreaking product of its time as it was as small as a normal mobile phone and relatively light (160g) despite containing advanced features normally only found on PDAs.[7][8][4] The R380 has a keypad flip that opens to reveal a touch-sensitive display. It runs on the EPOC operating system and a notable feature was the inclusion of WAP for mobile Internet services.[4] In December 1999, before it was released, the magazine Popular Science appointed Ericsson R380 to one of the most important advances in science and technology.[9]

The device was delivered in three variants: the most common being the R380s (dual 900/1800 GSM bands) which was the originally introduced model, and the less common R380 World (dual 900/1900 GSM bands) which was intended for the American market but kept the GSM 900 band for worldwide roaming, and was announced on November 14, 2000.[10] The final variant with minor software and cosmetic upgrades as well as improved battery life was designated the R380e:[11] it was announced on September 21, 2001.[12]

Hardware

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The display was a black and white touchscreen, partially covered by a flip which, when opened, reveals a large wide display. For that reason it can be considered the clear forerunner of the popular P800/P900 series of smartphones. It predates the UIQ user interface which runs on those later phones, but again, the heritage is clear.[13]

Software

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The R380 ran the EPOC Release 5.1 operating system, which can thus be considered the first Symbian OS device. It uses a sophisticated user interface that originated as 'Emerald', one of the device family reference designs (DFRD) that was planned by Symbian Ltd.[14] However users could not install their own software on the device.

The phone and the software was developed at Ericsson's lab in Kista, Sweden. The user interface (UI) was developed at Ericsson's Software Applications Laboratory in Warrington, UK. The UI was built using an in-house developed library called the Ericsson Control Kit (ECK).

At introduction, the R380s pricing was around US$700 (compared to the T28s at US$500), and the device was never network-locked.

See also

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  • Pic Archived 2014-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
  • "Ericsson R380 / R380s | Device Specs". PhoneDB. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2019.

References

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  1. ^ "PDA Review: Ericsson R380 Smartphone". Geek.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  2. ^ "Ericsson R380 World Review & Rating". PCMag.com. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  3. ^ "New Innovative Smartphone launched by Ericsson".
  4. ^ a b c "WAP.com - PHONES - Your guide to the wireless Internet, wap phones, wap services and PDAs". web.archive.org. 2001-04-11. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  5. ^ Tripathi, Purnendu; Mukerji, Siran (2017-06-05). Handbook of Research on Technology-Centric Strategies for Higher Education Administration. IGI Global. ISBN 9781522525493.
  6. ^ "Ericsson Introduces The New R380e". Mobile Magazine. 2001-09-25. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  7. ^ "Ericsson R380 PDA & Phone". CellularOnline. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  8. ^ Keegan, Victor (2000-10-05). "New Ericsson is smarter than the average mobile". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  9. ^ "Popular Science, December 1999". December 1999. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  10. ^ "Ericsson Press: Press release: Ericsson announces the R380 World". web.archive.org. 2000-12-02. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  11. ^ "R380e | Enhanced Version". 27 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Ericsson Press release: Ericsson introduces the new R380e - the smartphone just got smarter". web.archive.org. 2001-10-19. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  13. ^ "From Geek to Chic: A decade of smartphone evolution". 5 October 2010.
  14. ^ Wood, David; West, Joel (11 June 2013). Evolving an Open Ecosystem: The Rise and Fall of the Symbian Platform. Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78190-826-6.
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