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In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community.

We pay our respect to First Nation Elders past, present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

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Take five mins to list your five favourite apps - include at least one we haven't heard of.

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Advertisers don't want you to even think about it. They can reach you anytime, anywhere.

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Today's Lecture Topic - Mobile Marketing

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Today's Lecture Topic - Mobile Marketing

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Assessment Three consists of

(a) All of your work from Assessment One - leave it in

(b) Sales email / edm
(c) Infographic
(d) Website copy
(e) Video
(F) Rstionale - incl target audience for your business, objectives, comms messages - explain why you created each asset in the way that you did

Today's app idea, incl mock ups - or sound rationale as to why an app is not relevant for your busness idea

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5G & Australia - great source for assessment work across digital units

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5G & Australia - great source for assessment work across digital units

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Smart Phone Usage Australia - up to 2023

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Smart Phone Usage Australia - up to 2023

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Mobile phones and devices are a wide range of handheld computers or smartphone devices that lets you perform various tasks, including text messaging and audio calling. But mobile devices have existed for so long to offer just that.

In 2023, modern mobile phones have become ubiquitous due to their wide range of uses, from communication, entertainment, education and business.

Due to the fast-paced environments that most businesses operate in, having a mobile phone where you're constantly reachable is critical to everyday business operations.

On top of that, smartphones are more lightweight and portable than ever, furthering their accessibility and ease of use. Smartphones now also have better interconnection systems, allowing users to access the internet through Wi-Fi and mobile broadband.

This internet and mobile devices combo has been impactful in helping businesses grow and scale online. As an SEO agency Sydney, we craft growth strategies designed to take advantage of the mobile phenomenon, serving many industries in Australia.

Australia is a developed country at the forefront of advancing technologies, including mobile phones, eSims and devices. Since mobile phones were introduced in the country, Australians have employed the device for myriad purposes.

Numbers from Statista show that mobile phone users and penetration levels in Australia are constantly on the rise. From 18.6 million users in 2017, the number of Australian smartphone users in 2021 is expected to increase by 2 million to reach approximately 20.6 million smartphone users.

These statistics showcase that there will be a rapid rise in the number of mobile phone users, which will certainly evolve the digital landscape in Australia. Smartphone usage is significantly on the rise and so will consumers' appetite to engage with products and services found online.

Consequently, the smartphone penetration rate in the country is also bound to increase. Given the nationwide shutdown of the 2G network and the introduction of 5G, the 2017 penetration level of 75.8% will grow to roughly 80% in the coming year.

Apple remains the leading smartphone brand in Australia. Just in the first quarter of 2020, Apple had sold around 843 thousand Apple smartphones, followed by Samsung with 364 thousand units sold.

In 2023, smart mobile devices are truly one of the greatest technological inventions the world has witnessed. With internet connectivity, users can reap a mobile device's full benefits.

Smartphone users can conveniently access the internet over Wi-Fi or mobile broadband, so they can go online whenever and wherever.

The fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology, 4G, provides "ultra-broadband" Internet access. This allows users to accomplish various tasks that need an internet connection such as gaming and entertainment services, video conferencing, and mobile web surfing.

According to the 2019 Mobile Network Experience Report in Australia, 4G network availability will continuously expand since the three major operators in the country provide a 4G signal to users over 90% of the time.

However, a comparison between rural and urban 4G usage reveals that only Optus and Telstra are available in Australia's remote and very remote areas.

Source: Open Signal

Internet and Mobile Device Users in Australia

Due to the availability of 4G and smartphones in Australia, accessing the internet at any time and place has become much easier. In addition to this, the country is also one of the developed countries with the fastest mobile internet speed.

Thus, it is unsurprising that internet surfers in Australia usually spend an average of 6.8 hours a day browsing online using various devices. However, around 55% of Australian web surfers said they prefer using mobile devices over their laptops or desktops to go online.

Supporting this data is the percentage of Australian smartphone users that say they connect to the internet over 5 times a day (53%) and over 15 times a day (20%).

How Australians are Using Their Mobile Phones

Australians use their smart mobile devices to accomplish myriads of tasks conveniently. A great proportion of Australians use smartphones for social media and messaging apps. A Deloitte survey shows that more than 82% of Australians use their phones to communicate with their family and friends at least once a week.

Other uses of smartphones include taking photos, digital payments and money transfers, checking news and weather, tracking health and fitness, and gaming. Mobile phones used for entertainment such as watching live TV (45%) and streaming movies and TV series (23%) continuously increase.

Furthermore, about 6 in 10 Australian households use their mobile devices instead of three other items like phone books, road directories, cameras, calculators, calendars, and alarm clocks.

Undeniably, mobile phones are an all-in-one device, making them a daily necessity. Around 94% of Australian smartphone users say they never leave their devices when they leave their houses. They take their phones more than they do their wallets and house keys.

How Australian Children Are Using Their Mobile Phones

Since 2015, Australia has seen a 5% increase (41% to 46%) in the number of children aged 6 to 13, use a mobile phone.

54% of children have neither owned nor have access to a mobile device

33% of children own the mobile device that they use

14% of children have access to a mobile device but don't actually own it

Most Australian kids use their mobile phones to play games, take photos or videos, and use phone apps. All usage statistics show that the number of children engaging with or using their smartphones is on the rise.

Source: ACMA

Positive Effects of Mobile Phone Technology

The same Deloitte survey shows that two-thirds of Australians consider mobile phones helpful in their daily endeavours, and roughly half (48%) say they provide freedom.

Additionally, more than 70% say that having smartphones gives them peace of mind and security since they can be used in case of an emergency.

Here are some positive effects mobile phone technology offers.

Social Connection - Whether through text messages, audio calls, video calls, or chat, smart devices allow for better and easier global communication.

Convenience - With just a few taps on the screen, you can accomplish various tasks that you have to conduct physically in the past. This includes paying bills, hailing taxis, booking appointments, and even working and studying anytime.

Physical Health Monitoring - At present, around 18% of the Australian population has adopted wearable mobile devices to monitor their health and track their fitness journey.

Stay Updated - Mobile phones let you stay up to date with current happenings and trends.

Over-reliance on Mobile Phones - This is especially true in young people. One survey by Vodafone revealed that 45% of their customers say they cannot live without a mobile phone.

Safety Risks - Security breach is a real threat to Australian smartphone users, and around 87% fear this from happening. Likewise, about 82% are concerned about their phones distracting them while driving.

Negative Effects of Mobile Phone Technology

Not everyone agrees that mobile phone technology has only brought about positive effects. In fact, 1 in 10 Australians find mobile phones annoying while 4 in 10 find them distracting.

Additionally, 32% of smartphone users in Australia expressed that the use of mobile devices increases their stress and anxiety. Below are the downsides of mobile phone technology.

The Impact of Mobile Devices on eCommerce

The merging of the internet and mobile phones has proven a powerful tool in businesses, especially in eCommerce. Smartphones have drastically transformed the way business owners conduct business online.

As the 10th largest eCommerce market by revenue worldwide, Australia tremendously benefits from mobile phone technology. In 2019, with 81% of the population shopping online, the number of online shoppers in the country is already at 20.3 million.

This is expected to grow in 2021; the Australian eCommerce market is forecast to be at $35.2 billion. By that year, the number of online buyers will reach 22 million and the eCommerce market penetration level will be 85.2%.

Shopping and Searching for Services

Smart mobile devices opened up countless opportunities for shoppers to look for the products and services they need and the brand they want.

Online mobile shoppers can even filter the search results according to their preference such as the location or service area, product colour and size, and more.

Online Purchasing and Booking

Mobile shopping allows for faster transactions through checkouts, digital payments and online booking. This eliminates the need to visit physical stores and pay over the counter for the goods you want.

Brand Awareness and Customer Engagement

Small and medium businesses (SMB) that employ digital strategies (such as leveraging SEO services, Google Ads or Facebook Advertising) have better chances of gaining leads and being known to their target market than brands with physical outlets only.

Given Australia's relatively high smartphone penetration level, companies can harness the full potential of presenting their brand online and making their website mobile-friendly. Besides, half of SMBs in Australia already employ mobile-friendly websites to drive leads.

Brand Loyalty

By providing a seamless and valuable mobile user experience, companies can build the trust of their customers and potential clients so that they will keep coming back. This would only be possible if they develop their site to be mobile-responsive, reliable, and functional all throughout.

We expect better network infrastructures and faster mobile data speed in the coming years. And with the introduction of 5G, more and more business opportunities are in store.

Furthermore, it is forecast that there will be a steady increase in companies adopting digital technologies, so we can only look forward to a future where mobile devices play a major role in business and eCommerce.

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Australian Smartphone & Mobile Phone Statistics 2023 - Red Search

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Australia is at the forefront of advancing technologies, including mobile smartphones. Find out more about Australia's Mobile Statistics in 2023.

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As of March 2023, Android operating systems for smartphones held a market share of 52.9 percent in Australia. Android has consistently been the leading mobile phone operating system in the country, however, iOS has been increasing its market share over the past decade.
Smartphone OS market share in Australia
Smartphones become increasingly more advanced in their technological capabilities and have connectivity. This has allowed users to stream media, make digital payments, and surf the internet almost anywhere in the world. The mobile phone internet user penetration will reach almost three quarters of the population of Australia in 2021.

The vast majority of people in Australia already have a mobile phone, with the number looking likely to continue increasing. The smartphone industry is also on the increase globally with over 78 percent of the world's population due to own a smartphone by 2020.

The dominance of the Android operating system on the global smartphone market can be seen in the Australian market. It's biggest competition has been Apple's iOS. The fierce competition between the two smartphone operating systems has intensified over the years, with iOS accounting for a significantly larger market share recently.

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Australia: smartphone OS market share 2023 | Statista

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As of March 2023, Android operating systems for smartphones held a market share of 52.9 percent in Australia.

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Australians are addicted to their mobile phones and their inability to disconnect could be endangering their health, a Monash University study shows.

The Australia-first study, measuring nomophobia (no mobile phone phobia) and its consequences, shows 99.2 per cent of users have some fear of being without their phone.

And for 13.2 per centre of the population, their level of nomophobia is severe - leading to an increased risk of dependence and dangerous use.

The study, Nomophobia: Is the Fear of Being without a Smartphone Associated with Problematic Use, was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Researchers from BehaviourWorks Australia, part of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) surveyed 2838 Australians on their psychological attachment to their phone and usage habits. They found almost half of all participants (43.3 per cent) spent upwards of three hours a day on their phone. The more they used their phone, the higher their level of nomophobia and the greater their risk of problematic dependent, prohibited or dangerous usage.

Young people aged 18 to 25 had the highest level of nomophobia and males were almost twice as likely to engage in dangerous use than females.

In Australia, 84 per cent of the population has mobile phone internet access, and there are more mobile phone subscriptions than people (109.6 per 100 inhabitants).

The study found users with nomophobia were 11.7 times more likely to have a problematic phone dependency and 10.3 times more likely to use their phone in a prohibited space, like a library, classroom or cinema. They were also 14 times more likely to engage in dangerous use - such as while driving, cycling or walking.

The study found mobile phones cause friction between the digital and physical worlds. A user's dependency on their phone for a sense of belonging, connectedness and social identity may even reduce their capacity to navigate social bonds offline.

Lead researcher, PhD candidate Fareed Kaviani, said phones had become part of our lives, but they should be used with caution.

"I think we have habitualised the device into our lives, on both a structural and individual level. The fear of being without one's mobile phone may be a rational response when we have come to rely on them for staying in contact with friends and family, using the digital wallet, scanning QR codes for entry into venues, or to read shopping lists and access information," Mr Kaviani said.

"Use becomes problematic when the digital takes precedence, to the detriment of the physical. Habits are involuntary, and mindless engagement can continue in physical environments where use is prohibited, like the cinema or library, or even become dangerous, such as using a phone while driving or crossing the road.

"If your smartphone use is having a deleterious impact on the physical and/or psychological health of yourself or those around you, then that is a problem. But I think the device, if used mindfully, can be a complement to the supercomputer we already carry around in our heads."

Read more about Mr Kaviani's research here.

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Nomophobia - fear being without your phone? It's a phobia afflicting most Australians

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A Monash University study shows 99 per cent of Australian mobile phone users suffer from nomophobia.

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Click links - no way! What about apps and data privacy?

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Click links - no way! What about apps and data privacy?

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Popularity is a pretty convincing smokescreen. When you hear other people raving about how well an app works, you might download it without a second thought. Unfortunately, tons of popular apps are dangerous for Android and iPhone.

Apple and Google work hard to purge fraudulent apps from their stores. Despite their best efforts, bad guys still slip through the cracks. In fact, online fraud is skyrocketing thanks to phony apps.

Malware isn't the only danger you need to worry about, though. Dangerous apps on Android and iPhone can compromise your security and privacy in other ways. Keep reading to protect your smartphone and delete some of the worst apps for privacy in 2022.

Delete these five dangerous Android phone apps now

Let's start with the most prominent mobile OS in the world. If you didn't know, Android dominated 87% of the global market in 2019. At least, that's according to Statista data.

Due to its popularity, hackers upload unsafe apps on the Google Play Store. Tap or click here for details on the three most dangerous Android malware variants. Other apps won't inject your phone with malware - but they can still hurt your cybersecurity in different ways.

Let's look at a few apps that promise to help you. They have millions of downloads - but in reality, they can track, hack and even con you. If you have these apps on your Android, delete them immediately.

1. ES File Explorer

This wildly popular file explorer app worked well five years ago when it first came out. Now, it's fallen by the wayside. Download the free version and say hello to bloatware, like endless ads and reminders to download other apps.

You can't even turn off these annoying pop-ups. Oh, and it gets worse. In 2019, Google threw this app off the Play Store for fraud. So check your phone for this app and delete it ASAP.

2. Dolphin Web Browser

Starry-eyed Android users can easily get swept away by Dolphin Browser's promises. In reality, it doesn't measure up. It's supported by Flash, which Adobe discontinued a while ago.

It's also a privacy nightmare with rampant tracking. Multiple reports say Dolphin Web Browser keeps records of everything you looked up while in incognito mode. So your browsing sessions aren't private at all.

Plus, it reveals your original IP address even when you have a VPN turned on for privacy.

3. DU Battery Saver & Fast Charge

Once upon a time, this app had an eye-watering 7.6 million five-star reviews. People loved it because it saved their battery. Wait, sorry - it promised to save battery life, but it didn't.

People fell for the placebo effect. Even worse, it puts ads on users' lock screens and notification bars. Google Play Store kicked it out due to a scandal, but many users still have it on their phones. If you have it, delete it ASAP.

4. SuperVPN Free VPN Client

Android users love this app. But cybersecurity analysts say it has a ton of unpatched vulnerabilities.

Hackers can exploit this app's many bugs to steal your info - including private photos and conversations. If you have banking apps, those are in danger as well. For the sake of your privacy, delete this app.

Free VPNs like SuperVPN Free VPN Client often come with a host of cybersecurity issues. Some will even sell your data for a profit, thus compromising your privacy. Here are a few reasons why you should never use a free VPN.

5. S.M.T.H. (Send Me To Heaven)

This app is unique compared to the others on the list. It doesn't fill your phone with ads or trackers. It could just kill your phone. The purpose of this app is to throw your phone in the air as high as you possibly can. Yep, that's it.

As you can imagine, tons of devices have ended up in the digital graveyard thanks to this. Optimistic users downloaded this app, threw their phones into the sky and had to buy another phone.

If you have any of these apps on your smartphone, delete them now. Now that we've covered Android apps, it's time to tackle the second half of our list of popular apps that are dangerous for iPhones. If you're curious about the most harmful apps on iPhone, we've got you covered.

These five apps aren't safe for iPhone

It's hard to answer the question, "What is the most harmful app?" Many apps invade your privacy in many ways, so we're writing this guide to some of the worst apps for privacy in 2022.

Smartphones can invade your privacy in many ways - don't make it easy for Big Tech to steal your data by downloading these dangerous apps on your iPhone.

When you look up popular apps that are bad for your phone's health, you'll find plenty of results. We narrowed down the list to five popular iPhone apps you should not keep. They could put your security and privacy in jeopardy.

1. Words With Friends

Wordle lovers often look for similar games to jazz up their gaming. You may have come across this game. Don't download it unless you're cool with giving away your precise location.

We can't help but wonder why this game needs your location - or what it's doing with that data. If you're looking for a Wordle replacement, here's how to make custom puzzle games.

2. CamScanner

This helpful app lets you snap pictures and turn them into PDFs. It's beneficial for anyone who wants to quickly share documents, ID cards and more. Last year, cybersecurity experts discovered it had contained hidden Joker malware. Here are all the details.

3. Betternet VPN

Look over the 4.2-star rating and the glowing app reviews and you'll probably think this is a fantastic free VPN. However, it's affiliated with Aura, which has a broad company privacy policy. It collects your private data, including IP addresses and other sensitive data.

As we mentioned earlier, free VPNs also come with privacy risks. They often make money by selling your data to third-party ad networks. Avoid this as well as TouchVPN, Hola VPN and more.

4. Yandex

This Russian web browser is one of the most dangerous free browsers on iOS. If you've ever asked yourself, "What apps are invading your privacy?" or "What apps should you avoid for privacy?" you need to know about this.

Researchers with Trinity College Dublin found it has a big problem with data collection and sharing. Not only that, but its opt-out methods are "completely unreliable," researchers say. They went a bit further and added that Yandex is not to be trusted on iPhone or any other device, for that matter.

5. Chicken Shoot Galaxy Invaders and 13 others

We're ending our list of popular apps that are dangerous for Android and iPhone with a bang. If you love online games, you might have put yourself in danger a few years ago.

Apple booted some games from the App Store in 2019, but if you still play older games on your device, you should check your iPhone to make sure you've never downloaded any of these:

Block Game

Bomber Game: Classic Bomberman

Bounce Classic Legend

Brain It On: Stickman Physics

Chicken Shoot Galaxy Invaders

Classic Bomber: Super Legend

Classic Brick - Retro Block

Commando Metal

Classic Contra

Classic Tank vs Super Bomber

Roy Adventure Troll Game

Super Adventure of Maritron

Super Pentron Adventure: Super Hard

The Climber Brick

Trap Dungeons: Super Adventure

If these games are familiar to you, delete them as soon as possible. Tap or click here to find out how they linked back to a malware server.

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10 popular apps that are dangerous for Android and iPhone

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What are the worst apps to have on your phone? Here are the 10 popular apps that are dangerous for Android and iPhone.

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Welcome in to our sixth annual worldwide and U.S. download leader charts, the full year scoreboard of user acquisition winners - the most in-demand apps on the planet. We have 33 top charts below for you to review. Did your company's app make it this year?

Before you start, you may want to understand what a mobile app download is , what this metric is good at measuring and what it does not measure. You can see 2021's worldwide download leaders here.

About the data:
All data is iOS + Google Play combined, except for data from China which is iOS only. Data is from 1/1/2022 through 12/20/2022.

While many of the listed categories are official App Store / Google Play categories, there are some that we created, such as QSR (quick-service restaurants) or Airlines. For official store categories, we are only using apps whose primary category is that category.

Jump to your industry of interest:

Games Food & Drink

Shopping Dating

Travel Education

Entertainment Business

Social Networking Music & Audio

Finance Health & Fitness

For the third year in a row, TikTok was the most downloaded mobile app across the globe. TikTok's publisher, Bytedance has another app in the top 10 for the second consecutive year in CapCut, a video editing app. Meta owns three of the top 10 most downloaded apps of 2022; Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook. And Telegram continues to be a viable independent alternative to Meta's WhatsApp.

Subway Surfers is as iconic as mobile games get. It's an endless runner game from 2012 that always pulls in the most or second most downloads for a mobile game. I can't even remember the last time it changed its app icon. Other stalwarts on our chart include Candy Crush Saga (2012) and 8 Ball Pool (2013). I'm surprised to see Among Us! on the top charts for the third year in a row. When it burst onto the scene in 2020, I thought it would be a fad that was largely created from social changes stemming from the pandemic.

For the first time ever, SHEIN is the most downloaded Shopping app this year. It was #4 in 2020 and #2 in 2021. Wish is notably absent from our charts for the first time since we started creating them (2017). Interesting enough, Temu (owned by Pinduoduo) has made the U.S. list and its value proposition reminds me a lot of Wish. What makes Temu's arrival so impressive is that it only launched in late August of this year.

Nike has always been a top downloaded Shopping app in the U.S. and easily tops our first ever chart showing direct-to-consumer apps. Its management team is actively invested in leveraging digital channels to improve customer experience. Recently Lululemon has been following Nike's lead, enabling it to become the fastest growing D2C app in the United States.

Chinese ride hailing app Didi (#6 in 2021) is gone from the top charts as China's zero tolerance COVID policy took hold. Another sign of the times is that Upside made it into the U.S. top chart, an app that enables consumers to save money on gas and groceries by trading their spending data for discounts. In 2022 we saw both gas and grocery prices rise, followed by downloads of grocery store and membership club apps as people searched for mobile coupons.

Compared with last year, the final three spots on the U.S. OTA top chart have been swapped out. KAYAK, Skyscanner, and Tripadvisor have replaced Travelocity, Orbitz, and Hotwire and with lower numbers than those apps received last year.

The biggest change this year is that we finally pulled the trigger on classifying TikTok as an entertainment app and not as a social networking app, thus taking Netflix's crown as the most installed entertainment app globally. While the numbers and the order are slightly changed, most of the apps in this section are the same ones we saw last year.

There are not any Crypto or stock trading apps this year in the top charts this year. The most installed finance apps are those enabling the movement of money from person to person.

Delivery apps make up seven of the top 10 Food & Drink apps. Still, the focus McDonald's puts on mobile (and its enormous number of locations) enabled it to rack up 112% more downloads than the next closest Food & Drink app on the global chart. If you want more data-driven insights into the QSR industry or QSR loyalty dos and dont's, click those hyperlinks.

For the first time, Sweatcoin becomes the most downloaded Health & Fitness app globally. In April of this year, it announced its brand currency (sweatcoins) would be minted as a cryptocurrency, with the tokens being harder to mint over time. This drove an increase in perceived value for early adopters, and installs skyrocketed.

We're used to seeing both Calm and Headspace on the U.S. top chart, but this year Headspace fell off as meditation app usage fell significantly. Planet Fitness downloads really popped during the summer months due to a promotion which gave free memberships to high school students. Unfortunately for Planet Fitness, they don't appear to be holding onto those users as DAU is now flat year-over-year.

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Apptopia data unveils the most downloaded apps of 2022.

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Quick funny - Is this the most useless video currently avail?   

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Quick funny - Is this the most useless video currently avail?   

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Apple Pay has rapidly increased its penetration of the Australian market over the past 12 months and is set to overtake Afterpay in usage among Australians, according to the latest insights from Roy Morgan.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says the wide variety and growth of digital payment services available are providing an increasing challenge to traditional services such as PayPal and BPAY.

"The growth in usage of Apple Pay has been rapid over the last year with over 3.2 million Australians (15.2 per cent of the population) using the service in the year to February 2023, up significantly from a year ago.

"Apple Pay is closing in fast on 'buy-now-pay-later' leader Afterpay, which was used by around 3.3 million Australians (15.6 per cent of the population) in the year to February 2023. The two newer digital payment services are clearly the standouts from amongst the newer players in the market.

"Apple Pay launched in Australia in late 2015 just over a year after Afterpay and both have grown their market share rapidly over the last decade."

Levine highlights how competitive the digital payment services market is in Australia, with both Latitude Pay and openpay exiting the 'buy-now-pay-later' market in recent months as interest rates have increased and competition in the market intensified.

She explains: "Overall awareness of 'buy-now-pay-later' services such as Afterpay, Zip and Klarna is high with the sector the most well-known type of digital payment service - now 18 million Australians (84 per cent) say they are aware of these services. However, only 4.3 million Australians (19.9 per cent) have used a 'buy-now-pay-later' service in the year to February 2023.

"The usage of 'buy-now-pay-later' services still trails well behind more traditional digital payment services such as 'online payment platforms' PayPal, Visa Checkout and Masterpass. Nearly half of Australians, 10.2 million (47.5 per cent), used an online payment platform in the year to February 2023 - despite lower overall awareness.

"A large factor in the huge difference in the usage of the three services can be put down to time in the market. Both PayPal and BPAY launched in the late 1990s, over 20 years ago, while Afterpay, Apple Pay and other newer rivals have only been in the market for under a decade."

These new digital payment findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia's leading consumer survey, derived from in-depth interviews with around 60,000 Australians annually.
To stay up to date on the latest industry headlines, sign up to the C&I e-newsletter.

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Apple Pay set to overtake Afterpay as 'buy-now-pay-later' leader - Convenience & Impulse Retailing

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Apple Pay has rapidly increased its penetration over the past 12 months and is set to overtake Afterpay in usage among Australians.

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13 Cool Apps to Make Your Everyday Digital Life Easier in 2023

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The only morning must-have that beats your everyday coffee is probably your phone, right? No matter what day it is, where you are, or what you’re doing, you can’t start your day without your phone. But what makes our phones so useful? The answer is just one word - apps! Companies are using new-age t…

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When business leaders think apps, they (still) think Uber

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When business leaders think apps, they (still) think Uber

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6 min video

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5 min read

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In the space of 20 years, smartphones have taken over the world. Billions of people use them every day. But what were the phones that started it all? Let's take a look back at the history of mobile phones...
A LOT can happen in 40 years. But when it comes to technology, 40-years is like going back to the days of Moses or the Roman Empire. Case in point: the mobile phone -- and, more recently, the rise of mobile internet communications, social networks, and super-fast internet.

It was a long road getting here, but now we live in a world where our phones are more powerful than some laptops! It's crazy when you think about it, right? I mean, half of the phones inside our Best Android Phone Guide have more RAM than my mum's laptop! You now have 5G to consider too.

But what were the phones that made it happen? How did we get from the Nokia 3310 to the iPhone 5s (the world's first 64-bit smartphone)? Who were the pioneering brands that made today's handsets possible? And which phone, out of the thousands launched since the 1980s, was the most important? Answer: there have been quite a few.

But first: a history lesson.

History of Mobile Phones

The First Cell Phone...

The world's first mobile phone call was made on April 3, 1973, when Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, called a rival telecommunications company and informed them he was speaking via a mobile phone.

The phone Cooper used - if you could call it that - weighed a staggering 1.1kg and measured in at 228.6x127x44.4mm. With this prototype device, you got 30 minutes of talk-time and it took around 10 hours to charge.

However, the concept of smartphones was first envisaged by Nikola Tesla WAY back in 1926 - he basically predicted iPhones, the internet, and our modern telecommunication-powered world.

First Portable Phone

In 1983, Motorola released its first commercial mobile phone, known as the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. The handset offered 30 minutes of talk-time, six hours standby, and could store 30 phone numbers. It also cost £2639 ($3995).

In the very early days of the mobile space, handsets weren't designed with consumers in mind. You'd need a couple of thousand pounds to get hold of one, and even then performance wasn't great.

Back then, mobile phones were designed with the likes of Gordon Gecko in mind, businessmen-types that drove big Jags and flew Concord. Not your average Joe. And these phones weren't what you'd consider "portable" either.

Even at the start of the 1990s, this was still the case despite Nokia and NEC entering the fray. Nokia's first 'handheld' mobile phone, the Mobira Cityman 900, launched in 1989 and weighed just 800g - a huge improvement over 1982's 9.8kg Mobira Senator model.

1990 to 1995 represented an upward swerve in design and portability, with mobile devices (cell phones) gradually starting to appear in the hands of average consumers for the first time.

When Did Flip Phones Come Out?

Of all the major innovations back in the early days of cell phones, it was perhaps the advent of flip phones that had the biggest impact on consumers.

The first flip phone to come out was the Motorola StarTAC; it was released in 1996 and, thanks to its small and portable size, was one of the most popular cell phones of its time.

In fact, the Motorola StarTAC was so popular it was placed in the number six spot on PC World's Greatest Gadgets of The Past 50 Years. During its time on market, Motorola shifted around 60 million StarTAC phones, making it one of the most popular early cellphones by a mile.

When Was The Flip Phone Invented?

The first actual flip phone, however, was invented in 1989. It was called the MicroTAC, and it was the direct predecessor to Motorola's StarTAC phone.

The MicroTAC featured a semi-clamshell design, whereby the mouthpiece portion of the phone would "flip" down when the user was taking or making a call. Unlike the StarTAC, its buttons and screen were still displayed when, hence the term "semi-clamshell" design.

The MicroTAC was a Motorola phone too, and it picked up where the Motorola DynaTAC left off, shaving off pounds in weight and featuring a vastly more futuristic design. But the Motorola DynaTAC was an important step towards the world's first flip/clamshell phone.

Without the Motorola DynaTAC and the MicroTAC, we wouldn't have had the StarTAC. And without the StarTAC, the idea and popularity of cellphones might never have caught on with consumers, so, yes, we do owe a lot to Motorola and its innovative ways back in the early 1990s.

Keep in mind that these phones were not cheap, either - even by today's standards. The MicroTAC, for instance, retailed for over $2000 when it first came out.

First Nokia Cell Phone

You can't really talk about cell phones without mentioning Nokia because, well, without Nokia, we probably wouldn't have much a phone market today.

And Nokia's role in the growth of the cell phone market really cannot be understated. Neither can its rapid rise as a company, especially given its chequered and rather gloomy history.

For instance, in 1996, Nokia's revenue was around $6.5 billion. Most of it derived from the company's sole focus: telecommunications. By 2001, Nokia's revenue had jumped to a staggering $31 billion. Between 2001 and 2012, Nokia was the biggest phone maker on the planet.

As for Nokia's first cell phone, that'd be the Mobira Cityman 900. Released in 1987, the Cityman 900 was developed and released in conjunction with Mobira. The phone weighed 760g and measured in at 183 × 43 × 79 mm - it was a hulking monster.

In Finland, Nokia's native market, the Mobira Cityman 900 was often referred to as the "Gorba" because Mikhail Gorbachev, the then General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was fond on using one to take his calls.

The Gorba was a monster of a phone though, weighing a ton. And it was only designed to work on the NMT 900 network. The Mobira Cityman 900 also made its Hollywood debut in 1987's Lethal Weapon too, where it can be seen in use in several scenes.

The Mobira Cityman 900 was the first Nokia phone, but it was not the phone that Nokia built its empire on. The most popular Nokia phones were yet to come. And these phones were tiny in comparison to the Mobira Cityman 900 - orders of magnitude smaller.

And once cell phones, notably Nokia cell phones, became truly portable - meaning, they'd fit in your jeans pocket - this was when things really took off.

Starting in and around 1992 with the release of Nokia's first mass-produced phone, Nokia 1011 which could send and receive SMS messages, make calls, and store up to 99 phone numbers, things really started to take off with cell phone adoption.

And Nokia's supplychain was their to meet demand; it produced and designed new cell phones at a dizzying rate, generating tens of millions of sales per quarter. And this trend continued from the early 1990s right up the release of the first iPhone and the first Android phones.

By the late-1990s, mobile devices were fast becoming the norm thanks to the following handsets...

1989 - MOTOROLA MICROTAC 9800X

The Motorola MicroTAC had a pretty long shelf life; it was first introduced in 1989, but then went through a few changes that moved it from an analog phone to a GDM-compatible handset in 1994.

It was eventually succeeded by Motorola's StarTAC in 1996, which was one of the first "true" mobile-capable phones ever released.

1992 - MOTOROLA INTERNATIONAL 3200

The Motorola International 3200 was the world's first digital mobile phone. Like the StarTAC, it was GSM compatible. However, it was never certified, so it could be officially linked to a mobile network.

The phone itself, which is still available in some places, as a collector's item, will actually work on the 900MHz network. You'll just have to track one down, and that will probably be pretty tricky (and kinda expensive too!).

1992 - NOKIA 1011

The Nokia 1011 was the world's first mass-produced mobile phone. It could store 99 numbers and was originally released in November 1992.

Because of the technology inside the phone, the price of the Nokia 1011 was exceptionally high - around €1796 in today's money! That's almost as much as the Samsung Galaxy Fold - a phone that folds and has laptop-grade specs!

The Nokia 1011 was able to send and receive SMS messages, making it the world's first SMS-capable phone.

1993 - BELLSOUTH/IBM SIMON PERSONAL COMMUNICATOR

The IBM Simon was built by IBM and was one of the first instances of a head held, touchscreen device. Originally released in 1994, the IBM Simon went on to sell around 50,000 units total, between 1994 and 1995.

The battery on this bad boy, however, only lasted an hour! And you thought your iPhone was bad...

1996 - Nokia 8810 (AKA: "The Matrix Phone")

The Nokia 8810 was designed to be the most luxurious phone of all time. Nokia pulled out all the stops with this one, adding in the world's first internal antenna and support for 250 contacts.

The 8810 would also connect to early 2G networks, and it was also the phone used by Neo's crew in the blockbuster film, The Matrix, making it a true classic in every sense of the word.

1996 - NOKIA 9000 COMMUNICATOR

The Nokia Communicator 9000 is basically the world's first smartphone, as it ran on an Intel 24 MHz 1386 CPU and also had 8MB of RAM. It was heavy too, and it had a full QWERTY keyboard.

It could do email, texts and make calls - three things that hardly any of the competition could manage in the mid-90s.

The Nokia Communicator cost £1000 when it was first released in the UK.

1997 - Nokia 6110

The Nokia 6110 was the first mobile phone to use an ARM processor and was just one of a long line of 6xxx series phones from the Finnish company.

The handset was targeted at the consumer market and featured things like improved call-quality and extended battery life. It was also the first phone with an advanced user interface, a feature that would soon become standard.
Nokia 6110 Features:
1997 - Motorola StarTAC

Inspired by the communicator from Star Trek, this bad boy was the world's first clamshell handset. Another first for Motorola.

1998 - Nokia 5110

Excellent battery, slim by 1998's standards, and it also featured Snake. What more could a 90s consumer want? Interestingly, this was the first mobile phone I ever owned. I think I was in year nine at school when it came out. At the time, pretty much everybody in my year at school had this device.
Nokia 5110 Features:
1998 - NOKIA 9110I

The Nokia 9210i was the successor model to the Nokia 9000 Communicator and it featured a TFT color display, a 32-bit ARM processor and the first instance of Symbian OS on a mobile phone.

The handset was used by Val Kilmer in 1997's remake of The Saint, as well as Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock in Bad Company.

1999 - BlackBerry 850

The BlackBerry 850 was the first handset released under the BlackBerry brand. Ten years later, RIM would be crowned the fastest-growing company on the planet. And we all know what happened post-2010 as Apple and Android arrived on the scene. BlackBerry's fall from grace is perhaps the saddest thing I have witnessed in my years as a tech journalist. The company, once so influential, now doesn't even make its own phones. Tragic, really...

2000 - Nokia 3310

The phone that all of your mates had at school - if you went to school in the mid-to-late-90s, that is. Even in 2013, many regard the 3310 as one of the best mobile devices ever created. Some even say it's indestructible.

2002 - Samsung SGH-T100

Before Samsung took over the world it made handsets like this, which was the first phone ever to use a thin-film transistor active-matrix LCD display.

2003 - BlackBerry 5810

It didn't have a built-in speaker so you had to plug headphones in to make phone calls, but the BlackBerry 5810 did have email and a QWERTY keyboard.

2003 - NOKIA 1100

Over 250 MILLION Nokia 1100s were sold during its time on the market, making it one of the most successful phone releases of all time. Even by today's standards.

The Nokia 1100 was designed to be basic; it didn't feature a lot of the fancy stuff other Nokia phones had, and this made it very attractive to more basic users.

The Nokia 1100 was officially developed for emerging countries like Nigeria and India.

Nokia's one billionth phone was sold in 2005, as a result of this handset's release.

2003 - NOKIA N-GAGE

The Nokia N-GAGE was the first-ever "gaming phone". It ran on Symbian and featured a rather unique design, whereby the keys were set out on the side of the display.

The phone was designed in an attempt to lure away gamers from Nintendo's Game Boy Advanced. The handset also included support for apps and also MP3, making it a true smartphone in every sense of the word.

On sale between 2003 and 2005, Nokia sold about three million units of this device.

2003 - PALM ONE TREO 600

The TREO 600 was probably the world's first smartphone, as it actually allowed for multi-tasking; you could check the calendar while making a call, for instance.

The result of this phone saw the formation of Palm as a company too, following the merger of Handspring and PalmOne into Palm Inc.

2004 - Motorola Razr V3

Motorola shifted over 130 million of its 'fashion' phone between the years 2004 and 2006, making it the best-selling clamshell handset in history.

2005 - BlackBerry 7270

First BlackBerry handset to feature Wi-Fi, and one of the main reasons for widespread CrackBerry addiction.

Miss QWERTY phones? Check out the Titan Pocket!

2006 - Nokia N95

A true smartphone, one that ran on Symbian, packed in a 332MHz Texas Instruments CPU, and feature 160MB of RAM. It also featured a decent 5-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. I had one of these while I was at university but, unfortunately, I ended up losing it at Glastonbury 2008.

2007 - LG Shine
LG Shine Features:

Dimensions: 99.8 x 50.6 x 13.8mm

Weight: 118g

Operating system: Java MIDP 2.0

CPU: ARM9 115 MHz

Memory: 50 MB Internal, microSD (TransFlash) external memory card slot

Battery: 800mAh Li-Ion

Display: 240 x 320, 2.2-inch Display 262K-color TFT LCD

Camera: 2.0 megapixels + Autofocus

2008 - Apple iPhone 3G

This one needs no introduction and is largely responsible for changing the face of the mobile space forever. Apple's iPhone popularised applications with millions of consumers, helped make touchscreen interfaces the norm, and broke new ground for overall design and finish.

The iPhone 3G was the sharpest tip of the mobile stick, but from here on out things would begin progressing even faster.

2010 to 2021: The Android & iPhone Era

A lot of things happened in the phone market during 2010 and 2021. The first and most obvious thing was the rise of Google's Android platform; it went from a relative newbie in 2009 to the world's biggest mobile phone operating system by 2013, destroying the previously dominant operating systems in the form of Symbian, BlackBerry, and Windows.

Symbian kind of died a death in a relatively short period of time, a death that coincided with the death of Nokia. The two things were related too; Android and iPhones did things differently. People liked how they did things, so more and more people moved away from Symbian.

Nokia died. Then came BlackBerry's slow and painful death. The company's refusal to adapt to changing market conditions combined with people adjusting to new form factors for phones, as well as things like apps becoming a thing, killed BlackBerry's market share within the space of a few years.

The company held on, pushed new phones out, but as more and more people migrated away from BBM to WhatsApp, and Apple's iPhone grew in prominence, BlackBerry's days as a player in the phone space were over. The company's last-ditch attempt to revive its fortunes was a brand new operating, BlackBerry 10, which fell flat on its face.

BlackBerry eventually yielded to market demands and incorporated Android into its phones but by this point, it had zero appeal with consumers. People had moved on, either to Apple or Samsung. BlackBerry flailed around for a bit then called it quits, switching to a licensing deal for its brand which was first undertaken by TCL.

Onward Mobility now has the BlackBerry license and has claimed it will release the first 5G BlackBerry phone at some point during 2021.

We also lost a lot of other brands between 2010 and 2020. HTC died a pretty spectacular death, and so too did LG, one of the longest-standing phone brands in the Android ecosystem. Huawei grew rapidly, almost catching Apple and Samsung, but was eventually knee-capped by the US government, losing nearly all of its market share in the space of 24 months.

Apple and Samsung now dominate the phone space. But it is smaller brands like , , , and that are growing the fastest. And this means, by 2023 or 2023, the biggest phone brand on the planet will probably no longer be Samsung and Apple. It will be a Chinese phone brand. Most likely one owned by BBK, so either OPPO, VIVO, or RealMe.

I wonder how things will change between 2020 and 2030?

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The History of Mobile Phones From 1973 To 2008: The Cellphones That Made It ALL Happen

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In the space of 20 years, smartphones have taken over the world. Billions of people use them every day. But what were the phones that started it all? Let's take a l...