Nokia 9000 Communicator

The Nokia 9000 Communicator mobile device is the first product in Nokia's Communicator series, announced at CeBIT 1996 and introduced into the market on five months later, 15 August 1996. It is powered by a 24 MHz Intel i386 CPU, with 8 MB of memory, divided between applications (4 MB), program memory (2 MB) and user data (2 MB), running PEN/GEOS 3.0. The Communicator, with its digital GSM cellular telephone, was one of the earliest smartphones on the market, after the IBM Simon in 1994 and the HP OmniGo 700LX, a DOS-based palmtop PC with integrated cradle for the Nokia 2110 cellular mobile phone, announced in late 1995 and shipped in August 15, 1996. The Communicator was highly advanced at the time, featuring sending and receiving e-mail and fax via its CSD (Circuit Switched Data) modem, to transmit data over the GSM network at a bitrate of 9.6 kbit/s, printing documents using its IrDA port, and it also had a web browser and business programs. It is formed of a clamshell design that opens up to reveal a monochrome LCD with a 640 × 200 resolution and a full QWERTY keyboard similar to a Psion PDA, and weighing 397 grams (14.0 oz). It was priced £1,000 in the UK upon launch (equivalent to £2,000 in 2025).