[citation][nom]sundragon[/nom]Really Cupcake?I love how people like to rewrite history to make themselves feel better...Let's see... Years ago when Android was still a great idea at Google, not even in the womb, and Blackberries ruled the world alongside Palms - you know - you've seen them in the museums: Apple introduced the iPhone. The closest comparable phone in the US was the Nokia N95 that could be used in place of a brick, and lasted approximately 12 minutes when you powered it up. Apple had a touch screen interface that was like the Starship Enterprise compared to Palm's "Atari Pong" interface. The Blackberry's "interface" wasn’t even touch screen... About a year later Apple added an app store, Palm had tried and miserably failed to do the same earlier - Guess what? Apple's app store was such a great idea for users and developers that Google made one of their own! If Apple hadn't entered this market, made the benchmark for a smart phone, Google may not have entered, and the phone you and I use would still look like Atari's Pong and last approx. 12 minutes between charges… The only advantage was women could use it in self-defense by throwing it at their attacker…I love capitalism… May the best one win![/citation]
Actually that very same year AT&T released the Tilt WM6 phone. That's not catch up, but a first as well. The Tilt had GPS, WiFi, tethering, cut&paste, touch screen, pull out keyboard, tilt screen, a touch pad just to name a few. Well ahead of the iPhone!
The first touchscreen phone was the IBM Simon, launched in 1992. During this decade the popular iPaq (not made by Apple by the way) was launched with touchscreens and optional phone attachments. HTC, the leader in touchscreen phones up until the iPhone and makers of phones like the Nexus One launched their first touchscreen phone, the HTC Wallaby aka XDA in 2002.
But I agree what really put the iPhone on the map was the app store, a fantastic PR gimmick that took off. And that is where the iPhone legacy lies, not in its hardware, but it's apps.