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Most innovative smartphones of the last five years?

RIM 7250 (made the full querty keyboard wildly popular on a handheld, push email rocks)
Apple iPhone 1 (took touchscreen UI and interaction to a whole new level)
HTC G1 (brought Android to the masses)
 
Im not really sure but for sure the original iPhone was the biggest innovation in the smartphone industry. I believe that we would be like 3+ years back if Apple never released it. The change was just so dramatic. It's amazing to watch the original keynote and see the audience get so wowed by multitouch and elastic scrolling back in 2007.
 
Vihzel said:
Im not really sure but for sure the original iPhone was the biggest innovation in the smartphone industry. I believe that we would be like 3+ years back if Apple never released it. The change was just so dramatic. It's amazing to watch the original keynote and see the audience get so wowed by multitouch and elastic scrolling back in 2007.
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Agreed.

There is no doubt in my mind that apple change the way consumers looked at smartphones. IMO, Apple changed everything and forced the other manufacturers yup keep up and surpass what they had started?

Fortunately, Android (and the device manufacturers) have stepped up to the plate!
 
Vihzel said:
Im not really sure but for sure the original iPhone was the biggest innovation in the smartphone industry. I believe that we would be like 3+ years back if Apple never released it. The change was just so dramatic. It's amazing to watch the original keynote and see the audience get so wowed by multitouch and elastic scrolling back in 2007.
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You hit the nail on the head there, V.

New devices that came along one by one seemed to be in the stream of progress, almost predictable. But Apple made a quantum leap with that gadget called the iPhone.

I've often thought, "no iPhone, no Android."
 
IMO
original iPhone was definitely the biggest, North American phones were absolute crap and used horribly outdated technology compared to other parts of the world, the iPhone changed all that.

Next would probably be the Motorola Droid. Android is a great OS, but until the Droid, it only had like one or two phones, and they were kinda meh compared to the iPhone released closest to them. The Droid changed that.
 
Frisco said:
I've often thought, "no iPhone, no Android."
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Right with you on that. Android is born out of competition. The iPhone was definately the gadget phone that paved the way. And I think everyone assumed one of the other major players (RIM, Nokia, Palm) would fire off something in response to it relatively quickly.

The BB Storm was like a SCUD missile Saddam launched at the allied forces, that shot out of its silo tall & straight... then promptly ran out of fuel and crashed into a sand dune long before reaching its target. But hey, at least they TRIED! Everyone else was shivering in the corner, terrified to even look it in the i. Pathetic.

So since everyone else was sitting on their hands, Google bought the company that was developing Android, and took them on themselves. Any fanboy that wants to make the argument that Android just copied Apple needs to eat a slice of humble pie. Android took a look at what Apple was doing right, as well as some other OS's, and tweaked them to create something (that was in their opinion) better.

Which is no different from what Apple did. They didn't invent anything brand spankin new, they tweaked a bunch of existing technologies to make something (that was in their opinion) better. Android isn't identical to iOS, but it bares a much bigger resemblance to it than RIMs attempt.

Which is why I feel the Storm failed so miserably. They tried to make their challenger TOO Blackberryesque. It was obvious the masses wanted what Apple had to offer. But RIM didn't give them that. They just dressed up a Blackberry in iPhone clothing (and not very well I might add), and it fooled nobody. Give Google credit, they figured out what it was about iOS that people wanted, took out what they didn't think they wanted, and added a few additional things that they thought they might like. And that package has proven itself victorious.

But they never would have known to put that package together had Apple not led the way. So I thank iOS from the bottom of my heart.
 
i think most .. will agree .. iphone change the direction of smartphones in the RIGHT direction. which we here and many other places have discussed.. we dont want this thread merged with the others.

but the OP asked for 3 phones that was innovative... iphone was 1.. name 2 more.. there are a few that make the list, but what are the top 3?

EVO added 4G, HDMI, put all the right parts together for android to shine.

G1 introduced android.. but was not widely accepted.

Droid made android main stream, but it did not add any innovations.

was it Palm that introduced the first smartphone? PDA + Phone + Internet browsing..

Blackberry.. was good for business... with email and messaging.. but was it innovative?

so my 3, as stated way above: first palm phone, iphone, evo (or G1)
 
I would have to agree that the iPhone was the big one. It brought smartphones into the main stream.

The BlackBerry was another one. It's primary target market is the business user. At my work, these started appearing everywhere at my work place a few years ago. Initially, only managers got them, but now they have trickled down to the staff as well. It does also have a smaller main stream following because of BlackBerry's messaging capabilities and its physical QWERTY form factor.

It's hard to pick a third one. I'm going to go with the Nokia N95. It's an impressive smartphone at the time with the T9 keypad form factor. The camera unit on it is as impressive as (if not more than) some high end phones today.
 
Yeah the iPhone is probably a universal pick, I mentioned Blackberry in my list because it of its email solution. It brought reliability and speed to hand helds as far as email is concerned. Which is why it absolutely took off in the business community. My 3rd selection was sort of hard to really put a finger on.

I had considered including the Motorola StarTAC since it was the first 'flip-phone'. And the clamshell form factor became HUGELY popular. But the OP was asking about more recent technology. And considering the fact that Android is taking over the world right now, I figured the G1 was the phone that introduced us to Google's baby.

I'm not saying my list is any more RIGHT than anyone else's, lol! Just explaining my choices.
 
Outlaw, I like your "at least they tried" thought on the BB Storm. They tried. I had one and it did most everything I wanted. It had poor app memory and that doomed it. If it had more memory and more apps it would have been on the list.....for real :)
 
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