PhonesVerified
Google unveils the Nexus One
Google announced its own Android phone, the HTC-built Nexus One, and sold it unlocked from a Google web store for $529, an attempt to bypass carriers that lasted only a few months.
Section 6
Phones & mobile
iPhone 4 and its antenna, Android's breakout year, BlackBerry at its peak with BBM, Nokia still the biggest phone maker on Earth, and the moment unlimited data plans began to disappear.
The year in mobile
5 January 2010
Google unveils the Nexus OneGoogle announced its own Android phone, the HTC-built Nexus One, and sold it unlocked from a Google web store for $529, an attempt to bypass carriers that lasted only a few months.
12 January 2010
Haiti earthquake: text-to-donate raises tens of millionsAfter the 12 January earthquake in Haiti, texting HAITI to 90999 gave $10 to the American Red Cross; the campaign raised more than $30 million and showed how mobile phones and social media could mobilise relief.
8 April 2010
Apple previews iPhone OS 4 with multitaskingApple showed iPhone OS 4 (renamed iOS 4 in June) with multitasking, folders and iAd, and changed its developer rules to block apps built with cross-compilers such as Flash CS5's iPhone packager.
19 April 2010
Gizmodo publishes the lost iPhone 4 prototypeGizmodo paid $5,000 for an iPhone prototype an Apple engineer left in a bar and published photos and a teardown two months before the launch; police later raided an editor's home.
28 April 2010
HP agrees to buy Palm for $1.2 billionHP acquired the struggling maker of the Pre and webOS, promising tablets and phones; it killed the hardware line 49 days after the TouchPad launched in 2011.
2 June 2010
AT&T ends unlimited data plans for new smartphone customersAT&T replaced its $30 unlimited iPhone data plan with 200 MB for $15 and 2 GB for $25, effective 7 June, the beginning of the end of unlimited mobile data in the US.
4 June 2010
HTC Evo 4G launches on SprintThe first US phone marketed as 4G went on sale with a 4.3-inch screen and Sprint's WiMAX network, months before Verizon's LTE.
7 June 2010
Apple announces the iPhone 4 at WWDCSteve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 with a Retina display, FaceTime and a glass-and-steel design; the Wi-Fi in the packed hall failed during the demo. It went on sale on 24 June and sold 1.7 million in three days.
30 June 2010
Microsoft kills the Kin after 48 daysMicrosoft discontinued its teen-focused Kin phones less than two months after launch, one of the most abrupt product failures in the industry's history.
16 July 2010
Antennagate: Apple's iPhone 4 press conferenceAfter weeks of reports that gripping the iPhone 4 dropped its signal, Steve Jobs held a press conference, insisted all phones had weak spots, and offered every buyer a free case.
12 August 2010
Oracle sues Google over Java in AndroidOracle filed a patent and copyright lawsuit over Android's use of Java APIs, beginning a case that reached the US Supreme Court in 2021.
21 October 2010
Windows Phone 7 launchesMicrosoft's rebuilt mobile OS with its Metro live-tile interface reached Europe and Asia on 21 October and the United States on 8 November.
5 December 2010
Verizon switches on its 4G LTE networkVerizon launched LTE in 38 US cities for laptop modems, promising 5 to 12 Mbps; LTE phones followed in 2011.
16 December 2010
The Nexus S launches with Android 2.3 GingerbreadGoogle and Samsung's Nexus S was the first phone with Gingerbread and an NFC chip.
The phones of 2010
iPhone 4
Apple · 24 Jun 2010
Retina display, FaceTime, and the antenna you could not hold
BlackBerry Bold 9700
Research In Motion · Oct 2009
The keyboard phone of the business world and the school corridor
BlackBerry Torch 9800
Research In Motion · 12 Aug 2010
A touchscreen slider running BlackBerry 6
Feature phones
Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Sony Ericsson · 2010
What most of the world actually carried
HTC Desire
HTC · Mar 2010
The Nexus One with Sense, and Europe's Android favourite
HTC Evo 4G
HTC · 4 Jun 2010
The first 4G phone in America, on Sprint's WiMAX
iPhone 3GS
Apple · 19 Jun 2009
The 2009 iPhone that most iPhone owners still carried
Microsoft Kin
Microsoft (built by Sharp) · 13 May 2010
The social phone that lasted 48 days
Motorola Droid X
Motorola · 15 Jul 2010
Verizon's big-screen Android, sold with a robot voice
Nexus One
HTC for Google · 5 Jan 2010
Google's own Android phone, sold online
Nexus S
Samsung for Google · 16 Dec 2010
Gingerbread and the first NFC Android phone
Nokia 5230
Nokia · Nov 2009
The cheap touchscreen Nokia that sold in the tens of millions
Nokia N8
Nokia · Oct 2010
A 12-megapixel camera and the last hope for Symbian
Palm Pre Plus and webOS
Palm · 25 Jan 2010
Cards, gestures and a company bought by HP
Samsung Galaxy S
Samsung · 4 Jun 2010
The start of the Galaxy dynasty
Windows Phone 7 launch phones
Samsung, HTC, LG, Dell · 8 Nov 2010
Samsung Focus, HTC HD7 and the Metro tiles
Side by side
Supported Specifications from manufacturer announcements and the sources listed on each device page.
Then and now
Flagship phone
2010: iPhone 4
3.5-inch 960 x 640 screen, 512 MB RAM, 5 MP camera, 16 or 32 GB, 3G at up to 7.2 Mbps.
Now: A 2026 flagship
6-inch-plus OLED at 120 Hz, 8 to 16 GB RAM, 48 MP-class multi-camera systems, 256 GB to 1 TB, 5G.
EditorialMobile network
2010: 3G, about 1 to 2 Mbps in practice
AT&T ended unlimited data in June 2010: 2 GB for $25. Verizon's LTE launched in December for laptop cards only.
Now: 5G
Hundreds of Mbps on a good day; unlimited plans are common again.
SupportedMessaging
2010: MSN, AIM, BBM, Facebook Chat, SMS
WhatsApp existed but was tiny; iMessage and Snapchat did not exist yet.
Now: WhatsApp, iMessage, Discord, Slack, Telegram
SMS survives mainly for verification codes.
Supported
All mobile events
- PhonesSupported
Haiti earthquake: text-to-donate raises tens of millions
After the 12 January earthquake in Haiti, texting HAITI to 90999 gave $10 to the American Red Cross; the campaign raised more than $30 million and showed how mobile phones and...
- PhonesVerified
Apple previews iPhone OS 4 with multitasking
Apple showed iPhone OS 4 (renamed iOS 4 in June) with multitasking, folders and iAd, and changed its developer rules to block apps built with cross-compilers such as Flash CS5's...
- PhonesSupported
Gizmodo publishes the lost iPhone 4 prototype
Gizmodo paid $5,000 for an iPhone prototype an Apple engineer left in a bar and published photos and a teardown two months before the launch; police later raided an editor's home.
- PhonesVerified
HP agrees to buy Palm for $1.2 billion
HP acquired the struggling maker of the Pre and webOS, promising tablets and phones; it killed the hardware line 49 days after the TouchPad launched in 2011.
- PhonesSupported
AT&T ends unlimited data plans for new smartphone customers
AT&T replaced its $30 unlimited iPhone data plan with 200 MB for $15 and 2 GB for $25, effective 7 June, the beginning of the end of unlimited mobile data in the US.
- PhonesVerified
HTC Evo 4G launches on Sprint
The first US phone marketed as 4G went on sale with a 4.3-inch screen and Sprint's WiMAX network, months before Verizon's LTE.
- PhonesVerified
Apple announces the iPhone 4 at WWDC
Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 with a Retina display, FaceTime and a glass-and-steel design; the Wi-Fi in the packed hall failed during the demo. It went on sale on 24 June...
- PhonesSupported
Microsoft kills the Kin after 48 days
Microsoft discontinued its teen-focused Kin phones less than two months after launch, one of the most abrupt product failures in the industry's history.
- PhonesVerified
Antennagate: Apple's iPhone 4 press conference
After weeks of reports that gripping the iPhone 4 dropped its signal, Steve Jobs held a press conference, insisted all phones had weak spots, and offered every buyer a free case.
- PhonesVerified
Oracle sues Google over Java in Android
Oracle filed a patent and copyright lawsuit over Android's use of Java APIs, beginning a case that reached the US Supreme Court in 2021.
- PhonesVerified
Windows Phone 7 launches
Microsoft's rebuilt mobile OS with its Metro live-tile interface reached Europe and Asia on 21 October and the United States on 8 November.
- PhonesVerified
Verizon switches on its 4G LTE network
Verizon launched LTE in 38 US cities for laptop modems, promising 5 to 12 Mbps; LTE phones followed in 2011.
- PhonesVerified
The Nexus S launches with Android 2.3 Gingerbread
Google and Samsung's Nexus S was the first phone with Gingerbread and an NFC chip.
Jan: Google unveils the Nexus One; Jan: Haiti earthquake: text-to-donate raises tens of millions; Apr: Apple previews iPhone OS 4 with multitasking; Apr: Gizmodo publishes the lost iPhone 4 prototype; Apr: HP agrees to buy Palm for $1.2 billion; Jun: AT&T ends unlimited data plans for new smartphone customers; Jun: HTC Evo 4G launches on Sprint; Jun: Apple announces the iPhone 4 at WWDC; Jun: Microsoft kills the Kin after 48 days; Jul: Antennagate: Apple's iPhone 4 press conference; Aug: Oracle sues Google over Java in Android; Oct: Windows Phone 7 launches; Dec: Verizon switches on its 4G LTE network; Dec: The Nexus S launches with Android 2.3 Gingerbread
