Motorola StarTAC was the first mobile phone which introduced vibrate feature in cell phones (and was held patent by motorolla) . It was released on January 3rd, 1996 and is the first clamshell (flip close) mobile phone. It is the successor of MicroTAC cell phone which was a semi-clamshell design launched in 1989. PC World put StarTAC in the 50 greatest gadgets of the past 50 years in 2005.
First Vibrating Phone – Motorola StarTAC
The key features of the original StarTAC 1996 model included:
- SMS text message
- clamsehell design
- 88 gram (3.1 ounces)
- Optional lithium ion battery (most phones at that time used NiMH batteries)
- Vibrating Call (vibracall), vibrating alert feature for the first time in cell phones.
Motorola StarTAC was revivied in 2004 South Korean market with these features:
- 128 x 160 262 TFT color LCD
- 64 channel sound
- Mobile banking feature supported by SK telecom
- 2,800 entry contact book
Another version of the phone with 18k gold directional keypad was released as StarTAC 2004 SE