Mass adoption :

In 1999, the Japanese firm NTT DoCoMo released the first smartphones to achieve mass adoption within a country. These phones ran on i-mode, which provided data transmission speeds up to 9.6 kbit/s. Unlike future generations of wireless services, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode used cHTML, a language which restricted some aspects of traditional HTML in favor of increasing data speed for the devices. Limited functionality, small screens and limited bandwidth allowed for phones to use the slower data speeds available.

The rise of i-mode helped NTT DoCoMo accumulate an estimated 40 million subscribers by the end of 2001. It was also ranked first in market capitalization in Japan and second globally. This power would wane in the face of the rise of 3G and new phones with advanced wireless network capabilities.Outside Japan smartphones were still rare until the introduction of the Danger Hiptop in 2002, which saw moderate success in the US as the T-Mobile Sidekick. Later, in the mid-2000s, devices based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile started to gain popularity among business users in the U.S. The BlackBerry later gained mass adoption in the U.S., and American users popularized the term "CrackBerry" in 2006 due to its addictive nature. The company first released its GSM BlackBerry 6210, BlackBerry 6220, and BlackBerry 6230 devices in 2003.

Operating systems :

Symbian was the most popular smartphone OS in Europe during the middle to late 2000s. Initially, Nokia's Symbian devices were focused on business, similar to Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices at the time. From 2006 onwards, Nokia started producing entertainment-focused smartphones, popularized by the Nseries. In Asia, with the exception of Japan, the trend was similar to that of Europe.

In 2003, Motorola launched the first smartphone to use Linux, the A760 handset. While the initial release was limited to a single high-end handset only available in the Asia-Pacific region, the maker's intention was to eventually use Linux on most of its handsets, including the lower-end models. Further models to use Linux such as the Motorola Ming A1200i in 2005 and several successors to the Ming line would be unveiled through 2010. In late 2009, Motorola released the Motorola Cliq, the first of Motorola's smart phones to run the Linux-based Android operating system.

In early 2007, Apple Inc. introduced the iPhone, one of the first smartphones to use a multi-touch interface. The iPhone was notable for its use of a large touchscreen for direct finger input as its main means of interaction, instead of a stylus, keyboard, or keypad typical for smartphones at the time.

In October 2008, the first phone to use Android called the HTC Dream (also known as the T-Mobile G1) was released. Android is an open-source platform founded by Andy Rubin and now owned by Google. Although Android's adoption was relatively slow at first, it started to gain widespread popularity in 2010, and in early 2012 dominated the smartphone market share worldwide, which continues to this day.

These new platforms led to the decline of earlier ones. Microsoft, for instance, started a new OS from scratch, called Windows Phone. Nokia abandoned Symbian and partnered with Microsoft to use Windows Phone on its smartphones. Windows Phone then became the third-most-popular OS. Palm's webOS was bought by Hewlett-Packard and later sold to LG Electronics for use on LG smart TVs. BlackBerry Limited, formerly known as Research In Motion, also made a new platform based on QNX, BlackBerry 10.

The capacitive touchscreen also changed smartphone form factors. Before 2007, it was common for devices to have a physical numeric keypad or physicalQWERTY keyboard in either a candybar or sliding form factor. However, by 2010, there were no top-selling smartphones with physical keypads.

Recent technological developments :

• In 2013, the Fairphone company launched its first "socially ethical" smartphone at the London Design Festival to address concerns regarding the sourcing of materials in the manufacturing.
• In late 2013, QSAlpha commenced production of a smartphone designed entirely around security, encryption and identity protection.
• In December 2013, the world's first curved OLED technology smartphones were introduced to the retail market with the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Round andLG G Flex models. Samsung phones with more bends and folds in the screens were expected in 2014.
• In early 2014, smartphones were beginning to use Quad HD (2K) 2560x1440 on 5.5" screens with up to 534 PPI on devices such as the LG G3 which is a significant improvement over Apple's Retina Display. Quad HD is used in advanced televisions and computer monitors, but with 110 ppi or less on such larger displays.
• As of 2014, Wi-Fi networks were much used for smartphones. As Wi-Fi becomes more prevalent and easier to connect to, Wi-Fi phone services will start to take off.
• Smartphones are increasingly integrated with everyday uses. For instance, credit cards, mobile payments, and mobile banking are integrated into smartphone applications and SaaS platforms. Additionally, recent technological innovations are causing keys to be fused into the smartphones, where the smartphone can act as a digital key and access badge for its users.
• Since 2013, water and dustproofing have made their way into mainstream high end smartphones including Sony Xperia Z, Sony Xperia Z3 and Samsung Galaxy S5. Previously, this feature was confined to special ruggedized phones.
• LG introduced lasers on the LG G3 to help camera focus.

Microsoft Lumia 950XL was the first phone to have Windows Continuum

• Some smartphones can be categorized as high-end point-and-shoot cameras with large sensors up to 1" with 20megapixels and 4K video. Some can store their pictures in proprietary raw image format, but the Android (operating system) 5.0 Lollipop serves open source RAW images.
• In October 2015, Microsoft announced Windows Continuum, a feature that allows users to connect their devices to an external monitor via Microsoft Continuum Display Dock. HP adds a layer to the Continuum with their HP Workplace which enables user to run a Win32 app by a virtualized server.
• The first modular smartphone available to the public is the Fairphone 2 and it was released in December 2015; users can remove and replace parts.

Future possible developments :

• Foldable OLED smartphones could be as much as a decade away because of the cost of producing them. There is a relatively high failure rate when producing these screens. As little as a speck of dust can ruin a screen during production. Creating a battery that can be folded is another hurdle.
• Near future smartphones might not have a traditional battery as their sole source of power. Instead, they may pull energy from radio, television, cellular or Wi-Fi signals.