Ladies and gentlemen, tech evolution is often fast-paced and a lot can happen in a very short time. The Android OS by Google has been around since 2007; enough time for smartphones to evolve into what they are today. At the time of its launch, Android was competing with iOS and Symbian from Nokia. Today, Samsung offers arguably the best Android experience after the Google Pixel line of smartphones. But that was not the case twelve years ago.
The first Android phone was the HTC Dream back in 2008. But growing up in the developing world, the first proper Android phone we had real interaction with was the Huawei Ideos U8150. Perhaps, an original unit that is still in the box can sell for thirty thousand dollars or earn a place in the tech museum. In the automobile world, the first cars that the new civilization ever saw were the Landrover Defender and the Peugout 504. The Huawei Ideos is as iconic as the two cars mentioned above. I was only eleven years old when the Ideos hit the market. I did not understand the technicalities of smartphones by then but all I knew was that it run Android; the new operating system that everyone was talking about. At the time one out of every five phones that I saw was a Huawei Ideos.
The Huawei Ideos had adequate hardware at the time. It had a tiny screen by today's standards at 2.8 inches with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. it ran Android 2.2 and the Qualcomm MSM7225 Snapdragon S1 chipset. A standard at the time was removable storage and the Ideos was no exception. It came with a dedicated Micro SD slot. Its internal storage was a respectable 512MB with 256MB RAM. It also had a single 3-megapixel camera with no selfie camera. It was the era of removable batteries and this Ideos came with a 1200 mAh battery. With no real competition and coming in at a very respectable price, the Ideos was an instant hit. It was also the first real smartphone. Corporate people, students, and the general public had a device they could all enjoy on Android. It was a device for the masses. Just like the Volkswagen Bettle was a car for the masses.
This cemented Huawei's market share, especially in the developing world where the iPhone is not as popular. The Ideos was soon due to receive competition from Samsung in the form of phones such as the Galaxy Mini and the Galaxy Pocket. Samsung had a wide range of phones with their focus being on "big" phones both figuratively and literally. The Ideos then enjoyed a good run that prompted Huawei to release the Ideos Y100. Huawei enjoyed a good run and we who have witnessed the evolution from the Ideos lines can only enjoy the journey. Looking back, the Huawei Ideos is an icon; at least in my books. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of our history lesson.