Ericsson actually made the world&#x27;s first full touchscreen smartphone in 2000, seven years before the iPhone:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gsmhistory.com&#x2F;ericsson-r380&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gsmhistory.com&#x2F;ericsson-r380&#x2F;</a><p>This model R380 had a plastic flip in front of the touch screen. With the flip closed, it looked like an average chunky Ericsson phone (the keys on the flip pressed the touchscreen). With the flip open, it became essentially a widescreen PDA with mobile data access (although browsing the Internet on GSM data sure wasn&#x27;t fast or cheap).<p>The successor model P800 had a color screen and was more pocketable. It was so far ahead of its time that &quot;Steve Jobs was heard raving about it&quot; [1].<p>Patents aside (I&#x27;m not qualified to comment), it&#x27;s not quite so far-fetched that Apple&#x27;s iPhone project does actually have a spiritual debt to Ericsson.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theregister.co.uk&#x2F;2006&#x2F;09&#x2F;04&#x2F;sony_ericsson_p990i_review&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theregister.co.uk&#x2F;2006&#x2F;09&#x2F;04&#x2F;sony_ericsson_p990i_...</a>