To calculate your 2-D position (latitude and longitude) and track movement, a GPS receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least 3 satellites. With 4 or more satellites in view, the receiver can determine your 3-D position (latitude, longitude and altitude). Generally, a GPS receiver will track 8 or more satellites, but that depends on the time of day and where you are on the earth. Some devices can do all of that from your wrist.
The first smartphone was developed by IBM and BellSouth, which came out to the public in 1993. Althought basic compared to todayâs standards âSimonâ had a touch screen that was capable of accessing email and sending faxes. Smartphones are major extensions on normal cellphones.
IBM's Simon was the first phone to meld together the functions of a cell phone and a PDA, and it launched with the price tag of $899 with a service contract ($1,435 in today's dollars), according to Byte Magazine.ollow Business Insider: Rob Stothard/Getty. People didn't start using the term smartphone until 1995, but the first true smartphone actually made its debut three years earlier in 1992. It was called the Simon Personal Communicator, and it was created by IBM more than 15 years before Apple released the iPhone.