This page explains the invention, development, and legacy of the Odin Smartphone — the world’s first true smartphone — and highlights the pioneering work of its creator, Rob Lowe, including his invention of Airplane Mode. It anchors the Odin project as a foundational moment in tech history, supported by primary documentation now held at Bletchley Park.
1. Introduction: The First Smartphone
Before the iPhone, before Android, even before BlackBerry — there was Odin.
In the year 2000, a groundbreaking collaboration between Psion (pioneers of the PDA) and Motorola (giants of mobile telephony) gave rise to a device that would quietly change the course of history: the Odin Smartphone.
Led by Rob Lowe, Odin’s Programme Director and Senior Project Engineer, this revolutionary device became the first true smartphone — combining a full-colour touchscreen, phone, email, internet, apps, multimedia, and even the first-ever Airplane Mode in one compact device, years before such features became mainstream.
“Odin wasn’t just ahead of its time. It defined the time that would follow.”
While its public launch was constrained by corporate shifts, Odin’s influence is monumental. The design principles, technologies, and even operating systems it pioneered went on to power hundreds of millions of devices, laying the foundations for the smartphone era we now live in.
The Odin Smartphone is more than a device.
It is the origin story of the connected world.
2. Meet the Inventor: Rob Lowe
At the centre of the Odin Smartphone story is Rob Lowe — a British engineer, inventor, and visionary whose work quietly redefined the future of mobile technology.
As Programme Director and Senior Project Engineer at Psion (2000–2001), Rob Lowe led the development of the Odin Smartphone from concept to reality. His role encompassed hardware integration, software specification, feature design, and the delicate coordination of teams across Psion in London, Motorola in Florida, and Symbian in the UK and Finland. He documented every major decision, challenge, and breakthrough across three handwritten notebooks — now acquired by and preserved at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.
But Rob’s influence began even earlier. As End-to-End Solutions Programme Manager at Motorola (1999–2000), he was responsible for the world’s first mobile internet deployment over GPRS, publicly demonstrated at the GSM World Congress in Cannes in February 2000. That work laid the groundwork for Odin’s connectivity and cloud-style architecture.
And in a single line, handwritten on February 27th, 2001, Rob Lowe coined a feature now used by billions every day:
“Airplane Mode” — a way to disconnect your device safely during flights.
Merriam-Webster and other authorities now credit Rob Lowe with the first documented use of the term, making him not only the inventor of the first smartphone, but also the creator of one of its most iconic features.
“Rob Lowe is to smartphones what Tim Berners-Lee is to the web — an originator whose influence spans the globe, even if history is only just catching up.”
Today, Rob’s notebooks, systems diagrams, and original terminology offer not just technical insight — but historical proof of one of the most transformative inventions of the 21st century.
3. Why Odin Was Revolutionary
What made the Odin Smartphone so far ahead of its time?
Developed in 2000 and first activated in January 2001, Odin wasn’t just an evolutionary step in mobile devices — it was a technological leap that combined the best of phones, PDAs, and internet computing into a single, pocketable unit. Odin delivered a fully integrated experience that defined what we now call a smartphone.
🔧 Odin’s Breakthrough Features (in 2000):
- ✅ Full-Colour Touchscreen
A vivid Sony display with 4,096 colours — years ahead of competitors - ✅ Airplane Mode (First in the world)
Invented by Rob Lowe and documented on 27 Feb 2001 - ✅ Bluetooth + USB + SyncML
Wireless and wired connectivity, with advanced data synchronisation - ✅ Internet and Email via GPRS
The world’s first practical implementation of mobile web access - ✅ Downloadable Apps + Office Suite
Word, Sheet, games, productivity tools — all in one device - ✅ MP3/MP4 Player + Streaming Video
A rich multimedia experience long before iTunes or YouTube - ✅ GPS + Location-Aware Services
Integrated satellite navigation and context-aware apps - ✅ Security & Cloud-Style Sync
Encrypted comms, remote backups, and cross-device access
“Odin didn’t follow trends. It created them.”
While other devices like the IBM Simon and Palm Pilot were limited in scope, Odin unified everything into a seamless, touch-driven user experience — powered by the Symbian Quartz 6.1 OS and the custom-engineered HALLA chip.
Rob Lowe and his team at Psion and Motorola pioneered not just features, but entire categories of functionality — from sync protocols and touchscreen UX to mobile multimedia, security layers, and app stores.
Every smartphone that followed — from the BlackBerry to the iPhone — owes something to Odin’s design blueprint.
4. The Birth of Airplane Mode
Today, Airplane Mode is a global standard — a one-touch setting that disconnects your phone from wireless signals while preserving offline access. But few know where it came from… until now.
Airplane Mode was invented by Rob Lowe, during the development of the Odin Smartphone in early 2001.
📝 The First Documented Use
On February 27, 2001, in his own handwriting, Rob Lowe recorded the feature now found on every smartphone, tablet, and connected device worldwide. His development notes described the function clearly: a software-based toggle to disable radio transmission for safe use on aircraft.
The original entry — archived and authenticated — pre-dates all other known uses and has since been:
- Recognised by Merriam-Webster as the earliest recorded use of the term
- Digitally preserved at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park
- Referenced in licensing efforts, patent studies, and technology retrospectives
“It was a simple idea. But it solved a universal problem. That’s why it stuck.” – Rob Lowe
✈️ Why It Mattered
At the time, mobile phone emissions were still of concern to aviation authorities. Rob Lowe’s invention allowed Odin users to safely disable all transmission — GSM, Bluetooth, infrared — while retaining access to documents, games, and media. It became a model for future compliance and user safety.
Airplane Mode wasn’t just a technical feature. It represented a new way of thinking:
- That software could govern hardware behaviour intelligently
- That users needed control over their connectivity
- That smartphones were no longer just communication devices — they were personal companions
Today, Airplane Mode is toggled billions of times per day. And its origin lies within a few inked lines, inside a notebook, inside a meeting room — at Psion, in London, in 2001.
5. The Documentation: A Historical Treasure
What makes the Odin Smartphone story irrefutable is this: we have the notes.
Between 2000 and 2001, Rob Lowe documented every critical phase of the Odin Smartphone’s creation in real time — from system architecture and multimedia strategy to Bluetooth pairing, game design, and user experience.
📚 What the Archive Contains
- 3 handwritten notebooks
Totalling 115 pages, each meticulously detailing technical specs, feature debates, timelines, and engineering breakthroughs - Odin system blueprints
Digitally preserved schematic of Odin’s architecture, once pinned to the Psion conference room wall - Mock-ups, schedules, and UI sketches
Including screen layouts, language customisation, and touch interface workflows - 120 original business cards
From team members, engineers, and collaborators across Psion, Motorola, and Symbian
🔏 Provenance and Authentication
- Created by Rob Lowe, Odin Programme Director and Senior Project Engineer
- Contains the first recorded reference to Airplane Mode (27 Feb 2001)
- Backed by a letter from Hamilton Scanlon (Psion Development Director)
- Digitally archived at the National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park
“These notes are not a claim. They’re primary source evidence.”
Unlike retrospective reconstructions or oral histories, the Odin documentation is contemporaneous. It records the actual thought process of the engineer inventing the first smartphone — in his own hand, at the moment of creation.
Today, these notebooks stand as one of the most significant artefacts in mobile technology history. They not only prove who built the first true smartphone — they show how it was done.
6. Legacy and Impact
The Odin Smartphone wasn’t just the first of its kind — it reshaped the world we live in.
Though Odin itself was never mass-released due to shifting corporate priorities at Motorola, its technology, design, and software seeded the smartphone revolution. The breakthroughs it pioneered — and the talent it produced — went on to define the next two decades of mobile innovation.
🌍 Global Influence
- Odin’s Symbian Quartz 6.1 OS became the foundation for smartphones used by Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Fujitsu, and more
- An estimated 500 million smartphones were built on Odin’s software lineage
- Odin engineer David Tupman later became VP of iPhone and iPod Engineering at Apple, helping shape the next chapter of mobile history
- Features like Airplane Mode, app stores, mobile video, and cloud sync — all standard today — began life in the Odin notebooks
📱 A Civilisational Invention
Rob Lowe and the Odin team didn’t just create a product. They changed human behaviour. Smartphones now:
- Mediate how we work, play, travel, and communicate
- Connect over 10 billion devices globally
- Sit at the core of everything from navigation and banking to health, art, and politics
“Odin was a spark — and today, the whole world is lit.”
Every smartphone in every hand owes something to the work done in London and Florida in the year 2000.
🏛️ Historical Recognition
- The Odin Smartphone documentation is now archived at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park
- Rob Lowe’s invention of Airplane Mode is formally recognised by leading lexicons and technology historians
- Odin’s status as the first true smartphone is supported by primary source materials, not claims
7. Watch the Video / View the Notes
🎥 Watch: The Odin Smartphone in 2 Minutes – coming soon
Step back to the year 2000 and witness the invention that changed the world.
This short film tells the extraordinary true story of how Rob Lowe, a British engineer, led the development of the first true smartphone, invented Airplane Mode, and helped define the mobile age.
▶️ [Watch the Video] (Launches full-screen modal)
“Odin: The Forgotten Beginning of the Smartphone Era”
📖 Explore the Original Notes
The Odin Smartphone’s development is one of the best-documented origin stories in tech history.
Now, for the first time, you can explore key pages from the actual notebooks that prove Odin’s legacy — scanned, timestamped, and preserved in digital form.
🔍 View Selected Archive Pages:
- ✅ The first documented mention of Airplane Mode (Feb 27, 2001)
- ✅ Odin’s feature brainstorm (Touchscreen, GPS, Apps, Bluetooth…)
- ✅ Original UI sketches and system diagrams
- ✅ The Odin specification roadmap and team responsibilities
- ✅ The celebration log from the day Odin first powered on
“The moment the screen came to life… we opened champagne.” – Rob Lowe
📂 Access the Odin Archive →
Includes provenance reports, authentication records, and a downloadable PDF index of the full notebook contents housed at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park
8. Licensing and Recognition
The Odin Smartphone story is not just history — it’s intellectual property, and it’s available for licensing, exhibitions, documentaries, publications, and brand collaborations.
🛡️ Legally Protected IP
The Odin Smartphone documentation is:
- Authored and owned by Rob Lowe, Programme Director of the Odin project
- Supported by 115 pages of original handwritten notes, system blueprints, and provenance materials
- Archived at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park
- Linked to the invention of Airplane Mode, now a recognised term with verified historical priority
“This is not a story built on memory — it’s built on evidence.”
📜 Available for Licensing
We welcome collaboration with:
- Museums and galleries – for exhibits on mobile technology, British engineering, and 21st-century innovation
- Media and production companies – for documentaries, biopics, and historical reconstructions
- Educational institutions – for curriculum development in computing, design, and entrepreneurship
- Brand partnerships – for product co-branding, limited edition releases, and mobile heritage projects
All materials are managed by Airplane Mode IP Ltd, including:
- Odin Smartphone IP (documentation, story rights, feature history)
- The term Airplane Mode™ (officially trademarked in multiple classes)
- Domains such as odinsmartphone.com and airplanemodeip.com
🌍 Help Set the Record Straight
You now know the truth: the smartphone didn’t begin with the iPhone.
It began with Odin — and with a man named Rob Lowe.
If you’re a journalist, educator, technologist, investor, or curator and want to help share this story, we’d love to hear from you.
📬 Contact Us →
Let’s bring the true story of the smartphone revolution to light.