The “Features and Innovation” page showcases how the Odin Smartphone, developed under Rob Lowe’s leadership, was the first true smartphone — a product that not only predated the iPhone and BlackBerry but introduced groundbreaking features, many of which are still standard in smartphones today. This page also confirms Rob Lowe’s invention of Airplane Mode and explains its global significance.
The goal is to:
Support these claims with first-hand evidence: the handwritten notebooks and verified provenance documents
Demonstrate Odin’s technical supremacy in 2000–2001
Show that Odin united all smartphone components in one device before any competitor
Confirm that Rob Lowe invented Airplane Mode, now used billions of times daily
1. A Leap Ahead of Its Time
In the year 2000, while the world was still tethered to button-operated mobile phones and black-and-white displays, a quiet revolution was underway inside the offices of Psion and Motorola.
That revolution was called Odin — and it became the first true smartphone.
Led by British engineer Rob Lowe, the Odin Smartphone project brought together full-colour visuals, wireless connectivity, mobile internet, downloadable apps, and a touchscreen interface — years before the iPhone, Android, or even the BlackBerry reached the public.
But Odin was more than a prototype. It was a working product, ready for market, tested internally, and built to ship. It included innovations that would later define the smartphone era, from multimedia playback and mobile browsing, to the now-universal Airplane Mode — a feature that Rob Lowe personally invented and documented on 27 February 2001.
“We weren’t just trying to evolve the phone — we were building the future of computing in your pocket.” – Rob Lowe
Odin didn’t just predict the future — it created it. And every feature it introduced is now a core part of how billions of people live and work today.
2. Feature Showcase: What Made Odin a Smartphone
The Odin Smartphone, developed in 2000–2001 under the direction of Rob Lowe, wasn’t just a glimpse of the future — it delivered it.
At a time when most mobile phones could barely send a text message, Odin brought together voice, data, media, and apps into a single, elegant handheld device. It wasn’t evolutionary — it was revolutionary.
Here’s what made Odin the first true smartphone:
✅ Full-Colour Touchscreen (Sony TFT)
A vibrant colour interface with stylus navigation — long before capacitive touch became standard. It allowed interaction through menus, multimedia, and custom apps.
✅ Airplane Mode (Invented by Rob Lowe)
On 27 February 2001, Rob Lowe created and documented the world’s first “Airplane Mode” — a toggle to disconnect wireless transmissions while keeping apps, music, and tools accessible. Now standard on every device.
✅ GPRS Mobile Internet + Email
Odin offered always-on connectivity via GPRS — a massive step forward from WAP. Users could browse the web, send and receive emails, and access cloud-like services from anywhere.
✅ Bluetooth and USB
Odin featured both wireless and wired communication options for data sync, file sharing, and peripheral connection — far ahead of the market curve.
✅ Downloadable Apps and Games
From productivity tools like Word and Sheet to 3D games, Odin delivered a flexible platform for personalisation — predating app stores by years.
✅ Multimedia Player (MP3/MP4)
Users could play music, stream videos, and store personal media — a feature that wouldn’t reach the iPhone until much later.
✅ SyncML Integration
One of the first devices to use SyncML — allowing data synchronisation across desktops, servers, and mobile devices.
✅ Portrait Smartphone Form Factor
Unlike earlier landscape PDAs or hybrids, Odin introduced the slim, tall form factor with a single large screen — now the global default.
✅ Global Language Support
Odin included multilingual UI and input tools, making it ready for international users and OEM partners.
“Odin didn’t add features. It invented the category.”
These innovations weren’t speculative. They were real, working, tested — and decades ahead of the market.
3. Rob Lowe’s Invention of Airplane Mode
Today, Airplane Mode is a household term — a simple toggle that disconnects your phone from mobile networks while leaving apps, music, and offline tools accessible. But it didn’t come from Apple, Android, or regulators.
It came from Rob Lowe, the Programme Director and Senior Project Engineer behind the Odin Smartphone.
First Use in History: 27 February 2001
Inside Rob Lowe’s Odin development notebook, a single line — dated February 27, 2001 — introduced the world’s first documented use of Airplane Mode. At a time when mobile devices were beginning to disrupt aircraft radio frequencies, Rob envisioned a user-controlled toggle that would disable all wireless transmissions while keeping the device usable.
That note now resides in the archive at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park, and is recognised by Merriam-Webster as the earliest known use of the term.
“It was a small line in a notebook — but it solved a global problem.” – Rob Lowe
Why It Mattered
At the turn of the millennium, aviation authorities were concerned about mobile interference. Airplane Mode was a simple, elegant solution:
- It allowed devices to be used safely on flights
- It gave users control over their signal emissions
- It laid the groundwork for distraction-free modes, digital wellbeing, and offline productivity
Global Adoption
Since Odin, Airplane Mode has become universal, now used across:
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Laptops
- Wearables
- VR headsets
- Even cars and in-flight systems
It is now activated billions of times per day across every country in the world — all stemming from one inventor, one notebook, and one vision.
Every time you toggle Airplane Mode, you’re using Rob Lowe’s invention.
4. System Innovation and Architecture
The Odin Smartphone wasn’t just a showcase of great features — it was an extraordinary feat of engineering integration. Every element of its hardware and software architecture was carefully orchestrated to create the world’s first fully unified smartphone experience.
At the heart of this innovation was Rob Lowe, who not only led the Odin programme across Psion and Motorola, but also documented the entire architecture by hand — from system design to UI logic, from chip selection to user workflows.
Symbian Quartz 6.1 Operating System
Odin was the first device to run this advanced OS — the ancestor of what would power hundreds of millions of smartphones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and beyond.
- Optimised for mobile multitasking
- Custom apps, localised UIs, and stylus navigation
- Modular, extensible design supporting Bluetooth, SyncML, and media playback
Hardware + Software Co-Design
The Odin team, under Rob Lowe’s leadership, worked across:
- London (Psion) — hardware design, UI logic, system coordination
- Florida (Motorola) — radio stack, GSM firmware, certification
- Finland (Symbian) — OS platform, testing, and deployment
This global coordination resulted in:
- A custom build of Symbian Quartz
- Seamless GPRS integration for mobile internet and email
- Smart power management and multi-interface toggling (including Airplane Mode)
HALLA Chip Integration
Odin used a Motorola-supplied HALLA chip for core processing — capable of handling telephony, app execution, media playback, and more, in a compact and efficient format.
- Balanced performance and battery life
- Enabled multitasking and real-time streaming
- Supported next-generation user experiences not seen again until years later
SyncML: Cloud-Style Data Management
At a time when “cloud” didn’t exist as a consumer term, Odin supported:
- Seamless data sync between phone, desktop, and server
- Contact/calendar integration
- OTA (over-the-air) updates and remote settings management
“What Odin pioneered in 2001 became standard across mobile platforms by 2010.”
This was not a prototype — it was a deployable system architecture, built with longevity in mind. Odin’s internal structure anticipated everything from app stores to smart notifications, from embedded connectivity to data decentralisation.
5. Firsts That Shaped the Industry
The Odin Smartphone didn’t follow trends — it set them.
Long before the iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android platforms became household names, Odin had already solved many of the problems they set out to address. In doing so, it quietly introduced a series of industry-defining firsts — each documented, tested, and engineered under the leadership of Rob Lowe.
Here are just a few of the innovations that Odin did first:
First Use of “Airplane Mode”
- ✅ Coined and documented by Rob Lowe on 27 February 2001
- ✅ Recognised by Merriam-Webster as the earliest verified use
- ✅ Now activated billions of times daily on smartphones worldwide
First True Smartphone
- ✅ Integrated telephony, apps, email, multimedia, and internet
- ✅ All controlled via colour touchscreen UI
- ✅ In development six years before the iPhone
First Use of GPRS Internet in a Consumer Smartphone
- ✅ Enabled full web browsing, live sync, and email
- ✅ Showcased live at GSM World Congress, Cannes, Feb 2000
- ✅ Part of Rob Lowe’s earlier Motorola work that directly fed into Odin
🎮 First Smartphone with Downloadable Apps and Games
- ✅ Bundled productivity apps (Word, Sheet, Contacts, Diary)
- ✅ Games including an original 3D shoot-’em-up
- ✅ App modules referenced in Odin’s notebook as early as 2000
🎵 First Mobile Media Player with Streaming Video
- ✅ MP3/MP4 support
- ✅ On-screen video playback tested on Sony TFT
- ✅ Designed for personalisation long before iTunes or YouTube launched
🔄 First Cloud-Style Sync System (SyncML)
- ✅ Enabled data backup and restore across platforms
- ✅ Set the stage for modern iCloud, Google Sync, and OneDrive-style services
🌍 First Multilingual Smartphone OS Deployment
- ✅ Odin was prepared for global release
- ✅ Supported UI localisation and multilingual character input
- ✅ Featured adaptable screen layouts and touch navigation
“Almost everything we take for granted today — Odin did first.”
These weren’t ideas on a whiteboard. They were working implementations, built, tested, and deployed internally across the Odin development network.
6. Evidence and Authentication
And they all began with Rob Lowe’s notebooks, now preserved for posterity at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park.
The Odin Smartphone isn’t a rumour, a retrospective claim, or a vague memory. It’s a documented invention, backed by original source materials, professional testimony, and a digital archive held at one of the UK’s most respected computing institutions.
At the centre of this evidence is Rob Lowe — Odin’s Programme Director and Senior Project Engineer — who meticulously recorded the smartphone’s creation across three original development notebooks.
The Original Notes
- 115 pages of handwritten development records created between 2000–2001
- Cover every major Odin system, feature, test, and milestone
- Include the first documented use of “Airplane Mode” (27 Feb 2001)
- Feature UI diagrams, chip configurations, app flow, feature planning, and internationalisation
Provenance Report
- Prepared and signed by Rob Lowe
- Validates the timeline, authorship, and contents of the notes
- Includes supporting evidence such as:
- Odin system diagram (pinned to Psion’s project wall)
- Screenshots, hardware photos, and printed roadmaps
- Business cards of the Odin development team
- Deployment logs and internal Psion/Motorola correspondence
Preserved at Bletchley Park
- The full Odin archive is held at the National Museum of Computing (TNMOC)
- Digitally scanned, timestamped, and registered for historical research
- Recognised as a formative artefact in mobile computing history
“This isn’t a reconstruction — it’s a primary source record of the first smartphone being built, feature by feature, day by day.”
No other smartphone origin story is supported by this level of first-hand evidence. And no other inventor can point to the moment their feature changed the world — as Rob Lowe can with Airplane Mode.