Siemens
SL10

The SL10 was Siemens' second mobile phone with a colour display, albeit a very rudimentary one. The display comprised of three colours: red, green and blue, as well as white which provided the background colour on the screen. This was the same technology used on the Siemens S10, which was the world's first mobile phone with a colour screen. It was also Siemens' first slider phone and there is some debate about whether it can be considered the world's first sliding phone. Rival device, the Nokia 8110, had a sliding keyboard cover, which had an active element allowing it to answer and end calls as well as activate the microphone. The SL10 was able to display up to six lines of text, however it was possible to make the font bigger to improve readability albeit reducing the number of lines of text that could be shown. In reality, the 97 x 54 pixel colour screen was little more than a gimmick and it made it quite difficult to read the display at certain angles and in bright light. However, it was a very effective feature from a marketing perspective and allowed Siemens the kudos of claiming a technology first. In the end, the display technology was quickly overshadowed by the vibrant colour display on rival products such as Ericsson T68m.