Vodafone
GX10

The Sharp GX10 was the anchor product for the Vodafone live! service. Live! was a pioneering multimedia service from Vodafone offering a range of content and services including news, sports, picture messaging, instant messaging, email, downloadable ringtones, games and more. The service officially launched on 24 October 2002, initially in eight countries. In addition to the Sharp GX10, Vodafone offered two further handsets for the launch of live!, the Panasonic GD87, and the Nokia 7650 however neither came close to the popularity of the GX10. The GX10 was a dual-band GSM/GPRS phone with a chrome-effect plastic finish and bespoke user interface. It had a 110K pixel digital camera which was considered the cutting edge at the time, and it also featured a large high-resolution 65K colour LCD display. It was a product of Vodafone’s relationship with Sharp in Japan following Vodafone’s acquisition of J-Phone.  Interestingly, the Vodafone GX10 and GX10i (both manufactured by Sharp) used the same 0.1-megapixel camera as the Sharp J-SH04 (with minor optic changes). The phone shipped with three basic Java games: PK Game, Collection Hunter and Air Hockey. A notable feature of the GX10 was the ability to support the J2ME Java runtime environment which meant apps, such as games could be downloaded. Vodafone live! provided a taste of what Vodafone hoped 3G would offer in future (although it would not launch a 3G network until two years later). Vodafone live! was targeted at 18 to 30-year-olds “interested in socializing and new technology”. At the time it was described as the network operator’s “most significant launch ever”. Services were initially free for three months in an effort to get users hooked on using the phone for more than voice and text.
Live! was supported by a £20m advertising campaign which featured David Beckham, who at the time was a star at Manchester United and captain of the England football team. As a result of this advertising where he showcased the different functions of the GX10, he became synonymous with the device which colloquially became known as the “David Beckham phone”. It was awarded “Best Mobile Phone” at the 2003 GSM Association Awards. Vodafone live! initially proved popular with over 380,000 customers signed up across eight markets in its first two months. By May 2003 there were 1.5 million customers. It lasted until September 2009 when it was shut down and replaced by Vodafone 360 which was a doomed venture built on Linux-based devices.