paragraph_text: The PDP-7 was a minicomputer produced by Digital Equipment Corporation as part of the PDP series. Introduced in 1964, shipped since 1965, it was the first to use their Flip-Chip technology. With a cost of , it was cheap but powerful by the standards of the time. The PDP-7 is the third of Digital's 18-bit machines, with essentially the same instruction set architecture as the PDP-4 and the PDP-9.

paragraph_text: Internet Explorer Mobile (formerly named Pocket Internet Explorer; later called IE Mobile) is a discontinued mobile browser developed by Microsoft, based on versions of the Trident layout engine. IE Mobile comes loaded by default with Windows Phone and Windows CE. Later versions of Internet Explorer Mobile (since Windows Phone 8) are based on the desktop version of Internet Explorer. Older versions however, called Pocket Internet Explorer (found on Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile), are not based on the same layout engine.

paragraph_text: Prior to 1973, mobile telephony was limited to phones installed in cars and other vehicles. Motorola was the first company to produce a handheld mobile phone. On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive, made the first mobile telephone call from handheld subscriber equipment, placing a call to Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs, his rival. The prototype handheld phone used by Dr. Cooper weighed 1.1 kilograms (2.4 lb) and measured 23 by 13 by 4.5 centimetres (9.1 by 5.1 by 1.8 in). The prototype offered a talk time of just 30 minutes and took 10 hours to re-charge.

paragraph_text: Before the devices existed that are now referred to as mobile phones or cell phones, there were some precursors. In 1908, a Professor Albert Jahnke and the Oakland Transcontinental Aerial Telephone and Power Company claimed to have developed a wireless telephone. They were accused of fraud and the charge was then dropped, but they do not seem to have proceeded with production. Beginning in 1918, the German railroad system tested wireless telephony on military trains between Berlin and Zossen. In 1924, public trials started with telephone connection on trains between Berlin and Hamburg. In 1925, the company Zugtelephonie A.G. was founded to supply train telephony equipment and, in 1926, telephone service in trains of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and the German mail service on the route between Hamburg and Berlin was approved and offered to first - class travelers.

paragraph_text: The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is a smartphone by Nokia announced on June 15, 2009. Part of the XpressMusic series of phones, it emphasizes music and multimedia playback. It is Nokia's third touchscreen phone (after the 5800 and N97) based on the Symbian OS S60 5th edition platform.

paragraph_text: Before the devices existed that are now referred to as mobile phones or cell phones, there were some precursors. In 1908, a Professor Albert Jahnke and the Oakland Transcontinental Aerial Telephone and Power Company claimed to have developed a wireless telephone. They were accused of fraud and the charge was then dropped, but they do not seem to have proceeded with production. Beginning in 1918, the German railroad system tested wireless telephony on military trains between Berlin and Zossen. In 1924, public trials started with telephone connection on trains between Berlin and Hamburg. In 1925, the company Zugtelephonie AG was founded to supply train telephony equipment and, in 1926, telephone service in trains of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and the German mail service on the route between Hamburg and Berlin was approved and offered to first - class travelers.

paragraph_text: Sage Telecom, Inc was founded in 1996 as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) reselling telecommunications primarily in rural markets served by SBC Communications. The company provided local phone service, local bundled phone service and dial up internet access in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. In February 2006 the company announced eSageLink, a high-speed dial up Internet service available first in and around Muncie, Indiana. In January 2007, Sage announced it had been acquired by hedge fund Silver Point Capital. In July, 2012, Sage was acquired by Telscape Communications.

paragraph_text: A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built - in digital cameras. The first camera phone was sold in 2000 in Japan, a Sharp J - SH04 J - Phone model, although some argue that the SCH - V200 and Kyocera VP - 210 Visual Phone, both introduced months earlier in South Korea and Japan respectively, are the first camera phones.

paragraph_text: Ericsson had decided to obtain chips for its phones from a single source—a Philips facility in New Mexico. On March 17, 2000, a fire at the Philips factory contaminated the sterile facility. Philips assured Ericsson and Nokia (their other major customer) that production would be delayed for no more than a week. When it became clear that production would actually be compromised for months, Ericsson was faced with a serious shortage. Nokia had already begun to obtain parts from alternative sources, but Ericsson's position was much worse as production of current models and the launch of new ones was held up.Ericsson, which had been in the mobile phone market for decades, and was the world's third largest cellular telephone handset maker at the time behind Nokia and Motorola, was struggling with huge losses and decreasing market share. This was partly due to this fire as well as its inability to produce cheaper phones or fashionably-designed phones like Nokia managed to do. Speculation began about a possible sale by Ericsson of its mobile phone division, but the company's president, Kurt Hellström, said it had no plans to do so. Hellström said, "Mobile phones are really a core business for Ericsson. We wouldn't be as successful (in networks) if we didn't have phones".Sony was a marginal player in the worldwide mobile phone market with a share of less than 1 percent in 2000. By August 2001, the two companies had finalised the terms of the merger announced in April. Ericsson contributed a majority of the Ericsson Mobile Communications company, excluding a minor part spun off as Ericsson Mobile Platforms. Sony contributed its entire handset division. The company was to have an initial workforce of 3,500 employees.

paragraph_text: Prior to 1973, mobile telephony was limited to phones installed in cars and other vehicles. Motorola was the first company to produce a handheld mobile phone. On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive, made the first mobile telephone call from handheld subscriber equipment, placing a call to Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs, his rival. The prototype handheld phone used by Dr. Cooper weighed 1.1 kg (2.42 lb) and measured 23 cm long, 13 cm deep and 4.45 cm wide. The prototype offered a talk time of just 30 minutes and took 10 hours to re-charge.

paragraph_text: PeopleFinders.com is a public records business located in Sacramento, California. The company offers a variety of public records including address histories, phone numbers and background checks.

paragraph_text: In 1977 Samsung Electronics launched the Telecommunication Network, and in 1983 it initiated its mobile telecommunications business with the hope that this would become the company's future growth engine. In 1986, Samsung was able to release its first built - in car phone, the SC - 100, but it was a failure due to the poor quality. In spite of unsuccessful result Ki Tae Lee, the then - head of the Wireless Development Team, decided to stay in the mobile business. He asked the company to buy ten Motorola mobile phones for benchmarking. After 2 years of R&D Samsung developed its first mobile phone (or ``hand phone ''in Korea), the SH - 100 in 1988. It was the first mobile phone to be designed and manufactured in Korea. But the perception of mobile devices was very low and although Samsung introduced new models every year, each model sold only one or two thousand units.

paragraph_text: Golan Telecom () is a mobile network operator in Israel. In July 2011 the company won a tender to operate a 3G wireless network in Israel beginning in 2012, The company was one of the first low-cost mobile phone companies that led to increased competition in the cellular communications market in Israel, due to the price policy adopted by the company at the beginning of its activity.

paragraph_text: In 1965, Bulgarian company ``Radioelektronika ''presented on the Inforga - 65 international exhibition in Moscow the mobile automatic phone combined with a base station. Solutions of this phone were based on a system developed by Leonid Kupriyanovich. One base station, connected to one telephone wire line, could serve up to 15 customers.

paragraph_text: Flip and Flop is an isometric platform game for the Atari 8-bit family designed by Jim Nangano and published in 1983 by First Star Software. Statesoft released a Commodore 64 port the following year. The Commodore 64 box cover, which features a photo of acrobats that does not relate to the game itself, changes the name to Flip & Flop; it remains "Flip and Flop" on the title screen.

paragraph_text: After the start of the civil war, various new telecommunications companies began to spring up in the country and competed to provide missing infrastructure. Somalia now offers some of the most technologically advanced and competitively priced telecommunications and internet services in the world. Funded by Somali entrepreneurs and backed by expertise from China, Korea and Europe, these nascent telecommunications firms offer affordable mobile phone and internet services that are not available in many other parts of the continent. Customers can conduct money transfers (such as through the popular Dahabshiil) and other banking activities via mobile phones, as well as easily gain wireless Internet access.

paragraph_text: Netopia was a company headquartered in Emeryville, California that produced a variety of broadband products including modems, routers, gateways, and Wi-Fi devices. The company also produced the NBBS (Netopia Broadband Server Software), as well as the Timbuktu remote administration software. The company was founded in 1986 as Farallon Computing and changed its name to Netopia in 1998. Farallon Computing originated PhoneNet, which was an implementation of LocalTalk over plain telephone wiring. Netopia was acquired by Motorola in the first quarter of 2007.

paragraph_text: The Motorola StarTAC is a clamshell mobile phone manufactured by Motorola. It was released on January 3, 1996, being the first ever clamshell / flip mobile phone. The StarTAC is the successor of the MicroTAC, a semi-clamshell design that had been launched in 1989. Whereas the MicroTAC's shell folded down from below the keypad, the StarTAC folded up from above the display. In 2005, PC World put StarTAC at # 6 in The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years.

paragraph_text: In December 1998, XS4ALL was sold to the Dutch incumbent phone company KPN. Many of the original employees, especially system managers, still work there.

paragraph_text: In 1979, the merger of Nokia and Salora resulted in the establishment of ``Mobira Oy ''. Mobira developed mobile phones for the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) network, called the`` 1G'' and was the first fully automatic cellular phone system. It became commercially available in 1981. In 1982, Mobira introduced its first car phone, the ``Mobira Senator ''for NMT -- 450 networks.

Question: When did the first flip phone by the company Netopia is part of come out?
Answer: January 3, 1996