On January 3rd, 1996, Motorola released the first model in the StarTAC flip-phone series. The StarTAC is often considered the first flip-phone, but there are reports of a clam-shell cell phone developed by NEC in Japan as early as 1991. It was uniquely at the time the size of a pager, and was the smallest and lightest cell-phone ever produced at the time. The StarTAC's iconic design was developed from the previously-released Motorola MicroTAC cell phone, which was first launched in 1989. At the time of release, the StarTAC cost a whopping $1000, which is equivalent to $2010 in 2025.
