At the end of the 20th century almost everybody seemed to own a Nokia mobile phone – and not only because of the popular Snake game that ran on it. For many years, Nokia constantly set new technological standards. The Nokia 8850, for example, revolutionized phones by featuring the T9 predictive text assistant which supported users when typing by providing automated text modules. This meant the model was the very first mobile phone with an integrated high-tech text function.

In visual terms, the 8850 model resembled its predecessor, the 8810, with its different colored replaceable casings which enabled personalization for the first time. Thanks to this gadget, the mobile phone became a fashion accessory. The Nokia 8850 however boasted a further improvement: a longer-lasting casing made of aluminum rather than plastic. Nokia introduced the sliding keypad cover as early as 1996 with its so-called Banana phone. The mobile earned its name from its curved shape when opened, and became famous thanks to the movie Matrix.