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Test Yourself

Quiz: How much do you know about smartphones?

The European Union made an important decision this week that’ll affect them.

SMARTPHONES. NEARLY EVERYONE in Ireland has one, but how much do you know about them?

This week, the European Union made an important decision that’ll affect smartphones (you’ll do well on Question 10 if you know what it was).

So, how much do you know about smartphones?

The IBM Simon from 1994 is considered to be the first smartphone (though at the time, it was called a ‘personal communicator’). Which of these features did it have?
Alamy
Email
Camera

GPS
QWERTY keyboard
But the IBM Simon wasn’t very successful - which one of these was a reason for that?
It couldn’t receive faxes
The battery life was too short

The name ‘Simon’ didn’t appeal to customers
Its clock was set to the wrong time
This ‘clamshell’ phone with a hinge and QWERTY keyboard in 1996 had web browsing, email, a calculator, calendar, and other features - who released it?
BlackBerry
Apple

Motorola
Nokia
True or false: When BlackBerry phones became popular, the term ‘crackberry’ was used to describe how addictive they were.
True
False
What year did Apple release the first iPhone?
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2001
2004

2007
2010
Which allowed contactless payment by smartphone first - Android or Apple?
Android
Apple
Smartphones can have a ‘kill switch’ that allows the owner to remotely make it unusable if it’s lost or stolen. A US-based initiative pushing for the feature in 2015 was led by New York’s attorney general, San Francisco’s district attorney, and which UK politician?
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Arlene Foster
David Cameron

Boris Johnson
Nicola Sturgeon
In 2016, Samsung infamously recalled one of its new phones worldwide only two months post-release after batteries were generating excessive heat and causing fires. Which phone was it?
Samsung Galaxy J1 Ace
Samsung Galaxy Grand Max

Samsung Z2
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
True or false: In 2019, a study found that 72% of people who own a phone in Ireland have a smartphone.
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True
False
What decision did the EU make this week that will affect smartphones?
Only carbon-neutral phones can be placed on the market from 2035
Third-party apps will no longer be allowed to use face-recognition software

Smartphone providers must offer free data protection training to all consumers by the end of next year
All phones must use a USB-C charger from 2024
Answer all the questions to see your result!
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You scored out of !
Not your best
You're this smashed screen
Share your result:
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You scored out of !
Not too bad, but could be better
You're this smartphone in the rain
Share your result:
Alamy
You scored out of !
Well done!
You're this indestructible Nokia
Share your result:

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