Ericsson GF738

Year: 1996
Prototype level: Cancelled
Codename: Emma

Overview

The Ericsson GF738 in this collection is an unusual and poorly documented prototype for which almost no information appears to have survived online. Externally, it closely resembles the AF738 and EF738, but its hardware points to a different configuration. Unlike those related models, this version is a GSM 900 handset with a SIM-card interface, suggesting that Ericsson was adapting the design for a conventional GSM network.

At least three examples of this otherwise obscure hardware are known to the collector: the relatively complete specimen represented here and two earlier prototypes showing a considerably less finished stage of development. Particularly interesting is the main board. The PCBA carries the part number 2/ROA1193283/7, which is also found on Ericsson GF788 prototypes. This shared board identification suggests a connection between the two development projects, although the exact relationship between the GF738 prototype and the GF788 remains unknown.

With no known Ericsson documentation describing the GF738 in this form, and no evidence that this particular configuration was ever commercially released, the phone remains something of a mystery. It is precisely this combination of a familiar Ericsson exterior, unusual GSM hardware and a direct link to another prototype in the collection that makes the GF738 particularly interesting.