Ericsson T29m (T36m)

Year: 2000
Prototype level: Cancelled
Codename: Marilyn

Overview

The Ericsson T29m and T36m belong to the development line that eventually produced the T39m. The T29m was an early pre-alpha version, and some of the earliest examples retained a flip-release mechanism operated by a button, much like the one used on the T28. As the design developed, the T36m emerged as a considerably more advanced version of the concept. It was publicly announced by Ericsson in 2000, but never reached commercial production. The T36m is particularly easy to distinguish from the later T39m by details such as its distinctive black keypad and the antenna design carried over from the earlier development hardware. Although the T36m was intended for the market, Ericsson eventually moved on to the T39m, which introduced GPRS and other changes before becoming the commercially released model.

The specimen in this collection is an unusual combination of two stages of the project: the handset itself is a blue T36m, while the flip is a rare, unreleased grey T29m part. The combination preserves the characteristic black keypad of the T29m/T36m development hardware while bringing together components from two different points in the evolution towards the T39m.