JB988

Recreating the Most Iconic Bond Phone

The Ericsson JB988 mobile phone is a unique and fictional handset created for a British secret agent whom you may have heard of, working for MI6 under the codename 007. Before embarking on a new mission Q would pull out some new gadgets, in the 1997 James Bond Film Tomorrow Never Dies the JB988 became one of the most famous and iconic Bond phones. Only existing as a small number of prototypes, each variant was developed to perform special features, such as ejecting taser prongs to electrocute baddies or folding open to reveal a touchpad remote control that allowed James Bond to drive his BMW 750iL (very accurately, whilst being shot at) from the back seat.

Highly regarded Tech Analyst Ben Wood had the vision to capture and document the highly innovative design era from the mid ’90s onwards when the mobile phone evolved from an emerging technological innovation to an essential everyday physical object that has changed everything! The Mobile Phone Museum was born and the gargantuan task of tracking down every mobile phone handset, unearthing its history and photographing it began. For Ben, the JB988 was one mobile handset that simply must feature in the launch collection. Phase Two was challenged to recreate the iconic mobile phone to provide the most faithful and accurate model ever produced.

The major challenge was packing all the features in the original size, as seen in the film. It would have been much easier to make the phone bigger to accommodate all of the necessary mechanics, but that wouldn’t have been right. Leveraging Phase Two's many years of industrial design and engineering experience, we battled for every 0.1 of a millimetre whilst creating the data. The 3D CAD design data was tailored to a number of cutting-edge technologies used to make the components. A key feature of the mobile handset is the spikes that are hidden until they slide out the thin lower edge. To ensure these spikes had an authentic look and feel in the JB988 model, a 3D printing process known as Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) was employed to produce the parts in stainless steel. There is currently only one of these handsets in existence. For now, you can check it, and other memorable handsets at the Mobile Phone Museum. Watch a video of how it was made here.

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