[Smartphone](http://a%20device%20that%20combines%20a%20cell%20phone%20with%20a%20hand-held%20computer,%20typically%20offering%20Internet%20access,%20data%20storage,%20email%20capability,%20etc.), an increasingly popular term, refers to: 

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> * a device that combines a cell phone with a hand-held computer, typically offering Internet access, data storage, email capability, etc.
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According to the [The History of the Smartphone](http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2011/12/06/the-history-of-the-smartphone/): 

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> * Ericsson was the first brand to actually coin the phrase “smartphone”, with the release of its GS88 in 1997.
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* [Ngram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=smartphone&year_start=1980&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csmartphone%3B%2Cc0) shows that the term actually took off from the mid-90's, but there appear to be earlier instances of its usage as shown in:
[*Popular Science - Nov. 1990, page 47*](https://books.google.it/books?id=tgEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA47&dq=%22smartphone%22&hl=it&sa=X&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAmoVChMImNG0pLPUyAIVx51yCh39VwDx#v=onepage&q=%22smartphone%22&f=true) :

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> * To simplify things, AT&T Co. has devised the SmartPhone. It looks like a phone, but it is really a miniature computer with a touch-sensitive 4-by-6.5-inch screen.
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Question: 

Being a relatively recent expression I wonder if it is possible to accurately trace who first used it and when. 

***Edit:*** some comments suggest it is 'hard' to trace its earliest usage/usages because its origin is from a common adjective (smart) which was very likely used referring to phones before the term became common as *smartphone*. Though I agree with this, "smartphone" is a neologism which came into being, as many others, at one point in time and most likely some tech/telecom company used it first as a single word.