Do you remember when you had your first mobile phone?
One thing is for sure – it was a long time ago. The mobile phone has evolved over the years and it’s no longer the bulky and heavy handset when it was first introduced in the market.
Internet Connectivity And Other Features
One of the factors that can be attributed to the unprecedented popularity of smartphones is the fact that it has Internet connectivity. In the past mobile phones were restricted to phone calls only – not text messaging, no Internet browsing, no camera, etc.
It was used mainly for making and receiving calls. Today’s generation of mobile phones has everything that makes it convenient for users to do almost anything – check email, send text messages, make and receive calls, shoot videos, take pictures, and many more. It’s a one-phone-does-it-all kind of gadget.
The Advent Of A Wireless Device
Wireless device – that’s what mobile phone technology refers to. Similar to the functions of traditional landline phones, mobile phones are not wired and therefore, portable. The first claim made on a wireless device dates back to 1908, by the Oakland Transcontinental Aerial Telephone Power Company and Prof. Albert Jahnke.
Claiming they had developed a wireless telephone had led to their being charged with fraud, which was dropped later on. However, even with the fraud charge being dropped, the so-called wireless telephone never got to the manufacturing floor.
Wireless Telephone System On Military Trains
In 1918, a wireless telephone system was tested by the German railroad system, on military trains that traversed between Berlin and Zossen. This was followed six years later with public trials on telephone connection on trains between Berlin and Hamburg.
By 1925, the first telephone systems approved for use in postal and other trains using train telephony equipment was supplied by Zugtelephonie A.G. Radio telephony was implemented mostly for military use during World War II.
Handheld radio transceivers or military handsets were made available in the 1940s along with the first mobile phones for automobiles. These devices were characteristically bulky, heavy, and required a lot of power. Additionally, the network at that time only allowed for the limited simultaneous exchange of messages.
First Mobile Phone Service
Bell Labs is said to be the one responsible for the first truly mobile phone service, which became available on June 17, 1946. Bell Labs developed mobile phones that could be used to place and receive calls from their automobiles. Following Bell Labs, AT&T offered shortly thereafter, the first Mobile Telephone Service built on primitive technology and limited network coverage area.
Other Mobile Phone Development Players
Others who lay claim to having a part in the development of cellular technology that puts mobile telephony in a higher dimension and new era include:
- Arthur C. Clarke. He envisioned and predicted a world where people could make calls using their own personal transceiver equipped with a Global Positioning System.
- Leonid Kupriyanovich. He is a Russian engineer who developed a number of experimental mobile phone models between the years 1957 and 1961. The last designs featured mobile phone device which was lighter and compact in size.
- Mobiltelefonisystem A (MTA). This is the first fully-automated automobile mobile phone system. It was unveiled in Sweden in 1956. In 1962, MTB – a system that used push-button calling and improved operational reliability with DTMF signaling and transistors.
- Bulgarian-based Radioelektronika unveiled a mobile automatic phone, in 1965. The mobile automatic phone was designed based on the system developed by Kupriyanovich – with a base station, and one-base station that could provide service for up to 15 customers.
Look at the mobile phone you are using. Smartphones have come a long way, haven’t they?
Article Sources:
http://www.redorbit.com
http://www.corp.att.com
I’ll add that today’s smart phones also help to organize our lives. With apps that seemingly can do just about anything, our lives are only a download click away from becoming easier or more fun. I know that I use my Zynga Poker app every single day whenever I find myself idle, like when I’m sitting in the toilet, waiting in line or at a waiting room or riding in a car.
I remember the days of the socalled brick phone’. I remember when it was a status symbol to carry a cellular phone. And surprisingly enough, that era may seem like a long time ago, but it was only as recently as the mid 1990’s that this was the case. I recall when cellular service was so expensive that cloning the chips in each cell phone was a profitable venture (or crime) for hackers and technicians.
Developers, engineers, and product designers are working on the next great mobile technology. The mobile world is rapidly changing: Smartphones have gone from portable messaging and email devices to streaming-video machines that surf the Web at blazing speed and have cameras that rival point-and-shoots (and they also happen to make calls). I’m wondering what will smartphones look like in five years? Or ten? What sort of amazing things will they be able to do?