By Bridget Borgobello
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| 40 years ago the first cellular phone was invented by Martin Cooper of Motorola ... and it was almost the size of a shoe box |
This year marks 40 years since the first public cellular
phone call was made by Martin Cooper of Motorola. This mobile phone was a
massive device by today's standards – weighing two and a half pounds (1.15 kg) and
all of 10 inches long it could only be used for 20 minutes before the battery
died.
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| Mobira Talkman, NMT450 portable car phone, 1984 |
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Mobira Cityman, NMT900 handportable, 1987
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| Martin Cooper invented the first cell phone |
Cooper was given the challenge of creating what became the
prototype DynaTAC handheld cellular phone by Motorola’s at the time Vice
President John Mitchell. The very first public wireless phone call was made by
Cooper on April 3, 1973 while walking along Sixth Avenue in New York City. Cooper made the call directly
to the office of his rival, Joel Engel, head of research at Bell Labs who was
also committed to developing the first mobile phone.
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| A Motorola DynaTAC 8000X from 1984. This phone has an early British Telecom badge and primitive red LED display |
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| The original "bricks" |
Ten years later, the Motorola DynaTAC was put on the market.
It had twenty large buttons, a long rubber antenna and a talk time of just
thirty minutes, before needing to be recharged for 10 hours. Despite its
whopping four thousand dollar price tag and immediately being nicknamed
"the brick," it proved to be a resounding success and kicked-off the
cellular age.
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| A Motorola MicroTAC 9800X with Red LED display 1989 |
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| Original Blackberry |
In 1991 the second generation (2G) cell technology hit the
market, after being launched by the Finnish company Radiolinja with the famous
slogan: “So that Finns can talk more.”
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| Motorola International 3200 compared to a 2G Nokia phone |
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| From the Qualcomm QCP-2700 (1997) to the iPhone 4S (2011) |
3G hit the market another 10 years down the track in 2001
and by 2009 these networks experienced enormous demand, giving rise to the
recent 4G technologies, which promise faster internet connections and advanced
multi-media applications.
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| Mobile phone evolution, from left to right: Motorola 8900X-2, Nokia 2146 orange 5.1, Nokia 3210, Nokia 3510, Nokia 6210, Ericsson T39, HTC Typhoon |
Back in 2008 it was estimated that one in two humans carried
a cell phone and from 1990 to 2011, global cell phone subscriptions increased
from 12.4 million to over 6 billion.
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| Ericsson R380, is considered to be the first smartphone, released in 2000 |
Not only has usage skyrocketed, but the cell phone has
undergone a dizzying number of face-lifts over the past few decades, evolving
from a high-priced business accessory to an essential item for modern living
and a means of stimulating economic growth and prosperity in developing
countries. Head to our gallery to follow the cellular age from brick to
smartphone and see if you can spot your first cell phone.
Selection of some the first generation analogue phones
released during the 80's
First generation of analogue phones released during the 80's
Some of the early analogue phones released during the 80's and 90's
Some of the 1G analogue phones released during the 80's and 90's
First generation of analogue phones released during the 90's
Selection of some of the first 2G cell phones from the 90's
Selection of 2G cell phones from the 1991 -2006
Source : http://www.gizmag.com
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