Evolution of phones

By peekall
  • Reis telephone

    Reis telephone

    First device based on the conversion of sound into electrical impulses.

  • Bell's Patent is Granted

    Bell's U.S. Patent 161,739 "Transmitters and Receivers for Electric Telegraphs" is granted. This uses multiple vibrating steel reeds in make-break circuits.

  • Liquid Transmitter

    Elisha Gray invents a liquid transmitter for use with the telephone but does not build one.
  • First telephone transmission

    First telephone transmission

    The first successful telephone transmission of clear speech using a liquid transmitter when Bell spoke into his device, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you." and Watson heard each word distinctly.

  • First publicily-witnessed long-distance calls

    Bell demonstrates the telephone to Queen Victoria and makes the first publicly-witnessed long-distance calls in the UK. The queen tries the device and finds it to be "quite extraordinary".

  • First toll line

    The first commercial toll line enters operation, connecting Springfield and Holyoke, Massachusetts
  • First U.S. coast-to-coast long distance call.

    First U.S. coast-to-coast long distance call.

    First U.S. coast-to-coast long-distance telephone call, ceremonially inaugurated by A.G. Bell in New York City and his former assistant Thomas Augustus Watson in San Francisco, California.

  • First transatlantic phone call

    The first transatlantic phone call, from the United States to the United Kingdom.
  • Enclosed bell and induction coil

    Enclosed bell and induction coil

    The base of the telephone enclosed its bell and induction coil, obviating the need for a separate ringer box
  • First touch-tone phone.

    First touch-tone phone.

    Touch-Tone signaling started replacing the rotary dial.
  • First handheld mobile phone.

    First handheld mobile phone.

    The first handheld cellular mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing 2 kilograms.
  • First smart phone

    First smart phone

    The first commercially available device that could be properly referred to as a "smartphone" began as a prototype called "Angler" developed by Canova in 1992 while at IBM and demonstrated in November of that year at the COMDEX computer industry trade show.

  • First phone with large capacitive touchscreen.

    The first phone of any kind with a large capacitive touchscreen was the LG Prada, announced by LG in December 2006.
  • First iPhone

    First iPhone

    Apple Computer introduced the iPhone It had a 3.5" capacitive touchscreen with twice the common resolution of most smartphone screens at the time. The iPhone was notable as being the first device of its kind targeted at the mass market to abandon the use of a stylus, keyboard, or keypad typical of contemporary smartphones, instead using a large touchscreen for direct finger input as its main means of interaction.

  • First fingerprint reader

    The first smartphone with a fingerprint reader was the Motorola Atrix 4G in 2011.

  • Camera development

    In 2019, smartphones started adapting 2160p 4K video recording on the front camera, six years after the rear camera 2160p commenced with the Galaxy Note 3.