History of Wireless By bmorgan Jan 1, 1975 The first peronal or porfable computer becomes available. Period: Jan 1, 1975 to Dec 1, 2011 History of Wireless Dec 1, 1983 The first commercial cellular system begins operating in Chicago Jan 1, 1991 The precursor to Wi-fi is created. Dec 1, 1992 1st Commercial Text message was sent 1st Commercial Text message was sent Jan 1, 1993 The first smartphone (IBM's Simon) is released, offering features like email. Nov 1, 1994 The digital camera is invented. Jan 1, 1999 Camera Phones introduced to US market Jan 1, 2001 Samsung Mobile releases first mobile phone with GPS in U.S. Jan 1, 2002 1st Bluetooth headset was released Apr 1, 2003 1st Apps store opened Apr 5, 2005 "The brick" weighed 2 pounds, offered just a half-hour of talk time for every recharging and sold for $3995 Jan 1, 2011 There are over 5 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide.