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World's First "Carphone"
A reporter for the Sandusky Register (Ohio), told a story of a man in Philadelphia named W. W. Macfarlane. This man had invented a 'walkie-talkie' like device that could transmit and receive messages (voices) from 500 yards down the road where his wife was on the other line. With him he had the transmission box on his shoulder and three pieces of stove pipe placed side by side on a board. In the car with him were a reporter, photographer, and a chauffeur. All had telephone receiver head sets on. -
First Known Wireless Communication in Vehicles
These were used in Australia by the Victoria Police Department and the wireless transmitters were so large, they took up the whole backseat of the police cruiser. http://blog.techwholesale.com/2015/11/07/police-and-emergency-responders-two-way-radios/ -
One-Way AM Mobile Radio System
Kenneth Cox a patrolman from the Detroit Police Department and Robert Batts an engineering student created a system for police to receive calls in their patrol cars.
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Two-Way Police Radio Communication
The high frequency system was developed by radio engineer Frank A. Gunther along with Lieutenant Vincent J. Doyle the systems station operator. The two-way radio allowed police officers to contact the police station base, as well as contact other police cars by radio. The first two-way AM Mobile Radio Transmitter was put into a Bayonne Police Department cruiser. http://ethw.org/Milestones:Two-Way_Police_Radio_Communication,_1933 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFtUwtsJpgM -
Federal Communications Commission is Established
A committee was created to help and 'unclog' the radio frequency airways. Though the government got to control which frequencies they occupied, the committee was created to help designate who would used what channel. As well as regulate the forms of communication used in the US. The Act of 1912 allowed the FCC to cut off communications between certain areas. https://www.shoretel.com/history-federal-communications-commission-fcc -
Two-Way Mobile Radios Gain Popularity
In the 1940's the two-way radios hit the highest popularity. The radio was operating between 30 and 40 MHz. It was used by almost all government agencies/officials, and by the upper class citizens. Private companies would use the device for advancement in communication and products (getting a leg up on other companies). -
First Mobile Telephone Service was Introduced
After an article was posted for all of America to see, AT&T paired up with one of it's regional telephone companies, Southern Bell, began operating the first MTS which was located in St. Louis, Missouri. This was modeled after a traditional dispatch radio but they ran into an issue when too many signals coming into the central antenna jammed the feed. They were forced to admit defeat and closed.
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AT&T Push to Talk Phones
AT&T came out with a radio carphone that could only be used on the highways from New York to Boston, Mass. These phones were called the push to talk phones. Unfortunately, AT&T had to declare this project a failure because there was way to much interference in the system. This means that it was a toss up on whether or not the phone would actually work. See the History of AT&T here:
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Introduction of the Discussion of Cellular Telephone Systems
A company called Bell Laboratories’, a long with a man named W.R. Young, managed to articulate a true cellular radio system for mobile telephone communication with in their company. Young later said that the cellular radio elements were known: "a network of small geographical areas called cells, a base station transmitter in each, cell traffic controlled by a central switch, frequencies reused by different cells and so on."
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First Fully Automatic Radiotelephone Service
The fist fully automatic radiotelephone service started operating in Richmond, Indiana almost completely eliminating the operator to connect most phone calls. -
SRA / Ericsson Mobile Telephone
This mobile telephone was finally a success! The equipment used weighed 56 pounds and was quite heavy to port around. https://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/corpinfo/publications/review/2006_03/03.shtml -
"Cells"
AT&T came up with the idea of our first modern-day mobile-phone system. Each city would be considered a cell in which towers could help split up the workload of processing calls so that signals couldn't get jammed up in overload. -
First Mobile Phone Call
Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, made the first ever mobile phone call in 1973. He made the call to AT&Ts Bell Labs, a long time rival in telecommunications. In his phone call to them he stated that he was indeed calling from a mobile phone and got hung up on. The phone he used was later known as the 'brick phone'. It was able to make 30 minutes of talk time and took 10 hours to charge. http://www.knowyourmobile.com/nokia/nokia-3310/19848/history-mobile-phones-1973-2008-handsets -
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Trial for Complete Ownership
Bell Systems started a trial in 1975 trying to gain full operation of their mobile customer calls. But it was not until 1977 that they gained the right to do so. -
FCC Approval
FCC approved an additional 115 megahertz of spectrum for future mobile phone use. Not knowing that it would not be enough and that they would have to put restrictions on how many mobile phones could be sold. In 1976, 554 New York customers had Bell Systems mobiles, with 3,700 on a waiting list. Overall 44,000 people had Bell subscribers had AT&T mobiles but 20,000 were on a 5to 10 year waiting list. http://www.privateline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TelenorPage_022-034.pdf -
INMARSAT is Born
INMARSAT was born in 1979. They were a international group fostering and coordinating satellite telephony. They were originally developed for ships at sea but upgraded to land and to air. -
First Commercial Phone for Sale
Motorola came out with the first commercial phone called the MotorolaDyna TAC 8000X. The phone offered 30 minutes of talk time, 6 hours standby, and could store up to 30 contacts. It sold on the market for about $4,000. -
Nokia Mobria Talkman
Nokia came out with the Nokia Mobria Talkman. It was a phone that was wired to a box with a handle on it. The purpose of the the box was to have a longer battery life. -
Introducing the Flip Phone
Motorola MicroTAC , a compact version of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, was our first flip phone. Due to the continually advancing of cell phone technology, the progress on phone size and use becomes better. -
Welcome, Nextel Communications
In August, 1993 the carrier Nextel Communications started operating a new, proprietary wire- less network in Los Angeles. They used Motorola phones which combined a dispatch radio with a cellular telephone. -
Iridium Project
Introducing the greatest mobile telephone disaster that began when the Iridium project was launched. The project used 66 satellites, and cost the US almost 5 billion dollars. It went bankrupt after 16 months and guess who the largest investor was? Motorola. Iridium gathered only 10,000 customers before it folded. Due to the high cost of handsets and services, and an inability to work indoors, satellite telephone service remains a niche market to this day. -
Blackberry Produces First Handset
The Blackberry 850 had a full screen and keyboard and had the ability to send and receive emails, pictures, and contain quite a few apps to scroll through and make use of. -
First Camera Phone
A company called Sharp introduced us to our very first camera phone. This mobile phone allowed people to take, send, and receive photos via email -
First Smart Phone
In 2002 the first smart phone was created. This smart phone could send and receive emails, however it did not have a speaker therefore it required a headset when using it. Also in 2002 the company Sanyo made a phone that could capture pictures, the user could later download it to a computer and print them out. -
Motorola Razr
Motorola's best selling product was the fashion friendly flip phone handset called the Motorola Razr. They sold over 130 million of these phones between the year 2004-2006, making it the best sold handset in history. -
New Law Passed
In 2005 a law was passed in California that said telephone companies had to allow customers to return old cell phones to be recycled. This law was passed because cell phones contained harmful chemicals that were harmful when thrown into landfills. Also in 2005 Blackberry had released the Blackberry pearl, which was the first blackberry device to have included a camera and media player. -
iPhone, the True Life Changer
The first generation of iPhone came out. A touch screen phone with no keyboard and had the ability to store music, play games, access internet/social media, and so much more. This was definitely a time changer in history books. -
Hey... A Phone You Can Wear on Your Wrist!
Introducing the Apple Watch. This watch has a touch screen and has the ability to text, talk, surf the web, track exercise, and even download your favorite apps! You literally can order a Starbucks drink from your wrist! -
One, Two Skip-a-Few... Look its the iPhone 7!
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are Apple's newest iPhones, with significant camera improvements, a new glossy black color, better battery life, faster processors, and improved water resistance implemented through a click-less haptic home button and no headphone jack. -
iPhone TV, the best way to keep your kids entertained.
Apple has come out with an iPhone that is sold with 2-4 tablets. This phone can link with the tablets around it so you can control what the kiddos see on the screen. To keep your kids occupied at all times and providing all their favorite things. All you have to do is have the app on your phone, but you are able to control when and what they see and do! -
Jumping Ahead.... Introducing the iPhone 2o With Healthy Benefits
This iPhone has the ability to serve as an insulin pump for diabetics, allow easy notification for help for the elderly, and tracking for your kids. Through Bluetooth, this iPhone can link up with your insulin pump, heart monitor, Life Alert and much more. With extended battery life, you never have to worry about being alone in that health emergency! iPhone is here for you!